Durban eyes billions in investment

Durban - The CEO of Dube TradePort Corporation (DTPC), Hamish Erskine, is eager to point out the rapidly expanding developments attracting billions of rands in direct foreign investment to South Africa despite a sluggish global economy.

Erskine may be the newly appointed executive who took charge just three months ago after a stint as acting CEO, but he’s no stranger to this burgeoning KwaZulu-Natal north coast aerotropolis that is driving economic growth and making the country a trade gateway to the continent.

Erskine was part of a team of three people that former KwaZulu-Natal economic development, tourism and environmental affairs MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu selected to start prefeasibility studies on the relocation of the Durban International Airport in 1999, which led to the wider R8 billion project, including Dube TradePort.

Today, the DTPC has attracted billions in private investment and 53 businesses operate from the special economic zone – companies sign a 99-year lease and erect buildings that the corporation services, or take shorter leases of DTPC-built factories, agricultural processing plants, warehouses and offices.

International pharmaceutical company Cipla BioTec recently signed an agreement to build a R1.3 billion biopharmaceutical plant, a first for South Africa. It is expected to create 300 direct and 120 downstream jobs by 2018.

The DTPC is about to sign a deal with a global hotel chain and will focus on further growth sectors.

“The focus will be to develop a pharmaceutical cluster and to expand investments within other healthcare industries. The trade zone will also focus on the electronics sector, communications technologies and high-value clothing and textiles,” Erskine said.

“To date, the value of private sector investment secured is R1.4 billion for phase 1, with a further R1.3 billion secured in Dube TradeZone phase 1B,” Erskine said.

So far, 53 businesses operated at Dube TradePort and 12 more were expected to open next year, followed by 40 over the next three years, he said.

“An international hotel group has signed a letter of reservation to develop a hotel with a large international brand with about 150 beds. It’s expected that the final commercial agreement will be signed in early 2017,” Erskine said.

King Shaka International Airport had no international flights in 2010 and today has nine, boosting air freight volumes.

“Dube Cargo Terminal achieved 12% growth in 2015/16. We are seeing a continuation this year with 19% growth in cargo from October 2015 to September this year. This is impressive given the general weakness in economic growth and trade volumes,” Erskine said.

Dube TradePort has created 4 738 jobs – 2 201 permanent posts and 2 537 construction and temporary jobs – since 2011/12, while the DTPC employs 200 staff.

For Erskine, Dube TradePort represents the realisation of a dream policymakers envisaged almost two decades ago.

Erskine returned to South Africa after completing a master’s degree at Trinity College in Dublin in late 1993. He had earlier obtained a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Erskine’s first job was with the Independent Electoral Commission in 1994 and he worked for Interface Africa before joining the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, where he headed the National Council of Provinces.

Erskine helped establish Trade & Investment KwaZulu-Natal before joining the DTPC in 2003.

“We faced enormous resistance, but we persisted because it was about creating a structural change within the regional economy, and that was more important than anything else – to ensure we created world-class infrastructure, a national hub to serve the Southern African Development Community and make South Africa competitive globally,” he said.

“When you create a vision over a certain horizon, people are resistant because it’s easy to find many reasons to say a project won’t succeed. Big infrastructure projects over history have all faced opposition. In the 19th century, the canal that links New York to the Great Lakes was a public works project that was absolutely slated,” he said.

Erskine held executive roles in the DTPC’s property division and commercial information and communications technology before being appointed acting CEO in last year, and then permanently in August.

He remains excited about economic development and the role Dube TradePort can play in reindustrialisation.

“At the Brics summit this year, investors were asking a lot of questions and saying companies were nervous to invest in South Africa: ‘Tell us about the future, tell us how this is going to go, help us to get over it.’ Things like that,” he said.

“When it comes to Dube TradePort, we provide a master plan environment. We are the land owner and operate all the value adds. Investors are coming to an environment that has taken care of their early fears,” he said.

“This project has given me a wonderful opportunity to contribute to economic development. We took it to implementation, into operations and it’s energising seeing concepts we put into the plan back then, now gaining traction on the ground,” he said.

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