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Special Economic Zones as drivers of development of regional value chains in the context of the AfCFTA

Sunday, 16 March 2025 15:23

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are a particularly trending topic at the moment. The role of this policy tool was discussed during the fifty-seventh session of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) held in Addis Ababa from 17 and 18 March 2025 on the occasion of the Conference of the African Union Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. At this event, a specific round table explored the role of these important policy tools as drivers of the development of regional value chains in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). A concept note developed by ECA to guide the discussions provides an overview of such tools, revealing that Africa has witnessed a strong growth in their number since 1990 (when there were only 20), reaching the considerable number of 237 in 2020, mainly concentrated in Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Egypt. However, despite this proliferation, these zones have delivered mixed results, in terms of attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) and know-how, creation of employment and improvement of trade balances through increased exports. This is due to persistent challenges as weak cross-industry linkages and infrastructure connections. But there is more...

The African trend towards the privatization of port operations: opportunity or risk? ...Or both?

Friday, 14 March 2025 15:54

A recent article published by the Washington-based African Center for Strategic Studies analyses the presence of Chinese firms in African ports, concluding that they are active in 78 of them, out of 231 commercial ports in total (a comprehensive mapping of African ports is offered by MaritimAfrica). This presence, the article notes, is multifaceted. Distributed across 32 African countries, with a strong concentration in West Africa (35 ports), it takes various forms, ranging from building, financing or operating port facilities. Cases where Chinese companies dominate all these segments also exist, like the new Lekki Deep Sea Port in Nigeria. After West Africa, China's presence is also important in East Africa (in 17 ports), Southern Africa (15 ports), and North Africa (11 ports). In order to understand the scale of such presence, Latin America and the Caribbean host only 10 Chinese-built or operated ports, while Asian countries 24.

AfCFTA: status, achievements, opportunities and main obstacles to its implementation

Monday, 10 March 2025 15:49

A publication from AfCFTA Dialogues, a platform dedicated to promoting awareness and understanding of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), provides a concise, yet complete analysis of the current status of the AfCFTA implementation in light of the 2023 African Union's (AU) theme on accelerating the implementation of the agreement. After describing the process that led to the AfCFTA adoption, as well as the achievements and opportunities that derive from it, the document maps the key obstacles to its implementation, providing some recommendations to address them.

ISDS clauses in investment agreements drain millions of dollars from African taxpayers

Friday, 07 March 2025 10:14

Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization founded in 1971 and headquartered in Washington, recently published on its website an alarming paper, issued in December 2024, titled “The Scramble for Africa Continues: Impacts of Investor-State Dispute Settlement on African Countries”. The paper argues that the trend to include in investment agreements a system to resolve disputes with host States known as "Investor-State Dispute Settlement" (ISDS) is costing millions of dollars to African taxpayers.

Will Africa be able to exploit the potential of a globally booming ocean economy?

Tuesday, 04 March 2025 17:53

According to a recent UNCTAD note, the ocean economy has grown globally approximately 2.5 times in the last 3 decades, with a strong acceleration of South-South trade recorded in the latest years between developing countries, despite the high tariffs applied (developing countries apply average tariffs of 14% on their reciprocal exchange of fish products, compared the 3.2% in high-income countries). From 2021 to 2023, fish (primary) exports along the South-South axis rose of 43% (for a total of 19 billion USD), while processed fish exports jumped to 89%, reaching 23 billion USD. Trade in ocean goods and services reached in 2023 record highs of 899 billion USD and 1.3 trillion USD, respectively. This highlights the growing importance of marine activities, especially for coastal and island nations in developing countries, where fisheries alone sustain about 600 million people.

News

Special Economic Zones as drivers of development of regional value chains in the context of the AfCFTA

The African trend towards the privatization of port operations: opportunity or risk? ...Or both?

AfCFTA: status, achievements, opportunities and main obstacles to its implementation

ISDS clauses in investment agreements drain millions of dollars from African taxpayers

Will Africa be able to exploit the potential of a globally booming ocean economy?

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