Africa Free Zones 4th annual meeting held in Addis Ababa

The 4th annual meeting of Africa free zones was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this Tuesday under the theme “Economic Zones – Accelerator for Industrialization in Africa”.

The meeting, sponsored by Africa Free Zones Organization (AFZO), was held during the “Africa Industrialization Week”, organized by the African Union Nov. 18 to 22.

Over 220 delegates representing 43 countries and 60 African economic zones attended this event, along with experts and representatives of governmental authorities, international institutions and public and private organizations, AFZO said in statement.

Several international speakers representing international and financial institutions such as UNCTAD, UNIDO, UNECA, AfDB etc. shared during this event their expertise on effective means for economic zones development in Africa.

Participants addressed various topics related to challenges and trends of African economic zones, including strategic directions and effective governance model, contribution of economic zones for FDI growth and job creation, importance of logistics competitiveness within economic zones, skills development and training, AFZO statement said.

The opening ceremony of the AFZO 4th Annual Meeting was co-chaired by Commissioner for Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission (AUC), Albert Muchanga; Ethiopian Minister of Transport, Ms Dagmawit Moges; and the President of the AFZO, Mehdi Tazi Riffi.

Africa Free Zones Organization brings together the leading African economic zones and institutions in charge of the development, management and promotion of economic zones in the continent. It seeks to enhance and improve African economic zones attractiveness and set up a tailored model for economic zones development.

The Organization currently has more than 72 members representing 37 African countries.
AFZO was founded back in 2015 by Morocco’s Tanger Med, along with other African economic zones, to serve the development of Economic Zones in Africa.

Thanks to its leading position in Africa, Tanger Med has been strongly committed since the creation of the Organization in its development and in the promotion of its activities.