​​Mbundu plans to unlock R30-billion in trade and investment. Councillor Nkululeko Mbundu is leading the initiative to leverage about R30-billion in private sector trade and investment in his current tenure as a Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Economic Development.

MMC Mbundu says the envisaged outcome is economic growth, with the ripple effect being job creation.

“Investors will get a good return for investing their money in the City of Johannesburg. This is a business-friendly City,” he says.

Cllr Mbundu says Joburg’s policy stance on trade and investment is that the City is open to doing business with private enterprises from across a multiplicity of sectors.

“We’re going big on public and private partnerships. It is the private sector that will help us drive economic growth. The private sector has the capability and capacity. Not just the private sector, but also academia from a research perspective,” he explains.

The City envisions unlocking investment from both local and international investors in the infrastructure, property, agriculture, logistics, energy, tourism, and technology sectors. He highlights that Joburg townships have massive opportunities for tourism. The City is also looking into investing more resources in township tourism and revitalising Joburg as a viable travel, leisure, and vacation destination.

Another exciting project in the pipeline is the rejuvenation of the inner city. Part of it includes converting more places into green precincts, identifying, and reclaiming hijacked buildings; as well as the possibility of converting the historic Drill Hall into an arts and culture precinct.

“The inner city is a good place to start because it’s the heart of Johannesburg. I would like to see regional decentralisation. Instead of people having to travel from far and wide, trade should happen in their regions. This will be achieved by declaring priority economic zones, which will save residents time and money,” he says.

There are plenty of positive spinoffs for investing in Johannesburg, Cllr Mbundu says. The City is the economic hub of the country and the single largest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The financial services sector is anchored in Johannesburg.

“It is therefore important that a financial services hub becomes investment attractive and grows beyond what it currently is in terms of value. The value here for investors is access to the market of the 6 million people that live in the City and the value for the residents of the City is a cleaner, safer Johannesburg that improves their quality of life,” he says.

Cllr Mbundu notes that albeit Johannesburg being a centre of economic activity, it won’t remain so if “we don’t work hard on safety and security”.

That’s why various strategies have been implemented toward a cleaner and safer City. In early 2022, more than 1 800 Johannesburg Metro Police Officers (JMPD) were deployed in the inner city to kick lawlessness to the curb and start block-by-block patrols. A new informal trading policy is in the implementation phase to regulate informal trading in Johannesburg.

Some of the City’s long-term strategies for trade and investment are to create a smart city that embraces technology and a connected City where municipal services are delivered efficiently.

Cllr Mbundu points out that attracting investment leads to job creation, and job creation reduces crime and poverty. He says the City can become limitless and compete with international counterparts like New York, and Paris among others.

“When we talk about trade and investment, our role is to make it easy for investments to come to the City, and secondly, to have a well-run and well-governed City. Once the systems function, then we are limitless in terms of the investment we can attract into Johannesburg. We would like to get the City of Johannesburg to function effectively. Get the basics right so that we can attract the investment that can convert Johannesburg into a destination of choice,” says Cllr Mbundu.