The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Sub Regional Office for Southern Africa (SRO-SA) is organising a series of webinars to promote the implementation of regional and national industrialization policies for accelerated inclusive and sustainable development in Southern Africa.
The SRO-SA Webinar Series will be organized on the four themes of
(i) Leveraging SEZs for private sector development and sustainable industrialization
(ii) COVID-19 coping strategies and economic development in the post COVID era
(iii) Domestication of regional frameworks on industrialization and
(iv) National harmonization of regional strategies and policies to support industrial development in Southern Africa -focusing on Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The series will kick- off on the 1st of February 2023 with a discussion on Special Economic Zones (SEZs) focusing on how to harness a new generation of zones for private sector development and inclusive industrialisation in the region.
Objective of the Webinar
The overall objective of the Webinar is to disseminate the key policy recommendations from the policy brief as well as provide a platform for member States and other stakeholders to discuss and synthesize on the policy directions for harnessing SEZs as a tool to foster competitiveness and private sector development.
Specifically, the Webinar will,
- educate participants on the role of SEZs in industrialization;
- Discuss approaches towards inclusive industrialization within and between SEZs;
- discuss fundamental considerations for leveraging SEZs as a development tool in Southern Africa;
- discuss country-specific experiences on SEZs to learn and guide similar initiatives across the region,
- interrogate the challenges and opportunities for development of successful SEZs in support of regional industrialization; and
- provide direction for implementation of successful SEZs, including cross-border SEZs, in the region.
Programme
The Webinar will include a synopsis on the recent work by the UNECA SRO-SA in this area; two presentations from academia and UNIDO on the topic of developing/leveraging SEZs as a development tool in Southern Africa and the sharing of country experiences on the development of a successful SEZ. Participants will have an opportunity to contribute to the discussions throughout the Webinar via the live chat as well as the 45-minute question and answer session before the closure of the programme.
MEDIA CONTACT
Lavender C. Degre
Communication Officer
UNECA-SRO-SA
DL : +260 211 376607
Email : lavender.degre@un.org
WEBINAR SERIES CONTACT
Voronica Mufudza
Junior Economic Affairs Consultant
UNECA-SRO-SA
Cell : +260 767672456
Email: voronica.mufudza@un.org
