Limpopo Investment Conference created 23 000 jobs over 5 years: Will the 2026 edition deliver more?
· Citizen
Limpopo residents have their eyes set on what the 2026 Limpopo Investment Conference will deliver, as previous editions have delivered tangible results.
These conferences usually speak of “pledges” and “commitments”; however, Premier Phophi Ramathuba said these words mean nothing without investment.
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“A pledge is not yet an investment. An investment is not yet a project. And a project is not yet an economic outcome until it creates production, employment, exports and prosperity,” she said.
Commitments create jobs in Limpopo
Speaking at the launch, Ramathuba said the conference was established in 2021 and it has since delivered results.
“Since the inaugural Limpopo Investment Conference in 2021, the province has positioned itself as a strategic economic gateway to the Southern African Development Community (SADC), leveraging its geographical location, mineral wealth, agricultural potential, tourism assets and opportunities in energy and industrial development.
“The province has secured more than R450 billion in cumulative investment commitments over the past five years, including a record R170 billion in pledges from 47 investment commitments at the 2025 Limpopo Investment Conference. These have resulted in over 23 000 direct employment opportunities provided for Limpopo citizens.”
Confidence in Limpopo
Ramathuba said the scale of these commitments demonstrated strong investor confidence in Limpopo, but emphasised the need for implementation.
She added that the 2026 conference would therefore focus on accelerating the conversion of investment commitments into bankable projects, construction, production, jobs, exports and sustainable economic activity.
“Our responsibility now is to ensure that the confidence investors have placed in Limpopo translates into factories, productive farms, beneficiated minerals, infrastructure, enterprises and sustainable jobs for our people,” said Ramathuba.
2026 edition
She said the 2026 edition will position Limpopo as the province for a new phase of investment-led industrialisation focused on converting investment commitments into bankable projects, jobs, production and inclusive economic growth.
The conference will be held on 15 October 2026 at The Ranch in Polokwane.
Professor Waldo Krugell, an economist at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the North-West University (NWU), previously told The Citizen that in the case of the conference, pledges are promises.
However, the issue has two parts. “The first is about the success of the investment conference in itself,” he said.
“Does it actually crowd in new investment that wouldn’t have taken place anyway? Many commentators have this view that businesses pledge or promise investments there that they probably would have undertaken anyway.
“It’s a nice opportunity to showcase the initiative, to get some PR value, to spend some time with the top politicians. In that sense, it’s not a new investment, but sure it’s investment.”
No way to force the promise to be kept
On whether the government can force people who have made pledges to deliver, Krugell said there is no way.
“There’s also no real mechanism for forcing these firms to keep to their commitments,” he said.
“They could simply say six months down the line or a year down the line that they’ve re-evaluated and the project is not profitable anymore and, based on that, they’re going to pursue something else.
“This is all private sector plans that are announced there, and you can’t keep them to it. So the cynic would say that these investment conferences are nice for good vibes, but if you really want to increase investment, start with some service delivery.”