Nairobi, 28 November 2024 – The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Africa Economic Zones Organization (AEZO), which represents the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) across the continent, have joined forces to enhance the quantity and quality of African SEZs.

 The African SEZ Annual Meeting, hosted by AEZO in collaboration with the African Union Commission, brought together over 400 participants, including the President of Kenya, William Ruto, alongside experts and C-level representatives from SEZs and Investment Promotion Agencies.

Held under the theme “Building Inclusive & Sustainable Economies: The Role of African SEZs in Attracting Impactful Investments & Redefining Competitiveness,” The event emphasized SEZs as critical drivers of Africa’s industrialization.

Mr. Gunther Beger, UNIDO’s Managing Director of the Directorate for SDG Innovation and Economic Transformation, highlighted the importance of SEZs in fostering sustainable and inclusive industrialization, boosting Africa’s integration into global value chains, particularly in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

A highlight of the Annual Meeting was the launch of the joint UNIDO-AEZO report, “Characteristics, Trends, and Way Forward for Special Economic Zones in Africa: Insights from a UNIDO-AEZO Survey”, accessible here. Based on data from 63 SEZs across 26 African countries, the report offers a detailed examination of the current state and potential of African SEZs and identifies three strategic pathways forward: improving governance, harnessing digital tools, and expanding into new sectors. The findings underscore the need for transparency and information to promote private investments into SEZs in Africa, and hence increase the occupancy rate from the current average of 70%.  Targeted technical cooperation can help strengthening institutional capacities, fostering sustainable practices, and attracting the quality and economic diversification of investments.

During the report launch, Mr. Ondrej Simek, Deputy Head of Mission of the EU Delegation to Kenya, praised the publication as a significant knowledge product of the ACP Business-Friendly Programme, noting its relevance in the context of the 2023 EU-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

To formalize this collaboration, UNIDO and AEZO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), underscoring their shared commitment and opening the door towards joint activities with AEZO and other partners to support the development and quality of SEZs in Africa. The MoU signing aligns with UNIDO’s ongoing initiatives focused on SEZ and Industrial Park Development, such as the Eco-Industrial Park Programmes, the African Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones (ASAP-Z) initiative and the Integrated Agro-Industrial Parks Programme aiming to transform rural areas into agro-industrial corridors of prosperity. The cooperation will also shape continental initiatives fostering Africa's industrialization ambitions, as recently articulated during the High-Level Event on the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa taking place during the 79th United Nations General Assembly and the Summit of the Future.

To further support informed decision-making, up-to-date information on industrial parks is made available on UNIDO’s Invest in ACP platform, enabling investors to make data-driven decisions. Additionally, UNIDO’s Industrial Park Platform provides a comprehensive framework of technical cooperation tools to foster sustainable industrial parks and SEZ development.

The UNIDO Office in Kenya, led by its Representative Ms. Tally Einav, played a vital role in facilitating UNIDO’s participation in the event and remains a key contact for inquiries about UNIDO’s SEZ initiatives in East Africa.

For additional information and inquiries, please contact:

Stefan Kratzsch, Head of Unit, UNIDO IET/PST/SIB

S.Kratzsch@unido.org

and

Tally Einav, UNIDO Representative, (UNIDO) Kenya Office

T.Einav@unido.org

and

Victor Djemba, Chief, Regional Bureau for Africa

V.Djemba@unido.org

and

Farah Hanafi, Executive Director, Africa Economic Zones Organization

f.hanafi@africaeconomiczones.com