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The City of uMhlanhuze Local Municipality<\/strong> (which comprises the secondary cities of Richards Bay and Empangeni) has the greatest location attractiveness, according to Alexander Forbes.<\/p>\n “This municipality offers investors both openness and market-size spillovers to investors,” it said.<\/p>\n The municipality\u2019s economy grew at an average annual rate of 0.5% between 1996 and 2017. Most of its formal-sector employment is generated\u00a0 through construction (7.2%), education (7.8%),\u00a0 land and water transport (5.7%), metal products, machinery and household appliances (4.5%), and other business activities (12.7%).<\/p>\n The municipality\u2019s highest location quotient is for manufacturing (2.17), followed by transport (1.48) and agriculture (1.26).<\/p>\n A value above one means the municipality has a comparative advantage (taking production and employment into account) over other municipalities in those sectors.<\/p>\n The region is involved in the manufacture of basic metals, fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment, and office, accounting and computing machinery.\u00a0 Apart from manufacturing, land and water transport made the greatest contribution to the gross value added (GVA) in 2017.<\/p>\n The municipality is home to the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ), which offers access to the port of Richards Bay and strategic inland links through\u00a0 the R43 and N2 roads, Alexander Forbes noted.<\/p>\n Second on the list, the Emfuleni Local Municipality<\/strong>\u2019s secondary cities, Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging, located in the southern part of Gauteng.<\/p>\n “They have access to a well-maintained road network\u00a0 and are strategically located near the N1 freeway\u00a0 linking Johannesburg and Bloemfontein. The\u00a0 municipality\u2019s largest location quotient is in\u00a0 manufacturing (1.96), followed by financial intermediation, insurance, real estate and\u00a0 business services (1.10) and construction (1.04),” the index said.<\/p>\n The majority of formal-sector employees work in the manufacturing sector, specifically the\u00a0 manufacturing of basic metals, fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment, and office, accounting and computing machinery (10.3%).<\/p>\n Around 9.6% of employees are in the retail trade and repair of personal household goods sector 9.6%, and 13.3% are in business services.<\/p>\n The municipality\u2019s average annual GDP growth rate between 1996 and 2017 was 0.8%. Sectors that contributed most to GVA in 2017 were manufacturing, real estate and education.<\/p>\n The Msunduzi Local Municipality<\/strong> offers market-size spillovers to investors.<\/p>\n The municipality consists largely of Pietermaritzburg and is part of two major development corridors, namely the industrial corridor between Durban and Pietermaritzburg and the agro-industrial corridor between Pietermaritzburg and Estcourt. Moreover, the municipality is strategically placed along the N3 freeway and is connected to King Shaka International Airport and the port of Durban.<\/p>\n Sectors that contributed most to the municipality\u2019s GVA in 2017 were retail trade, land and water transport, other business activities, public administration and defence activities, education,\u00a0 and health and social work.<\/p>\n The Stellenbosch Local Municipality<\/strong> offers urbanisation-economies spillovers to investors and is located next to the Cape Town metropolitan area.<\/p>\n Its GDP grew at an average annual rate of 2.9% between 1996 and 2017. The Stellenbosch district boasts a comparative advantage in many sectors: agriculture (2.08), manufacturing (1.45), construction (1.34), financial intermediation, insurance, real estate and business services Situated in the West Rand region of Gauteng, Mogale City Local Municipality<\/strong> forms part of the development around the mining belt between Johannesburg and Krugersdorp. It has strategic transport linkages to both Johannesburg and Pretoria, and a large urban concentration between Krugersdorp and Kagiso.<\/p>\n Although Mogale City recorded an average annual GDP growth rate of 0% between 1996 and 2017, it has a location quotient above one in various industries: manufacturing (1.56), electricity, gas and water supply (1.11), construction (1.14) and community, social and personal services (1.19).<\/p>\n Most formal-sector workers are employed in business services (15.9%), with 7.6% in the manufacture of basic metals, fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment, and office, accounting and computing machinery, and 8.9% in the retail and wholesale trade.<\/p>\n The largest contributors to GVA (in 2017) were financial intermediation, insurance and pension funds and activities auxiliary to financial intermediation, and health and social work.<\/p>\n The Metsimaholo Local Municipality<\/strong>\u2019s main urban area is Sasolburg. The district\u2019s proximity to Johannesburg provides an opportunity for investors to make use of the localisation-economies spillovers created in this municipality.<\/p>\n The municipality\u2019s average annual growth rate between 1996 and 2017 was 3.2%, and the largest contributor to GVA in 2017 was the manufacture of fuel, petroleum, chemical and rubber products.<\/p>\n This sector also formally employs the most workers (14.2%), followed by construction (9.3%).<\/p>\n Another significant contributor to GVA is the mining of coal and lignite. The municipality\u2019s location quotient values for 2017 reflect this, with manufacturing at 3.21, mining at 2.11 and electricity, gas and water supply at 2.10.<\/p>\n Top 10 highest-ranking municipalities in the location attractiveness index\u00a0 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n Alexander Forbes also showed how, the attractiveness index has changed in a little over a decade:<\/p>\n
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\n(1.07), wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants (1.04) and community, social and personal services (1.00).<\/p>\n
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