South Africa’s tourism infrastructure project pipeline is set to receive specialist investment and transaction support under a new three-year partnership between the Department of Tourism and the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille and Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson formalised the partnership through a memorandum of agreement on August 25 with the aim of strengthening the preparation of priority tourism infrastructure projects and unlocking greater private-sector investment.
Under the agreement, Infrastructure South Africa, a programme focused on infrastructure planning, management and delivery within the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, will provide the Department of Tourism with specialist resources, including investment expertise and transaction advisory services.
The Department of Tourism will retain overall accountability for its Investment Facilitation Service while Infrastructure South Africa will provide technical and transaction support to strengthen the project pipeline and improve the readiness of projects for investment.
“Tourism policy is economic policy. If we want tourism to make an even greater contribution to economic growth and job creation, we must build the infrastructure that makes investment and new tourism experiences possible,” said De Lille.
The partnership will also facilitate the transfer of skills, knowledge and technical competencies to strengthen the Department of Tourism’s long-term capacity to prepare and facilitate tourism infrastructure investment, she added.
“We must turn tourism potential into bankable projects, investment and ultimately jobs.”
Macpherson said the agreement will help move priority tourism infrastructure projects from plans on paper to shovels in the ground while crowding in private-sector investment and creating new economic opportunities across the country.
“This is another practical step towards our goal of turning South Africa into a construction site and using infrastructure as a catalyst for economic growth and job creation.”
The partnership comes shortly after President Cyril Ramaphosa launched the third phase of the South African Government-Business Partnership with tourism identified as one of the sectors capable of accelerating inclusive economic growth and employment.
