Nigeria’s Special Economic Zones have received more than $66 billion in foreign direct investment and N620 billion in domestic direct investment.
The PUNCH reported that the Chairman of the Nigeria Economic Zones Association, Nabil Saleh, said this at the association’s annual general meeting on Wednesday in Lagos.
He stated that the investments have resulted in the creation of 35,000 direct and indirect jobs, hence boosting socioeconomic development in the country.
Giving a sectoral breakdown of the investments, he stated that the manufacturing sector accounted for 45% of overall investments, followed by the service sector (30%).
He then claimed that the oil and gas sector accounted for 11% of investments, while the trading, logistics, and agriculture sectors also make substantial contributions.
According to Saleh, the establishment of SEZs in Nigeria has resulted in the development of Africa’s largest oil refinery, a deep sea port capable of handling approximately 6 million twenty-foot equivalent units of containers, a gas processing hub along the Atlantic Coast, and an oil and gas downstream manufacturing hub, among others.
“The success experiences of countries with well-established SEZ programs demonstrate the transformative power of these zones. Nations like as China, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates have used SEZs to attract foreign direct investment, stimulate industrialization, and promote innovation.
“In these countries, SEZs have become beacons of economic progress, contributing significantly to their GDP and job creation,” he went on to say.
In Nigeria, the Free Zone Program was started in1992 through the enactment of Act No. 63 of 1992, which provided for the establishment of Special Economic Zones in the country.
Some of the country’s most significant free zones are the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos, the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone, the Abuja Technology Village in FCTA, the KoKo Free Zone in Delta State, the Warri Industrial Business Park in Delta State, and the ICT Park Asaba in Delta State.
According to the Managing Director of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, Olufemi Ogunyemi, SEZs must be re-engineered in light of the fourth industrial revolution, increased emphasis on sustainable development, and a new wave of global value chains.
“As a result, it is expected that the interactive sessions would provide an opportunity for stakeholders to debate crucial problems in greater detail, such as standardizing free zone operations; tax administration in free zones; sharing experiences on free zone policies and operations, and developing actionable solutions.
The Managing Director of the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority, Bamanga Jada, stated that despite the problems faced by operators and licensees, the authority had attracted $24 billion in investment.
He also stated that the authority-regulated free zones had over 100 licensed enterprises.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, acknowledged the success of SEZs in Nigeria and called for a collaborative approach that would involve both the public and private sectors in providing a more coherent and consistent operational environment to alleviate the challenges faced by stakeholders in the scheme.
The challenges, he stated, include regulatory complications, infrastructure shortfalls, and insufficient access to funding, among others.
