Nelson Mandela Bay taking the lead in plotting future of SA auto manufacturing
The SA automotive industry's two most significant international events will be hosted in Nelson Mandela Bay this year, underscoring not only our leading role in history and the present day as the anchor of local automotive manufacturing — but also our future as an automotive hub in Africa.
This is the first time Nelson Mandela Bay will host the flagship events of both the vehicle manufacturing and automotive components sectors, namely SA Automotive Week convened by the Automotive Business Council, Naamsa; and the Naacam Show by the National Association of Automotive Component Manufacturers.
The fourth edition of Naamsa's SA Automotive Week in October is 'coming home' to celebrate its 90th anniversary in the birthplace, where the organisation was founded after the first SA-built vehicles rolled off the Ford production line in 1924.
The fourth Naacam Show in August also makes history in coming to the Bay for the first time.
Hosting both these events in the same year is significant, highlighting the depth of the automotive ecosystem based in the Bay, which encompasses a wide range of automotive component manufacturing through to the assembly of passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and trucks.
Three of SA's seven original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) — Volkswagen Group Africa, Isuzu Motors SA and Mercedes-Benz — are located in the Eastern Cape, representing 38% of the country's vehicle production and more than 50% of exports.
Volkswagen also holds the title of being the country's biggest vehicle manufacturer.
More than 40% of t he country's automotive component manufacturers and suppliers are based here, and the Bay accounts for 41% of all automotive manufacturing employment in SA, with every job supporting an estimated additional 10 people in their families and communities.
Over and above this direct employment, thousands of jobs are created in the value chain encompassing logistics and transport, consumables and office supplies, services such as IT and cleaning, having an impact through to the retail and tourism sectors.
The two events are critical to navigating the future of the SA automotive manufacturing sector at a time when the industry faces major headwinds — the impacts of the transition to new-energy vehicles and global tariff upheavals, along with rapidly increasing competition from imports of cheaper vehicles and parts which threaten the retention of local investments and jobs.
Both events will take a close look at the SA Automotive Masterplan 2035 and the need to align this to the rapidly evolving global manufacturing landscape and ensure that the regulatory environment and policy enablers remain relevant and effective in supporting growth, localisation and retention of local manufacturing capacity
In particular it is vital that completely knocked down (CKD) assembly is prioritised, rather than semi-knocked down (SKD) assembly — as CKD results in the creation of deep supply chains and a surrounding ecosystem which creates much-needed employment.
Key local enablers are lacking though — industry faces barriers including crumbling infrastructure, reliability of electricity and water supply, logistics inefficiencies, critical skills shortages, red-tape bottlenecks and a lack of a co-ordinated, investor-friendly policy environment.
These are not issues the auto industry can solve on its own, but both Naamsa and Naacam hold substantial influence in lobbying and collaborating with the government to remove these hurdles, and the two events represent key platforms for these discussions.
The events themselves have significant local and national impact.
At the previous Naacam Show, in 2023 in Tshwane, for example, more than 500 business-to-business matchmaking meetings were facilitated and 16 component manufacturers announced investment pledges totalling R4.86bn, together representing 10,700 retained and new jobs.
This year's Naacam Show, hosted at The Boardwalk Convention Centre, features a full week of events — a golf day, factory tours and networking events, in addition to the main exhibition and conference.
Similarly, SA Auto Week, to be held at the Coega Vulindlela Conference Centre, is expected to attract 1,200 delegates, and will include a number of related activities in the Eastern Cape in the run-up to the event, as well as a programme of events around the main conference and exhibition.
These are all golden opportunities to showcase the Bay's assets and ability to host events of this magnitude.
There will likely be further spin-offs in terms of visitors staying additional days to experience attractions such as beaches and game reserves.
Speaking at the NMB Business Chamber's AGM in May, Naamsa CEO Mikel Mabasa said the organisation wanted SA Auto Week 2025 to be a 'truly local event', focused on recruiting local events and services suppliers and partnering with local businesses and stakeholders.
Naacam's head of policy and regulatory affairs, Beth Dealtry, similarly highlighted that they were looking forward to showcasing the Bay to more than 130 exhibitors and hundreds of delegates, and to the event having positive spin-offs for tourism and local suppliers.
These are crucial opportunities for the Bay — not only in terms of the immediate impacts in sectors such as retail, tourism and services, but also in the long term through the potential to attract new investment and create new jobs, in an environment of high unemployment and escalating de-industrialisation.
The metro needs to be ready to host events of this magnitude, particularly addressing the basics of cleanliness, maintenance of public spaces and safety and security.
With thousands of local and international business visitors arriving in the next few months, in our most key economic sector, not only do we all need to put our best foot forward to ensure that the Bay shines, but we need to work together to capitalise on the opportunities presented for the future of our Bay of Opportunity. Denise van Huyssteen is CEO of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber
The Herald
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