The Mpumalanga Green Economy Development Plan aims to change the province’s economy from relying on coal-based energy to one boasting biomass-based energy, sustainable agriculture, tourism and eco-conscious towns by 2030.

The Mpumalanga province is one of the primary homes of South Africa’s fossil fuel energy economy. The region faces a multitude of socio-economic and environmental challenges arising from resource-intensive economic activities.

The region also currently suffers from high levels of unemployment, inequality and poverty as pressure mounts to transition away from a coal-based economy. Under the leadership of the Mpumalanga Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDT), the National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa (NCPC-SA) established the Circular Economy Cluster as part of the Mpumalanga Green Cluster Agency.

Creating opportunities Working together with GreenCape and the international development finance community, the cluster will focus on unlocking economic opportunities in the green economy, making a contribution to regional economic diversification and job creation efforts. Lee-Hendor Ruiters, manager: Resources, Strategy and Innovation at NCPC-SA, says the cluster will be a vehicle through which circular economy initiatives and projects are established and realised.  

“The cluster aims to support small businesses to identify economic value in the repurposing, reusing and remanufacturing of waste streams, with a focus on the agricultural, energy and water sectors. This will ultimately contribute new investment opportunities to be fed into the overarching Mpumalanga Green Cluster Agency.”

Mpumalanga’s Green Cluster Agency is a system of economic activities related to the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services that result in im proved human well-being over the long term.

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