Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town is the economic hub of the Western Cape Province, South Africa’s second main economic centre and Africa’s third main economic hub city. It serves as the regional manufacturing centre in the Western Cape. The city’s real GGP is estimated at R188.4 billion and the majority of its enterprises, an estimated 75%, are driven by small businesses. It also has the primary harbour and airport in the province. The large government presence in the city, both as the capital of the Western Cape and the seat of the National Parliament, has led to increased revenue and growth in industries that serve the government. Cape Town has four major commercial nodes, with Cape Town Central Business District containing the majority of job opportunities and office space. Century City, the Bellville/TygerValley strip and Claremont commercial nodes are well established and contain many offices and corporate headquarters as well. Most companies headquartered in the city are insurance companies, retail groups, publishers, design houses, fashion designers, shipping companies, petrochemical companies, architects and advertising agencies. The most notable companies headquartered in the city are food and fashion retailer Woolworths, supermarket chain Pick n Pay Stores, fashion retailer Foschini Group, multi-national mass media giant Naspers, and financial services giant Sanlam. The city is a manufacturing base for several multi-national companies including, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Levi Strauss & Co., Adidas, Bokomo Foods, and Nampak. With the highest number of successful Information Technology companies in Africa, Cape Town is an important centre for the industry on the continent. Growing at an annual rate of 8.5% and an estimated worth of R77 billion nationwide the IT industry in Cape Town is becoming increasingly important to the city’s economy.