Luanda, Dec 01, 2025 (Angola Press Agency/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --
Infrastructure weaknesses, such as roads and electricity, constitute the main obstacles to the progress of economic zones in Africa, considered Thursday (27), in Luanda, the director of the African Union Development Agency - New Partnership for Africa's Development (AUDA-NEPAD), Nardos Bekele-Thomas.
In statements to the press, on the sidelines of the 10th Annual Meeting of African Special Economic Zones, which took place today in Luanda, the official added to these obstacles the dependence on the import of raw materials, military conflicts and the absence of a solid industrial policy.
Nardos Bekele-Thomas said that the combination of these factors creates an unfavorable environment for the growth and integration of African special economic zones, both nationally and internationally.
"African governments must strengthen their economic strategies and allow industrial production to become a reality with significant repercussions for the development process of states and citizens," he stressed.
For his part, the Secretary-General of the African Organisation of Special Economic Zones, Ahmed Bennis, said that the absence of a robust industrial policy that supports industrialization and integration into value chains constitutes a "major obstacle."
He also said that weak governance systems and complex institutions hinder the effective implementation of economic development policies.
According to the African Union Development Agency - New Partnership for Africa's Development (AUDA-NEPAD), the continent has approximately 280 special economic zones, which together represent between 1 and 8% of the region's Gross Domestic Product.
Constraints related to precariousness in the value chain of the zones, weaknesses in access, weak investment and deficient public policies prevent the progress of these industrial projects, according to this agency. DIF/QCB/TED/jmc
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