CDC: The ONLY Number You Require (For Now)

• What positive number would you expect from an SOE such as the Coega Development Corporation (CDC)?
• Taxpayers can expect a little bit of relief soon.

The Foreign Correspondents Association of South Africa were hosted by the CDC on Tuesday, 29 September 2026.

In a full day of information overload and many touch points there was ONE very important number that stood out for myself.

Approximately 38 journalists representing media houses from around the world gathered in Gqeberha for an intense session at Nelson Mandela Bay’s Award winning Coega Development Corporation – SEZ of the year for 2026, being one of the most recent accolades.

The day saw tours of the Port of Ngqura, Human Capital Solutions, Business Process Outsourcing Park (Discovery), DC Foods and KHOLD/Coega Packing.

Algoa Bay is blessed with Two Ports – the Port of Ngqura and Port of Port Elizabeth. The 2Ports represent a very unique selling point and a sporting event to link the 2Ports has already been proposed.

Speakers on the day included Themba Koza (CDC CEO), Luvuyo Mkontwana (Programme Director: New Ventures, CDC) and NMB Mayor Babalwa Lobishe.

What is the Number?

90%

In his presentation, Luvuyo Mkontwana highlighted that the Coega SEZ reached 90% of it’s own funding this past financial year off of R751.5 Million revenue generated.

As a government owned entity reporting to the Eastern Cape Government, Coega (established in 1999) relied heavily on taxpayer funding in it’s formative years and the aim is increase annual revenue ro R1 Billion by 2030 and be entirely self sustaining.

Koza highlighted that the path to prosperity for Coega is a 50 year journey and that, at mid life, Coega has already proven it’s worth to business and society.

Why Choose Coega?

The recurring theme from the businesses that we visited were around ‘right place, right time’ with most citing an involved landlord, port proximity, access to labour and raw materials being the primary reasons for choosing to invest in Coega.

The growth in employment numbers quoted by Discovery, DC Foods and KHOLD/Coega Packing were phenomenal with all three citing a doubling in jobs since inception AND with all three talking about short term expansion plans.

As the largest SEZ in South Africa, Coega has 9003ha under management.

One of the foreign journalists seemed to miss the point when he remarked that there was so much empty land. The fact of the matter is that with a strong environmental ethic and controlled growth the CDC have demonstrated a model for SEZ’s that is hard to beat. Allied to that the ’empty space’ augurs well for profitable growth – even doubling the land under investment to 156 investors would not make a huge dent in the developed land but, more importantly points the way towards long term prosperity for the SEZ.

Doubling the land under roof could see Coega race past their target of R1 Billion soon enough with lots left to spare.

The Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ) currently has 78 operational investors, with a total investment value of R12.7 billion, providing a total of 12 106 cumulative jobs.

Coega SEZ Awards:

Craig Luckman from Coega’s Human Capital Solutions inspired me to comment that we in Nelson Mandela Bay do not blow our own trumpet nearly enough. Certain of that divisions training programmes have been adopted far and wide as examples of excellence.

So lets have a look at the awards that Coega has gathered over the years:

• Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of the Year – 2026
• Top Empowerment Award – Public Sector of the Year – 2026
• Top Empowerment Award – Sustainable Business of the Year – 2026
• CIDB ERWIC Transformation Entity of the Year – 3RD – 2025
• BBQ Awards – Community Builder Award – 2024
• Africa Career Summit & Gala Awards – Infrastructure and Development – 2024
• African Business Awards – Skills Education and Training – 2023
• World Economic Magazine Best SMME Development South Africa – 2023
• World Economic Magazine Best Infrastructure Development South Africa – 2023
• Premier’s Special Recognition Award for Community Impact – 2022
• Premier’s Discretionary Award – Batho Pele Service Excellence Awards – 2022
• AI’s Best Trade and Development Company South Africa – 2022
• Best Provider of Service to Exporters – Merit Award for New Contracts – 2021
• SJM Flex Environment Award – Merit Award – 2021
• Game Changer Awards 2020 by Intentional Finance Monthly – 2020
• Global Awards 2020 by CEO Today – 2020
• Investor of the Year – 2019
• Top Employer 2019 – Certified Excellence in Employer Conditions – 2019
• The Vision 2030 – Infrastructure Development Award – 2018
• Best International Trade Marketing Specialist in Africa; Exporters Awards – 2018
• DC Job creation; Best Provider of Service to Exporters; and Top Employer – 2018
• Top Performing Public Service Organisation – 2018
• Unqualified ( Clean Audits) Audit Opinions since establishment – 2017
• Legends of Empowerment & Transformation – Oliver Empowerment Award – 2016
• Job Creation – Oliver Empowerment Award – 2016
• Top Empowered Vision 2030 – Oliver Empowerment Award – 2016
• Top Employer in Public Sector – 2015
• SANS 16001 (HIV/AIDS Management) – 2015
• Best Provider of Service to Exporters – 2014
• Most Empowered Enterprise – 2014
• Job Creation Award – 2014
• B-BBEE Level 1 Accreditation – 2014
• Custom Control Area Zone 2 – 2014
• Top Employer of Choice South Africa – 2014

Time to look inwards and celebrate local talent!

Images:

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/@CoegaDevCorp

CDC: The ONLY Number You Require (For Now)

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