Free Zone Organisation Pledges To Promote Investment In Africa — Official

Africa Director, World Free Zones Organisation (WFZO), Mr Chris Ndibe, has said that the organisation was committed to promoting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Africa.
Ndibe, who is also the Executive Secretary of Africa Free Zones Association (AFZA), made the assertion in an interview with journalists in Abuja.
According to him, the formation of WFZO with 14-member countries is aimed at moving to profitable level free zones in the developing countries, especially Africa.

Africa Director, World Free Zones Organisation (WFZO), Mr Chris Ndibe, has said that the organisation was committed to promoting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Africa.
Ndibe, who is also the Executive Secretary of Africa Free Zones Association (AFZA), made the assertion in an interview with journalists in Abuja.
According to him, the formation of WFZO with 14-member countries is aimed at moving to profitable level free zones in the developing countries, especially Africa.
He said the involvement of private investors in the power sector would help to ensure adequate power supply and boost investment in the free zones in Africa.
Ndibe explained that investment opportunity in the continent was getting wider with the global attention shifting to Africa and urged African countries to tap into the opportunity.
“We will ensure that we consolidate on what we have in Africa even though we have not been finding it easy. The scheme in its nature is on environment and people," he said.
The director said that free zone scheme had been successful in other parts of the world but had not worked effectively in the developing economies of Africa.
He attributed the challenges facing the scheme to environmental factors and lack of synergy between zone authorities and other relevant agencies in many countries in Africa.
He listed countries like the U.S., China, Colombia and the United Arab Emirates as successful in free zone scheme, saying that South American countries were coming on strong.
Ndibe said that the countries had made Africa their dumping ground, adding that those products came from their free zones because of incentives the investors enjoyed.
He noted that the formation of the organisation was also to share knowledge of free zone between countries that had been successful and those that are just coming up with their scheme.
He explained that the organisation would collaborate with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) to enable it work effectively with customs administration of member countries.
The director said that WCO was part of the inauguration of WFZO, adding that it had promised to support the development of free zones in the developing economies.
According to him, WFZO's link with the WCO will help to solve the problem confronting free zones with customs in many African countries.
He said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by WFZO with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) on May 19 was meant to assist the developing countries.
Ndibe explained that the focus of the MoU was on training and financial assistance and sharing of experiences on free zone scheme.