April 30th, 2012
The Western Cape Economic Development Partnership (EDP) has launched in
Cape Town at the Cape Town Film Studios, with over 250 people from Western Cape business associations,
industry bodies, sector development agencies, municipalities, NGOs,
social movements and skills development organisations, as well as the
Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille, the MEC for Finance, Economic
Development and Tourism, Alan Winde, City of Cape Town Mayor Patricia de
Lille and several Western Cape Mayors.
The EDP is an
independent, non-partisan, membership-based organization that is being
established to lead, co-ordinate and drive the economic development
system of the Western Cape towards achieving more inclusive and
resilient economic growth. It has been launched as a regional and local
response to the countrywide imperative that economic growth is linked to
jobs and is sustainable.
The EDP model is influenced by new
types of intermediary organisations and cross sector partnerships that
have emerged globally in the past few years in response to the scale and
complexity of new economic, sustainability and urban transitions.
Speaking at the launch, EDP convener, Andrew Boraine said; “Many of our
public and private institutions are no longer suited to address the
step-change necessary in our economy. We are looking for a new breed of
organisation and a new type of collaborative leadership”. Boraine
explains further; “The EDP will make a difference to the extent to which
it can harness the mandates, power and constituencies of its members
and partners, build a culture of collaboration, and find new ways of
doing things”.
Boraine cautioned that meaningful change will not
occur overnight, “The role of the EDP will be to build effective
partnerships for inclusive growth. This will require a commitment to
shared values, vision and action, and time. There are many things that
can be done right now to accelerate employment creation; however, it
will require at least a ten-year commitment to generate sufficient
labour-absorbing growth to make a significant difference to poverty,
inequality and unemployment. We are asking EDP members to make that
commitment”.
Western Cape MEC for Economic Development and
Tourism, Alan Winde said that the EDP will add value to the work of all
three spheres of government; “The role of government in the economy is
to get the basics right – education, infrastructure, health, skills,
sound macro and micro economic policies, an enabling regulatory
framework, and to make sure that this is done in a ‘whole of government’
way. The EDP will provide a platform for much needed innovation and
experimentation. This is why the Western Cape Government has also
entrusted the Future Cape 2040 process – a visioning and planning
process for the regional economy – to the EDP”.
Currently in a
membership drive phase, the EDP already has around 40 key organisations
that have formally signed up for membership, including Accelerate Cape
Town, Agri Western Cape, Provincial Government of the Western Cape, The
City of Cape Town, Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut, WESGRO, Fabcos Western
Cape, NAFCOC Western Cape, Western Cape Black Business Unifying
Initiative, the Cape Higher Education Consortium, the George
Municipality and George Business Chamber, Men at the Side of the Road,
Oudtshoorn Business Chamber, Overstrand Municipality, SAPOA, SA Oil
& Gas Alliance and Swartland Municipality.
Start-up capital
for the consultation, organisational design and establishment phase has
been provided by provincial and national government. In the long term,
the EDP will be funded by its members. Both the Western Cape Government
and the City of Cape Town, amongst others, have made financial
commitments to the EDP.
Says Boraine; “Our stakeholder mapping
process has shown that there are approximately 60-70 key stakeholders
that drive the regional economic development system. However, to ensure
that the EDP is an inclusive process, we have sent membership
application forms to over 250 organisations.”
Any organisation
that plays a role in the Western Cape economic development system, and
that falls into one of the 12 categories of membership, may apply to
join the EDP by completing an Expression of Interest for Membership
form, which is available at www.wcedp.co.za. Members are also invited to
participate in the EDP Board nomination process.
