Cape Town named one of the world's top tech cities

15 March 2017 - 14:33 By Farren Collins
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Cape Town has been named among the leading cities in the global technology industry‚ according to a report by international real estate company Savills.

The Mother City ranked 22nd in the Tech Cities 2017 report‚ which looked at cities with a presence of home-grown start-ups and incubators.

According to the Savills report‚ tech centres like Cape Town and Argentina’s Santiago‚ “are magnets for talent in their regions and have the potential to become global players”.

American city Austin earned the top tech city accolade after attaining the best combined score across five categories‚ including business environment‚ tech environment‚ city buzz and wellness‚ talent pool and property costs.

The report coincided with the release of a pitch deck outlining Cape Town’s tech ecosystem‚ created to “ensure Cape Town is recognised as a growing economic centre for tech start-ups and enabled businesses”.

The pitch deck was compiled by the City of Cape Town‚ its trade promotion agency Wesgro‚ Silicon Cape and the Cape Innovation Technology Initiative (CiTi).

Savills

The infographic shows Cape Town has the fastest-growing economy in South Africa. Graph: Savills

The infographic states that Cape Town has the fastest-growing economy in South Africa‚ among the best internet networks in Africa and an average 12% growth in property values year-on-year.

More than half of all venture capital funds are also located in Cape Town and the city is home to 60% of all South African start-ups.

Wesgro CEO Tim Harris said Cape Town’s unparalleled infrastructure base‚ world-class universities and vibrant environment gave the region “a competitive edge and reach beyond other hubs on the continent”.

Harris also said that a number of missions had been undertaken to promote local start-ups and help them secure investment‚ partnerships and skills exchanges.

He said policies at local and provincial government levels had reduced red tape and in turn some start-up costs.

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