Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis is currently in the US where he is lobbying investors to do business in Cape Town.
The City recognises the US as a key economic partner and is the biggest source of foreign direct investment into the city’s economy by some distance.
It said the list of large international companies invested in Cape Town continues to grow and includes the likes of Microsoft, Roche, Johnson & Johnson, DHL, Unilever, KPMG, Burger King, IBM, Kimberley Clark, and the latest addition, retail giant Amazon.
“More and more global companies are investing in Cape Town, bringing new jobs to our city. Given the huge contribution the US makes to job-creating foreign direct investment in Cape Town, I am glad to be in the USA to share more about our city’s bright future and to invite even more US businesses to come and invest in Cape Town.
“We want to get more Capetonians into work, and a big part of this is drumming up international investor confidence in our city,” said Hill-Lewis.
He said there’s a cause for optimism in Cape Town’s future, with a record infrastructure investment pipeline, more new jobs created in the past year than all other South African cities combined, advanced plans for water and energy security, and tourism alongside other growing sectors.
Hill-Lewis is currently in Washington, DC where he will make an address at the Woodrow Wilson Centre, focusing on the challenges of rapid urbanisation in Africa and the Corporate Council on Africa, which promotes and facilitates investment for US companies in Africa.
The mayor will also head to New York to meet the Business Chamber of International Understanding (BCIU) and mayor Eric Adams.
“In making the investment case for Cape Town, mayor Hill-Lewis is emphasising: Cape Town’s infrastructure investment will dwarf other South African cities in the coming years, with a special focus on water and sanitation upgrades.
“The city is increasingly at the heart of national economic growth, creating more jobs than all other cities combined in the last year.
“With many semigrating their lives and businesses to Cape Town, flourishing sectors include business process outsourcing, ICT, film, agri-business, and tourism,” the City said.
It said tourist visitors are at record levels, with 317 000 overseas visitors in December and 2.9 million visitors during 2023, driving new tourism jobs in the city economy.
“The metro has developed a professional civil service underpinned by accountability, transparency, and measurable performance targets. The city is leading on energy security and is set to be the first to end load shedding and Eskom reliance.”
Before returning to Cape Town next week, Hill-Lewis will head to London for engagements, including meeting with mayor Sadiq Khan and the SA Chamber of Commerce UK.