05/05/ 2011 

Export Processing Zone Authority’s (EPZA) Director General Adelhelm Meru took part in the third China-Africa Experience Sharing Programme recently where he recommended a win-win investment partnership between Africa and the Asian economic giant.

He particularly challenged the Chinese to accelerate investment in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Africa, "Chinese investors have to create jobs through value addition as well as training of local residents instead of just taping African (raw) resources.”

Dr Meru was speaking at the opening ceremony of the programme that the Chinese government and World Bank co-hosted in Beijing. He was optimistic that China would play her supportive role in the zones’ master planning and exchanging expertise in infrastructure set up.

And, Deputy Executive Secretary in the President’s Office Happiness Mgalula concurred with Dr Meru, saying increased investments will have positive impact on African economies.

“Accelerating investment in African SEZs will definitely bear positive effects to African economies provided that local governments formulate good policies to support their own development needs,” she said.

Chinese Vice-Minister of Finance Wang Jun said the Chinese government set up the SEZs in the early 1980s to test the market economy model and promote export oriented and labor intensive industries. The concept later caught on throughout the country.

"SEZs and infrastructure construction are among fields that can best reflect features of Chinese economic development since our economic reforms started over 30 years ago,” said Wang.

China, according to Deputy International Trade representative of the Ministry of Commerce Chong Quan, has invested in some industrial zones and would continue developing SEZs that cater for different development models across the African continent.

The exact amount of Chinese investment in African SEZs was however not disclosed.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said of China, "The Chinese government supports set up of SEZs in some countries in Africa…it is a welcome initiative to expand China's investment in Africa beyond the minerals and infrastructure sectors, to activities that provide for job creation.”

SEZs played critical role in attracting foreign investment and technology as well as forming fundamental industrial clusters to China's economic success as one of the world's largest manufacturing centers. As of 2007, SEZs accounted for 22 percent of China’s GDP.