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02 February 2026  |  06 March 2026

Local Economic Development Executive Programme

Applications accepted until
30 January 2026
Senior Course Coordinator:
Chabi Mthembu
Accreditation:
Certificate of Competence
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Course dates
02 February 2026 - 06 March 2026
Registration closes
30 January 2026
Overview
This course aims to address the critical skills and leadership deficits in South African local government by equipping senior officials with the advanced strategic capabilities and practical tools needed to transform Local Economic Development (LED) from a peripheral function into a central, catalytic driver of inclusive economic growth. This intervention aims to empower students to master constitutional and policy frameworks, professionalise LED units, design bankable projects, and effectively govern public-private partnerships.
Duration
The content will be delivered in block release format over 2 weeks.
Format
Block 1 will be at Wits School of Governance, Parktown Management Campus, Johannesburg and block 2 will be in Tokyo, at the Graduate School of Public Policy (GraSPP), University of Tokyo, Japan.
Pricing

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    Course Content:
    • Contemporary approaches, theoretical foundations, emerging practices, and contextual understanding of LED
    • Legislative and institutional framework for LED in South Africa
    • LED as territorial, innovation-driven, and governance-enabled strategy
    • Enterprise development, and township Incentives
    • Public infrastructure planning, project selection, financing, governance, and public value
    • Adaptive governance for sustainable LED delivery
    • Economic development: local government systems, investment attraction and retention policies
    • Social development: healthcare, safety and security, disaster risk management
    • Leadership and management: effective local government leadership, change management, capacity building

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    "I have learned to apply a strategic level of financial management and allocation of resources to meet the service delivery"
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    MIRRIAM SIBANDA, Postgraduate Diploma in Management (Monitoring and Evaluation) Graduate
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