Joburg plans food hub

The City of Joburg on Wednesday launched an far-reaching strategy to establish itself as a food manufacturing and agro-processing hub.

Johannesburg - The City of Joburg (CoJ) on Wednesday launched an far-reaching strategy to establish itself as a food manufacturing and agro-processing hub in partnership with two Johannesburg-based exhibitions; Africa's Big Seven (AB7) and the Southern African International Trade Exhibition (SAITEX).

Director of trade and investment promotion for the CoJ, Reginald Pholo, in a statement said the two co-located expos were a key driver for the City of Joburg's food and agro-processing strategy, which was a component of its Joburg 2040 Integrated Development Plan.

“There is a huge need for capacity to transform food into manufactured food. In order to facilitate access to markets, the City is focusing on infrastructure development that includes storage facilities, processing, cold storage and transport. So it's important to inculcate a culture of food processing, household and national food security and surplus sales to export markets, and AB7/SAITEX are the perfect platforms for this,” Pholo said.

Gauteng Finance MEC Barbara Creecy, tabling the R100 billion 2016/17 Budget this week, said the province would change the industrial structure of its economy and focus on manufacturing, mineral beneficiation and agro-processing among other things.

AB7 comprises seven sector-focused shows covering all aspects of the food and beverage industry, including the Pan Africa Retail Trade Exhibition, AgriFood, FoodTech Africa, DrinkTech Africa, Interbake Africa, Retail Solutions Africa and FoodBiz Africa.

SAITEX is known as the biggest business opportunities event in Africa. Last year, the two shows attracted over 860 exhibitors and almost 14 000 visitors from more than 70 countries.

According to Pholo, CoJ would use these annual shows as part of its Exporter Awareness Programme, which showcases the many business opportunities for entrepreneurs.

“This also helps broaden South Africa's exporter base in the agricultural and agro-processing sectors by developing new and existing exporters,” Pholo said.

For the 2016 shows, the City of Joburg was planning to host a series of export seminars as well as business-to-business matchmaking sessions in the international business lounge at Gallagher Convention Centre.

AB7 and SAITEX will take place from June 19 to 21 at Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand.

AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY