The symposium, organized by ECA/SRO-CA in collaboration with CEMAC, UNDP, UNIDO, the AUC, AfDB and other strategic partners, is a logical follow-up to the work sessions of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts and Senior Officials to be held in Seychelles in 2022, the subregional Webinar on the challenges and opportunities of NGSEZs for economic diversification and industrialization in Central Africa, as well as the ongoing efforts and recent work of partner institutions such as UNDP, the AfDB, UNIDO and the AUC, to promote and operationalize NGSEZs in Africa in general, and in Central Africa in particular.
The overall objective of the symposium is to bring together stakeholders (governments, private sector, financial institutions, development partners), to discuss and explore ways and means of facilitating and accelerating the operationalization of NGSEZs in Central Africa, as an instrument for inclusive and sustainable industrialization and economic diversification in Member States.
Specifically, the symposium will seek to:
Strengthen the capacities of decision-makers, the private sector and other stakeholders involved in NGSEZ development in Central Africa, to enable them to make better-informed decisions when choosing and setting up these zones, and to monitor their implementation more effectively. Emphasis will be placed, among other things, on the economic, fiscal and commercial advantages and regulatory framework of SEZs, and on the contribution of SEZs to sustainable development objectives, the AU's Agenda 2063, to the operationalization of industrial strategies, and to the development of high-potential value chains.
Strengthen cooperation frameworks through the power of partnership and collective action, by mobilizing experts on the implementation of SEZs in Africa, strategic investors, international organizations, donors and other stakeholders interested in helping countries and regional economic communities (RECs) in the sub-region learn before building their NGSEZs and supporting them in this process.
Co-create a regional platform of implementing partners able to support the countries of the sub-region in their constantly renewed efforts to accelerate and expand industry.
Identify capacity gaps and other needs that could be addressed through a joint program on SEZs in Central Africa, which will aim to support states in the sub-region in developing and managing more inclusive and sustainable SEZs.
Expected results are:
The step-by-step acquisition of an in-depth understanding of the key aspects of setting up NGSEZs, the issues involved in developing the strategic support infrastructures to interconnect them, and the engines and launch pads to get them off the ground.
The co-creation of an inter-agency working group and a robust regional cooperation platform to accelerate the operationalization of industrialization strategies and the implementation of high-potential value chain and new-generation SEZ approaches.
The launch of work on a joint program to support the states of the sub-region in the development and implementation of new-generation SEZs, which would contribute to inclusive and sustainable industrialization and other broader economic and social development objectives.