Symposium on Harmonization of Special Economic Zones in Africa to be Held in Douala Next Week

Addis Ababa, January 19, 2025 (ENA)— A symposium is scheduled to take place in Douala, the capital of Cameroon, next week, aimed at effectively aligning frameworks for the development and implementation of new-generation special economic zones across Africa.

The economic commission for Africa (ECA), African Union, African Development Bank, UNIDO and UNDP are organizing the symposium from January 21 to 23, 2025.

Experts from ECCAS and CEMAC member states and their respective RECs will discuss, together with financial organizations, development partners and the private sector, ways of accelerating the set-up of special economic zones (SEZs) in Central Africa, as an instrument for inclusive and sustainable industrialization and economic diversification.

The symposium's ultimate aim is to structure a well-understood shared commitment, according to ECA.  

By way of illustration, it is expected to co-create an inter-agency working group and a robust regional cooperation platform to accelerate the operationalization of industrialization strategies and the implementation of high-potential value chain and new-generation SEZ approaches.

Similarly, the symposium is expected to launch work on a joint program to support the sub-region's states in the development and implementation of new generation SEZs, which would contribute to inclusive and sustainable industrialization and other broader economic and social development objectives.

Central Africa is committed to reducing its vulnerability to exogenous shocks, such as inflation, overindebtedness and budget imbalances.

To remedy this situation, States and Regional Economic Communities have defined sub-regional and national import-substitution strategies.

These strategies, anchored in industrialization plans, should guarantee the successful implementation of the AfCFTA, in line with the commitments made at the extraordinary summit of the African Union in Niamey (Niger) in November 2022.

The Director of the Economic Commission for Africa's Sub-Regional Office for Central Africa, Jean Luc Mastaki remarked that the development of regional value chains requires an alignment of industrialization frameworks, of which Special Economic Zones are the main tool.