Strategic investment in industrial energy ecosystems is essential to enhance cost effectiveness, global competitiveness and the resilience of South Africa’s special economic zones (SEZs), thereby improving their long-term viability and appeal to manufacturers, says financial solutions provider Investec Sustainable Solutions technical adviser De Wet Taljaard. For SEZs to be effective in reindustrialisation and to help ensure that local entities become and remain globally competitive, reindustrialisation must be based on renewable-energy solutions, energy efficiency and sustainability, he asserts.
