North West Premier Lazarus Mokgosi has expressed optimism ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to the province saying the meeting will use it to highlight areas that require support and collaboration from the national government to unlock growth and develop initiatives.

Ramaphosa is due to visit the province on September 12, as part of the 2025 national government programme to foster and strengthen inter-government relations, to ensure the full implementation of the priorities of the Medium-Term Development Plan.

He highlighted that as part of addressing unemployment and poverty, the province recently adopted the Growth and Development Strategy, which is centred on repositioning the provincial economy through its main economic drivers, such as mining, agriculture and tourism.

Mokgosi said this includes prioritising the Bojanala Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which has so far garnered investments commitments of over R2-billion, and which will create close to 20 000 jobs once it is granted an operational license.

"The SEZ, once operational, will go a long way in assisting the province address the scourge of unemployment and poverty afflicting our communities. I have met several mining companies since the start of this year and have expressed interest in seeing to it that the SEZ succeeds and achieves its intended objectives,” he said.

In relation to the state of local governance, the province recently launched the fifth phase of the Accelerated Service Delivery Programme –Thuntsha Lerole – to assist municipalities address various service delivery challenges impacting their administrative and developmental trajectory.