U20 & G20 meetings a good springboard for attracting investments, says Tshwane's Moya

JOHANNESBURG - The Joburg and Tshwane metros are eyeing a massive investment trade-off as the cities prepare to co-host a series of meetings under the G20 banner.

The two municipalities have been named the official U20 hosts for the year, heading up the local government leg of G20.

Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya and Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero are expected to use South Africa's G20 presidency to meet with other mayors from key cities in the bloc.

By the end of the year, they plan to put forward policy recommendations to help tackle challenges faced by the country’s administrative capital and the economic hub.

In addition to concerns that only the areas where global leaders are meeting will be given a facelift, some residents have also raised questions about how Johannesburg and Tshwane can afford to play host amid a range of budget constraints, buckling infrastructure and poor service delivery.

On the contrary, Moya said that the U20 and G20 meetings were a good springboard for attracting investments and driving up tourism, which she hopes will pump capital back into both metros.

"In terms of the quantification of the investment, we have not quantified it. What we know is we have packaged the projects we want to be financed so you can say the quantification of the investments is R65 billion but we have prioritised that out of this U20 engagement and in between engagements, if we can fix our water infrastructure, our electricity infrastructure, our roads so that we turn our cities into liveable cities, that would have gone a long way."

Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero said the initiative needed to extend beyond urban areas and bring the rural areas into plans for development.

The broad themes for U20 to tackle include climate resilience, economic recovery, social equity and digital transformation and innovation.