The Department of Economic Development and Tourism in the Northern Cape says transportation continues to be an important sector to drive socio-economic development in the province.
This was revealed during engagements around transport challenges at Inaugural Tourism Investment Forum Africa taking place in Upington on Thursday morning.
The department says tourists spend about 30% of their budget on transport. It says transport contributes 8% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Northern Cape.
Department’s acting Chief Director, Riaan Warie says, “A lot of our commodities for products are exported through ports in other provinces. That makes the costs of our products to market more expensive. So, to alleviate this challenge, we are developing a port on the west port which is called boegoebaai port.
“[The port] will be used to export natural products but also to export the new kid on the block, the energy source which is called green hydrogen.”
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