The opening ceremony of SEZ development workshop held in Shenzhen University (COURTESY OF ZHONG JIAN)

Advice for Africa

"I believe Africa can and must emulate China's example with regard to these SEZs," said Freemantle. Already, the cost of doing business in Africa is disproportionately high, particularly given the high transport and logistics costs associated with operating on the continent, he said. Often weak regulatory environments and political risk in African countries serve to further deter potential foreign investment. Thus, creating strong incentives and building supportive infrastructure in SEZs in strategic regional nodes on the African continent would serve as a significant support for increased FDIs, while also creating additional means for domestic employment and adding to the emergence of a viable industrial core, he said.

According to Freemantle, in order to make SEZs a reality, African governments must place them at the center of coherent central economic planning. The zones must be strategically located so as to reflect the most optimal logistical and human capital conditions, and the products, which are manufactured, should be geared primarily toward regional and intra-African export. Attractive incentives must be offered, and a strong power and transport infrastructure must be created in the zones so as to ease and facilitate the efficiency of operations, he said.

China was committed to building SEZs in Africa at the 2006 FOCAC (Forum on China-Africa Cooperation) summit. Three zones are now materializing, with the China-Zambia SEZ in the Zambian Copperbelt area of Chambishi being by far the most prominent and capital-intensive. There are also SEZs, although much smaller than the Zambia SEZ, in Mauritius and Suez in Egypt. Others are planned for Nigeria and Tanzania.

"Ultimately these SEZs will make use of Chinese infrastructure investments expertise and pave the way for deeper Sino-African commercial cooperation by providing incentives for Chinese firms to establish fixed operations in Africa," said Freemantle.

He added that African countries should seek best practice example from China, as well as other countries and regions, which have successfully used SEZs to promote investment - such as the UAE and Taiwan. Moreover, each SEZ should have specific and defined focus industries, thus monopolizing on the benefits of product clustering and lowering the cost for ultimate component manufacturers.