American multinational e-commerce and technology company, Amazon has announced that it would be setting up its African Headquarters in Cape Town, South Africa. This follows the approval for a new R14 billion development of a 15-hectare land by Liesbeek Leisure Properties Trust, which will host Amazon’s new African headquarters. The design aims to create a 150 000 sqm2 mixed-use space for commercial and residential purposes across two precincts. Other parts of the development include hotel, retail, gym, restaurants, school, conferencing, and events spaces.
“The planned mixed-use development will be a significant boost to the economy and the people of Cape Town in the aftermath of the national Covid-19 lockdown. The City has carefully and thoroughly considered all of the submissions and concerns during the appeal process. We are acutely aware of the need to balance investment and job creation, along with heritage and planning considerations. It is clear that this development offers many economic, social, and environmental benefits for the area. We are committed to driving investment to revitalise the economy, which is slowly recovering following the impact of Covid-19,” the Cape Town Executive Mayor Dan Plato said.
Amazon already has an Amazon Web Services (AWS) office in South Africa but does not have an office for running their operations.
