Meaning of SEZ:
SEZs are best described as specifically designated geographic areas where economic and commercial policies are more liberal than in the rest of the country, with the aim to attract more foreign investment. The idea is not new, with colonialists having carved out such areas in their territories to function as regional trading hubs. “Nationwide” laws may be suspended inside a special economic zone.
Types of SEZ
The category ‘SEZ’ covers a broad range of more specific zone types, i Export Processing Zones (EPZ), Free Zones (FZ), Industrial Estates (IE), Free Ports, Urban Enterprise Zones and others. Usually the goal of a structure is to increase FDI by foreign investors,
Origin of SEZ:
In the PRC , Special Economic Zones were founded by the central government in the early 1980s. The most successful Special Economic Zone in China, has developed from a small village into a city with a population over 10 million within 20 years.
Institutional structures of SEZ:
SEZs have been implemented using a variety of institutional structures across the world ranging from fully public (government operator, government developer, government regulator) to ‘fully’ private (private operator, private developer, public regulator). In many cases, public sector operators and developers act as quasi-government agencies in that they have a pseudo-corporate institutional structure and have budgetary autonomy. SEZs are often developed under a private government arrangement, in which the public sector provides some level of support (provision of off-site infrastructure, equity investment, soft loans, bond issues, etc.) to enable a private sector developer to obtain a reasonable rate of return on the project (typically 10-20% depending on risk levels).
Countries which followed;
According to World Bank estimates of 2007 there are more than 3,000 projects taking place in SEZs in 120 countries worldwide.
Most successful SEZs in the world;
China’s consistently high growth rates and 50% improvement in its FDI score over the past 25 years today provide a good example of how rapid increases in economic growth and living standards can occur.
Where Chinese model suitable for African countries:
There are certain aspects of China’s developmental model that the more well-governed states of the African continent wish to emulate. These include the focus on developing export-oriented industries and facilitating the inflow of FDI. The SEZ is particularly well-suited in this regard, as the granting of legislative, duty and tax incentives is designed to encourage FDI, technology transfer, the improvement of managerial and labor skills, as well as the promotion of exports.
Commercial constraints in African continent:
The main commercial constraints hindering Africa from achieving a rapid expansion of its economies revolve around the costs of doing business (i.e. the lack of transport, communications and ICT infrastructure), the lack of appropriate technologies needed for adding value to and diversifying products, attraction of FDI and affordable finance.
As noted above, the establishment of SEZs can facilitate alleviation of these constraints and thus contribute to economic growth, provided that these enclaves have a multiplier effect on the rest of the economy, such as creating employment opportunities, stimulating the development of local upstream and downstream industries and transferring technology and skills.
What African countries have to do :
Thus it is argued that African Governments should emphasize technology transfers and “value added production on local resources” when negotiating with Chinese businesses. In addition, policymakers should take steps to avoid unsustainably rapid urbanization, as well as an exacerbation of inequality between these hubs and other regions of the country.
What China has done to the Continent:
Having drawn from its own successful development experience, China thus approached a number of African states during the 2006 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit held in Beijing to develop such economic enclaves, aiming to gain investment concessions for Chinese firms in return.
The first of these SEZs is currently under development in Chambishi, Zambia’s copper belt region. In return for China’s building of a US$ 250 million copper smelter, a so-called “anchor investment”, Chinese firms are to be granted tax and duty concessions (such as a corporate tax of 0% for the first five years of operation). The project is expected to attract Chinese investments to the value of US$ 800 million and generate around 50,000 jobs .Strategic considerations present in the Chinese development of SEZs in Africa include securing cobalt, diamonds, uranium and other strategic minerals; creating trading and trans-shipment hubs; and facilitating energy security.
India’s way of implementation of SEZ’s in the continent;
Considering the need to enhance foreign investment and promote exports from the country and realizing the need that a level playing field must be made available to the domestic enterprises and manufacturers to be competitive globally, the Indian Government had in April 2000 announced the introduction of Special Economic Zones policy in the country, deemed to be foreign territory for the purposes of trade operations, duties and tariffs. As of 2007, more than 500 SEZs have been proposed, 220 of which have been created. This has raised the concern of the World Bank, which questions the sustainability of such a large number of SEZs.
The Special Economic s in India closely follows the Chinese model.
India passed special economic zone act in 2005. In India, the government has been proactive in the development of the SEZs. They have formulated policies, reviewed them occasionally and have ensured that ample facilities are provided to the developers of the SEZs as well as to the companies setting up units in the SEZs.
The government of India launched its first SEZ in 1965, in Kandla, Gujarat. The incentives and facilities offered to the units in SEZs for attracting investments into the SEZs, including foreign investment include:-
Duty free import/domestic procurement of goods for development, operation and maintenance of SEZ units.
100% Income Tax exemption on export income for SEZ units under Section 10AA of the Income Tax Act for first 5 years, 50% for next 5 years thereafter and 50% of the ploughed back export profit for next 5 years.
Single window clearance for Central and State level approvals.
Exemption from State sales tax and other levies as extended by the respective regional Governments.
Exemption from customs/excise duties for development of SEZs.
Need for Ethiopia:
Ethiopia is located in south eastern side of Africa. It has a total land of 1120,000 sq Kms. It has only 7000 Sq Kms of water resources (0.6%). It has no coastal line. The monsoon is tropical. It has high plateau .It has much untapped reserves of minerals.
The land use consists of only 10% arable land, permanent crops accounting for only 0.65% .It is a country richly endowed with huge manpower and arable land. Much of its physical, human and natural resources potential are not yet exploited. Only 15 % of land mass is developed.
The mineral resource potential is high with gold, marble, copper, iron, zinc soda ash, is yet to be exploited. The level of development of manufacturing is at its infancy. There is wide scale hunger, poverty, illiteracy followed by unemployment and untapped natural resources. The process of industrialization is very slow.
Privatisation programmes in the country:
It is only 15 years since Ethiopia began moving from a state run economy to the market economy. The government has initiated a privatization programmed since 1995/96.The privatization programme is slowly gaining momentum. There is need for an innovative programme to overcome the problems speedily. The implementation of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in the country can be good solution to overcome the problems.
Conclusions and suggestion:
The process can be initiated on a trial basis in some backward regions and tested for its performance.
Later it can be implemented in other parts of the country, if they are convinced about the results, especially with reference to foreign exchange crisis. The entry of foreign and multinational companies solves many of its economic and to some extent social problems of the country.