The United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Claver Gatete said foreign direct investment trends in Africa remain uneven and vulnerable to external shocks while investment has begun to recover in some countries.
Gatete was speaking during Thursday’s African Special Economic Zones annual meeting in Luanda, Angola being held under the theme: “African Special Economic Zones: Catalyzing Sustainable Industrial Investment and Global Value Chains Integration.”
The ECA chief scribe said more than twenty African countries face debt distress, with some paying more toward debt service than toward critical sectors like health, education and infrastructure.
Across the continent, the cost of finance continues to be at least three times higher than in developed economies, limiting the continent’s ability to invest in infrastructure, energy security and industrial growth,” Gatete said.
He underscored the need for African countries to industrialise faster, deeper and more sustainably, notwithstanding the environment in which they operate through advancing innovation, regional integration and industrial capability.
“In under two decades, Morocco’s Tanger Med, for example, has grown into one of Africa’s most strategic industrial gateways – connecting over 1,200 firms to regional and global value chains, driving more than $8 billion in annual exports and supporting over 100,000 direct jobs,” he noted.
Gatete said investors no longer seek incentives alone; they seek credibility, efficiency, sustainability and skilled workforce.
“From Ethiopia’s Eastern Industrial Zone to Nigeria’s Lekki platform and Angola’s Luanda-Bengo hub, we see strong evidence that Africa can design, build and operate globally competitive industrial ecosystems,” he said.
According to the executive secretary, Africa’s Special Economic Zones must evolve from enclaves of production to ecosystems of innovation and transformation, from isolated industrial pockets to integrated drivers of continental value chains.
He said with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Africa is re-writing its trade equation while Special Economic Zones will be central to building productive capacity across borders.
“For too long, it has often been cheaper to trade with partners outside our continent than with our own neighbors due to fragmented logistics, differing standards and tariff barriers,” Gatete stated.
The executive secretary underscored the need for African countries to align Special Economic Zone strategies with the African Continental Free Trade Area to ensure these zones serve as industrial hubs to anchor regional value chains, create jobs and expand intra-African trade.
MG/as/APA