WCIS 2025 could transform South Africa’s business landscape
By Adrian Ephraim
When the Western Cape Investment Summit convenes at Cape Town’s International Convention Centre from 5-7 November 2025, the headlines will likely focus on the province’s ambitious R200 billion investment target. But beneath the surface of this premier investment showcase lies something potentially more transformative: a deliberate effort to bridge the gap between South Africa’s small and medium enterprises and the capital they desperately need to scale.
The SME reality check
Small and medium enterprises form the backbone of South Africa’s economy, yet they remain chronically underserved by traditional investment channels. Dr Ivan Meyer, the Western Cape’s Minister of Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism, acknowledges this reality with refreshing candour: “Not many of them have the skills to develop bankable projects,” he admits, identifying a fundamental challenge that has long plagued the sector.
This skills gap extends beyond technical capabilities. When Meyer explains what investors scrutinise, the standards are demanding: “Any potential investor wants to know, this place where I am investing, are these places well run? Do they practise good governance? Is it a reliable municipality? Is there water? Is there sanitation? Is there electricity?”
What sets this summit apart is its systematic approach to SME integration. Meyer outlines a comprehensive support framework that extends far beyond traditional networking: “They will receive assistance with the sharpening of their preparation of the proposals, because not many of them have the skills to develop bankable projects.”
The province’s approach recognises that successful investment matching requires active facilitation: “We will also be doing curated matchmaking, linking their businesses to potential investors.” This isn’t a one-off event either. As Meyer explains: “We will also do some stuff before the Summit, during the Summit and after the Summit with these small enterprises to follow up on certain leads.”
The support extends to regulatory challenges that often overwhelm smaller businesses: “We will also be all in the ease of doing business, because they are also sometimes complaining about that it’s difficult to do business. So we have a unit that will assist them with ease of doing business here in the Western Cape.”
The infrastructure advantage
The Western Cape’s value proposition rests heavily on infrastructure capabilities. Meyer is emphatic about this foundation: “One way to attract investment is to have proper infrastructure. So that is some of the stuff that we have… we built the best infrastructure investment here in the Western Cape, the best road infrastructure. We do proper maintenance.”
Energy security features prominently in the province’s strategy. Meyer’s ambition is clear: “I want to see a Western Cape where there’s no load-shedding.” The province is making concrete progress. “We have already procured 743 megawatt green and alternative energy in our system. We currently use
4 000 megawatts from Eskom, with plans to reach 5,700 megawatts with alternative energy capacity.”
Beyond tokenism
The summit’s approach to rural inclusion demonstrates genuine commitment rather than token gestures. Meyer describes a proactive strategy: “Earlier this year, in May, I called all the municipalities… So I gave that platform for municipalities to say across the province, please prepare your own investment proposals, which we can then include in our deal book.”
This approach recognises the economic imperative of balanced development: “We want to see economic investment also in rural areas… we cannot just simply have a situation that people migrate out of the rural areas into the cities.”
His long-term vision is ambitious yet specific: “I want to see that we get about 600,000 new jobs by the year 2035” and “I want to see that we reach a 3% GDP growth as a result of the growth for job strategy.”
The trust factor
Ultimately, Meyer’s pitch to investors centres on institutional reliability: “The message that I want them to know is that their investment is safe because there’s a capable government at work.”
He emphasises the comprehensive support ecosystem: “Their investment will get the support from the Western Cape government through WestGrove, through the Western Cape government, through the city of Cape Town.”
