Ease of Doing Business: Adesina assures of AfDB’s support to AEZO

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By Francis Ogwo

The President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Adeshina, has assured members of the Africa Economic Zones Organization (AEZO) of the readiness of his bank to continue to invest towards closing the infrastructure gap that has limited the competitive capacity of the AEZO with other zones in Asia and other parts of the world.

Adesina made this disclosure during the keynote speech at the AEZO 5th annual meeting held recently.

According to Adesina, the impressive economic growth the Africa continent has had over the past decade, which has also seen the continent become 6 of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world pre-COVID-19, will soon be regained.

In his words: “The same fundamentals that drove growth are still there. At the core of this must be the growth of the private sector and the deployment of supportive environments for their operations.

“Globally, special economic zones have powered the economic growth of several countries. Their numbers have exploded from less than 200 in the 1980s to 5,000 today. Collectively, they have contributed exports worth $3.5 trillion, roughly 20 per cent of global trade in goods. But in Africa, special economic zones are operating in 38 countries, accounting for an annual trade turnover of $680 million.”

The AfDB boss added that the special economic zones have not been as successful as other countries in Asia, Europe and other parts of the world due to challeni of infrastructure, limited access to funding, weaker institutional environment, coordination challenges, etc.

He said, “The commencement of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), would positively change the fortunes of the continent’s AEZO, by redirecting their focus to the regional markets in the continent and enable Africa to develop its manufacturing capacity.”

The Africa Economic Zones Organization (AEZO) was created to enhance and sustain relationships between African Economic Zones and Government institutions.

This union of African Economic Zones is to facilitate cooperation towards achieving strategic objectives and contributing to the socio-economic development of AEZO members.

The organisation comprises of 79 members representing 41 African countries, and Nigeria is a member country.

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