KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development has a strategic mandate to help promote economic development and growth in the province. This implies that the Department is playing a leadership role in the efforts aimed at creating work and fighting poverty from food security to real economic growth. For this to happen the Department had crafted a Strategic and Annual Perfomance Plan that has specific and results oriented economic interventions that are also in line with its overall organizational vision and mission. This plan had been developed to respond to key socio-economic priorities of the province as reflected in the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy as well as the Industrial Development Strategy which both emphasizes the need for the stimulation of high levels of employment through various sectors of the economy. 

At the same time the Department acknowledges the significance of forging partnerships with all interested parties in the province’s economy – the business sector, organized labour and other civil formations like the NGOs. This belief is based on the collective responsibility for all sections of the society to pull together towards building a prosperous KwaZulu-Natal that values the co-existence of the two streams of the economy – the highly advanced first economy and a survivalist second economy. Through the list of priorities and interventions, the Department is determined to help close the gap between the two streams by assisting those still trapped in the lower economy to advance to the next levels while ensuring that industries in the first economy are capable of competing in the global market. But all these efforts would have to take into account the concept of black economic empowerment – aimed at bringing the historically marginalized sections of the society to the mainstream economy.

To ensure efficient and cost-effective implementation of its Strategic and Annual Perfomance Plan, the Department had carefully sub-divided itself into manageable Programs and sub-programs that carry the full responsibility of implementing specific projects and services. These include Trade and Sector Development, Integrated Business Support and Economic Empowerment, Local Economic Development and as well as the Corporate Services. All these programs are clearly defined in the content of this website, especially in the Strategic and Annual Perfomance Plan document.

 Moreover, as means to accelerate delivery processes, there are two key parastatal companies under this Department’s legal control – Ithala Development Finance Corporation and Trade and Investment KZN. Both help provide strategic capacity for the province to meet its economic development obligations.

The Departmental motto – Together, Building A WinningProvince, is derived from the overall government belief in building partnerships with different stakeholders through a variety of initiatives. But effective and sustainable partnerships could only be achieved through a healthy communication of ideas and strategies. This website is part of that effort to create a rendezvous for ideas that could help KwaZulu-Natal accomplish its vision of becoming a thriving, empowered and globally competitive economy. Masisukume Sakhe KwaZulu-Natal!