Skip to content

Search

Menu

Browse our sections

Explore other content

You may also want to...

Economic landscape

Economic landscape

Cape Town has all the qualities that appeal to people who look for a great city in which to live, work, study, invest, and do business. It has a world-class central business district; a safe, bustling centre of commerce and retail activity; good infrastructure across all sectors; and a residential hub that is becoming more and more popular.

Invest in Cape Town

Are you interested in investing in our city? Our Enterprise and Investment Department can help you make choices that suit your needs.

Invest in Cape Town Reports

Read our Invest in Cape Town report to find out more about Cape Town - The City of Choice for Investors.

Market Intelligence Report 2025-2026

Talk to us about investment

For information on investing in Cape Town, contact Wesgro (the official Investment and Trade Promotion Agency for the Western Cape) on 021 487 8600 or email info@wesgro.co.za.

"One of the key reasons is that our main customer is based in the Eastern Cape and being in Cape Town was logical from a distribution perspective. Also our products have a large import component and being near the harbour was a key consideration from a supply chain cost angle. Because of the presence of the harbour we are able to export our products to the rest of Africa quite cost effectively. Most of our current and potential local customers have distribution centres in Cape Town, which also supports lower distribution costs for them and us. The support so far from the local government through the likes of Wesgro has been very encouraging." Rob StewartLocal representative for VVF Life Sciences (Pty) Ltd, which is part of the VVF Group and set up a facility in Cape Town in 2015

What does the city's economic landscape look like?

"Cape Town is where trends start. With an unknown brand it has been easier for us to start in Cape Town and use Cape Town as our innovative hub – where our products are tested on the market – then after move towards the others cities and regions. Apart from that, Cape Town offers a higher quality of life then other cities in SA. Each contact with the City, the province, the various institutions like Wesgro, have been sources of reliable information and have helped us enlarge our horizon. I would definitely recommend them to potential investors. The infrastructure, road and harbour is in good condition. Paperwork – as long as it’s well prepared – is issued in due course. We haven't had to complain about any of it." Alexandre TilmansDirector: Leopold7 Brewery

It’s a place where the world can access Africa and Africa can access the world, where economic energies can meet and establish something new.

"Better availability of skilled human resources; better safety and security for foreign investors; one of the best infrastructures including motor transport highways; connectivity within South Africa; the SADC region; sea ports for the SADC region as well as ECOWAS region; and international airport servicing air cargos which make it possible for international visitors to arrive for business easily." Rashmin JoshiPresident: Global Business Development, VVF Limited (Head Office in Mumbai, India)

We, as the local government, pride ourselves on our accountability and go to great lengths to enable business and support creativity and growth.

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

Why do business in Cape Town?

  • English is the language of business.
  • Cape Town is a global brand.
  • We are in almost the same time zone as Western Europe.
  • Our Enterprise and Investment Department is geared towards creating the right environment for investment in the City.
  • The 221km2 Table Mountain National Park within and surrounding the city: one of two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the city.
  • We are the culinary capital of South Africa with globally top ranked restaurants.

"WNS South Africa is a national business process outsourcing company with operations in various cities. We prefer to use Cape Town for some of our international processes. We find there to be a very supportive business environment in Cape Town with good, well-maintained infrastructure. We conduct a large portion of our international business from Cape Town and the lifestyle, infrastructure and business environment greatly supports and suits the requirements of our international business clientele." Evan GilbertAssistant Manager: marketing, MNS Global Services SA Pty Ltd

In Cape Town:

  • Our economic growth is driven by tourism, finance, infrastructure, food and wine, logistics and creative industries.
  • There are a number of world-class agencies that specialise in brand communication, as well as many media houses.
 

Fast fact

Naspers, which is the largest media company in the world (outside of the US and China) has its headquarters in Cape Town.

We have numerous call centres for new international companies and we are South Africa’s leading city for business process outsourcing.

 

Fast fact

Cape Town is the preferred location for the expansion of domestic and international operations in recent years.

  • We host offices of many of leading global brands including Amazon, ASDA, Bloomberg, British Gas, iiNet, Shell, Shop Direct, T-Mobile and Mindpearl, and a 24/7 global multi-lingual Airline Contact Centre located in the V&A Waterfront, servicing several international airlines in a variety of languages
  • According to the latest audited figures (SAP Innovation Centre Pitch) there are four major universities in the province, in and near Cape Town – among them the consistently ranked number one university in Africa. Every year there are 24 000 science, engineering and technology graduates from these universities and other technical colleges.
  • Cape Town has produced many famous entrepreneurs, such as information technology whizz-kid, Mark Shuttleworth who is also the first African in space, and is home to one of the country’s most well-known entrepreneurs, consumer retail magnate Christo Wiese.

"Cape Town is not only the optimal place for large businesses to operate from but also the ‘city of entrepreneurs’. ‘Silicon Cape’ – as it is called by many involved in the entrepreneurial ecosystem – has a vibrant and growing community of entrepreneurs who are using Cape Town as the ‘cradle’ from which to build their business, many with the objective of addressing African as well as even global markets. A culture that supports and stimulates entrepreneurs, access to top skills from the universities, a local government that is accessible to entrepreneurs and measurably addresses red tape, incubators, accelerators, investors, mentors – all of this makes Cape Town the unquestionable ‘capital for innovation and entrepreneurship’. This is why our business, a venture capital firm, wouldn’t even consider any other location." Andrea BohmertPartner: Knife Capital

Cape Town in partnership with the world

Our global partnerships reflect our policies and approaches to growth:

View our partnership agreements

See all partnership agreements in our Document centre.

Awards and accolades

Cape Town truly is a city like no other. With our iconic Table Mountain, eight blue flag beaches, top restaurants, world-class venues, entertainment options, and business opportunities – Cape Town is the city that has it all.

We are not the only ones who think so:

View our awards and accolades

"Naturally we love being in Cape Town as the city is the cleanest, safest and most beautiful." Rob StewartExecutive director: B&M Analysts

Document downloads

Would you like to print this page?

print

You have disabled JavaScript on your browser.
Please enable it in order to use City online applications.