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China-Africa Trade Information Service
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With the industrialization of African countries, Chinese-built industrial parks and free trade zones have gained momentum in the socio-economic drive of the African continent.
Located about 40 km south of Addis Ababa, the Eastern Industrial Zone (EIZ), built and operated by Chinese companies, is widely viewed as the benchmark for the development of industrial parks in Ethiopia.
According to the report, the park, once fully operational, will create some 12,000 direct jobs for Ethiopians. The EIZ, Ethiopia’s first industrial zone, has provided more than 10,000 jobs for local people.
Thanks to the industrialization driven by industrial parks, Ethiopia’s gross domestic product remained at a growth rate of about 10 percent between 2008 and 2017, creating an economic miracle on the African continent.
As Ethiopia envisions building 15 industrial parks in the coming few years, it is estimated that the parks alone will produce more than 150,000 direct jobs.
As the East African country is exploring ways to realize its demographic dividend while transforming its agriculture-dominated economy towards a manufacturing hub of Africa, China’s development model of industrial parks has been considered as an option.
Currently, 15 industrial parks are in the pipeline across Ethiopia, most of which are being constructed by Chinese companies. Six of the industrial parks have officially gone operational in the past few years, attracting a large number of transnational companies from China, India, South Korea and other countries.
Besides Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, Chinese-built industrial parks and free trade zones, which are key to attracting investors, have taken root in many other African countries. It also created jobs for local citizens and promoted the economic development of these countries.