Advanced Manufacturing - Brand South Africa

Advanced Manufacturing

Africa’s Industrial Powerhouse

South Africa produces more manufactured goods than any other country in sub-Saharan Africa—contributing R2 trillion to GDP and employing 1.8 million people across chemicals, metals, machinery, textiles, and advanced manufacturing.

This is heavy industry at scale: steel mills, chemical plants, precision engineering, and advanced manufacturing clusters producing everything from industrial valves to aerospace components

With Special Economic Zones offering tax incentives, duty-free imports on capital equipment, and streamlined customs, South Africa offers manufacturers the infrastructure, skills, and market access to produce for Africa and beyond.

Advanced Manufacturing

Success Stories

Major manufacturers—Sasol, AECI, ArcelorMittal, Barloworld—operate here. And new industrial zones are attracting investment in value-added production: the Coega SEZ for automotive components, Atlantis for greentech manufacturing, and Richards Bay for metals beneficiation.

R3B Coega Plant

R3B investment

50K+ vehicle capacity

First new OEM plant in decades

Stellantis (Netherlands/France/US) — R3 B Coega Plant

Stellantis is investing R3 billion to build a new automotive manufacturing plant in the Coega SEZ — South Africa’s first global OEM greenfield plant in decades. The facility will produce the Peugeot Landtrek bakkie, with potential hybrid variants, for domestic and export markets, with annual capacity projected above 50 000 units. The project embeds supplier development, localisation, and technical skills transfer, leveraging Coega’s port-rail logistics for continent-wide distribution. Construction is underway, with production slated for 2026.

Stellantis Press Office| Engineering News| Herald Live

Supply Chain — Aerosud

OEM-certified components

25+ years supply

EU/US aerospace exports

Airbus & Boeing Supply Chain — Aerosud

South Africa is a long-standing, export-certified aerospace supplier to Airbus, Boeing and global UAV manufacturers, anchored by high-precision engineering firms such as Aerosud (now part of Paramount Group). South African manufacturers produce aerostructures, composite panels, cabin components, avionics housings, wiring harnesses and UAV assemblies, supported by world-class R&D at CSIR and Denel. These supply-chain integrations represent consistent FDI through tooling investment, certification upgrades, and long-term procurement contracts — sustaining hundreds of high-skill industrial jobs and positioning South Africa as one of the most advanced aerospace manufacturing bases in the global south.

Engineering News | Paramount Group| CSIR | Denel

Dube TradePort Electronics Assembly

TV & appliance assembly

Dube TradePort SEZ

African export footprint

Samsung (South Korea) — Dube TradePort Electronics Assembly

Samsung operates a manufacturing and assembly facility within Dube TradePort near Durban, producing televisions and selected home appliances for South Africa and regional African markets. The plant, established in 2014 and expanded by 2018, supports Samsung’s localisation objectives and benefits from SEZ incentives, skills transfer and regional distribution efficiencies. Although highly active in SA’s consumer electronics market, Samsung does not currently manufacture solar kits or inverters locally, and no Atlantis SEZ presence or 2025 expansion has been confirmed.

Tech Central | Dube TradePort SEZ | Moneyweb

Electronics Manufacturing Expansion

SA’s largest TV producer

Atlantis SEZ plant

Sub-Saharan export hub

Hisense (China) — Electronics Manufacturing Expansion

Hisense operates the largest television and refrigeration manufacturing plant in sub-Saharan Africa, located in the Atlantis SEZ. The factory, opened in 2013 and marking 11 years of operation in 2024, produces TVs and fridges for both domestic and regional markets, with strong localisation and continued year-on-year growth. Hisense exports into multiple African markets, positioning South Africa as its continental assembly and distribution base. The plant is also transitioning toward solar-powered operations by ~2026 — an internal sustainability upgrade rather than solar-product manufacturing.

Daily Maverick | Engineering News

Advanced Manufacturing

What the world says

From investors to industry leaders, each testimony offers an outside view of the country’s reform momentum, economic resilience, and growing global influence. Together, they reveal how South Africa is shaping — and being shaped by — the future of investment, innovation, and partnership.