SALDANHA BAY INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ZONE

General information

The SBIDZ is a competitive and highly efficient cluster that is a leading, investor responsive location for Upstream Oil & Gas and Marine Fabrication & Repair activities on the African continent.

The Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone Licensing Company (SBIDZ LICO), the operator of the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (SBIDZ), is focused on the establishment of a Freeport Oil and Gas services cluster, incorporating marine repair, fabrication and logistics capabilities that service the needs of Africa’s upstream exploration and production service companies, operating in the oil and gas fields of Sub-Saharan Africa. The Zone is located in the Port of Saldanha Bay, approximately 2 hours’ drive outside of Cape Town, on the western coast of the Western Cape Province.

SBIDZ’s mandate is to stimulate economic growth and sustainable job creation in South Africa, in line with the socio-economic developmental plans and policies of the South African Government. The responsibilities of the LICO include the promotion, management and marketing of the IDZ in Saldanha Bay; the delivery of internal infrastructure in the IDZ to suit investor requirements; the leasing of land to investors; and the facilitation of the ease of doing business for investors. In addition, the SBIDZ must also drive a dynamic and local skills development and enterprise development programme to ensure maximum localisation of benefits to the communities in which the Zone resides.

Saldanha Bay has for a long time been acknowledged as an important resource for the sustainable growth and development for the West Coast region, with the Port being the largest and deepest natural port in South Africa. The Zone’s relative proximity to the regional oil and gas markets of the West, East and Southern Africa makes it well positioned to serve as a supply hub for the Sub-Saharan African offshore oil and gas market. In addition, the SBIDZ is located close to the southern tip of Africa.