Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are often overlooked when economic development and planning is done. Large corporations frequently have the advantage of being able to lobby politicians and government through their influence and size. And yet, the vast majority of companies locally and globally are in fact SME’s.

Very few people are natural born entrepreneurs; people who were born to hustle their way to the top. In fact, the vast majority of us are so scared of losing that we seldom participate in the excitement of building a new business.

A flagship project of the GDA is the development of a business park that will help entrepreneurs in the informal settlement progress into the formal economy. The aim of the business park is to help small businesses to grow, employ more local people and help drive economic recovery. Unused infrastructure has been identified at Kleinbegint that could serve for this purpose.

There is an acute awareness that tourists don’t see borders the way landowners, municipalities or regional authorities see it. As a result, tourists will seamlessly cross over boundaries if they are able to with little regard for who the owner is.

It has been proven many times over that it is easier to grow existing business than to attract new investment. For this reason it is crucial to understand the needs of business and to address critical obstacles to development.

The GDA became operational on 1st March 2021 when Cornelis van der Waal joined as CEO. Since then he has gone arounds meeting with many people in the valley to identify and help develop sustainable economic opportunities.