Cape Town’s comparative advantage factors
Cape Town's economy is the second largest municipal economy in South Africa and the second most important contributor to national employment.
An overview
Cape Town is South Africa's best-run city:
- Unqualified audit reports for the past 10 years
- Best performance directing funding to capital expenditure, 190% increase since 2005
- Basic services for low-income households 30% cheaper than SA average
- 74% of residents say their trust in the city is 'fairly strong', 'very strong' or 'extremely strong
We are:
- the second busiest container port and the second busiest airport in SA;
- a service-driven economy with established business culture and clustering of financial institutions;
- strategically positioned on the west coast of Africa;
- a powerful skills pipeline; and
- one of the four best places in Africa for hi-tech.
We have
- good public transport linkages in the city;
- soundness of banks rated third in the world by the WEF;
- scenic beauty and natural sights that attract international visitors and make the city globally recognisable; and
- three major universities in the metro region. One of these is the top ranked university in Africa, and the second highest ranked university in South Africa is located just outside the metro boundaries in the historic and beautiful town of Stellenbosch.
We service large agricultural surroundings and act as a processing, trade and retail hub for agricultural products.
Industries overview
The industries in which Cape Town has the most noticeable comparative advantage over other cities in the country are in fishing, and clothing and textiles.
Other important industries in Cape Town include wood product manufacturing; retail; electronics; tourism, hospitality and events; financial services, fintech and business process outsourcing; information, medical and green/renewables technology; the creative industries; and real estate.
Priority sectors in our province:
- Agri-business
- Boatbuilding
- Business processing and outsourcing (BPO)
- Creative industries
- Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
- Oil and gas
- Renewable energy
- Tourism
- Metals, tooling and niche engineering
- Pharmaceuticals, life sciences and biotechnology
Please visit the
Wesgro website for more information on these sectors.
Summary of CT regional ranking on competitiveness tables
Fast fact
Cape Town is home to Naspers, the world’s largest multi-media company outside of the United States and China with $67.1 billion market capitalisation.
2013 Benchmarking global city competitiveness, The Economist Intelligence Unit
- Composite ranking: 77 out of 120
- 2nd among African cities
- 28th position out of 120 cities for Institutional Effectiveness and 68% for Human Capital (69th position out 120 cities Physical Capital)
2014 Global Cities Index and Emerging Cities Outlook, AT Kearney
- Composite ranking: 16 out of 34 emerging cities
- Composite ranking: 71 out of 84 global cities
- 4th among African cities
2014 Global Metro Monitor Map, Bookings Institution
- Composite ranking: 188 out of 300
- 7th among African cities
2008 Worldwide Centers of Commerce: Emerging Markets Index, MasterCard
- Composite ranking: 33 out of 65
- 2nd among African cities
- Scores 1st for Business Environment
- Scores 5th for Economic and Commercial Environment
- Scores 5th for Risk and Security
- Scores 9th for Quality of Urban Life
2016 Quality of Living Rankings, Mercer
- Composite ranking: 92 out of 230
- 3rd among African cities
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