2024-04-12 15:39:35
GSEZ in Gabon, GDIZ in Benin, PIA in Togo… From West Africa to Central Africa, via East Africa, Arise IIP’s industrial projects are multiplying. In London, the message was clear: the future of industrialization also and above all depends on the continent, a land of opportunities.
“Africa is the continent where we must invest, it is the continent of tomorrow” said Nikhil Gandhi, Executive Director of ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (Arise IIP), during the Invest Africa event held on April 10 in the British capital. This statement set the tone for this morning marked by promising discussions on the industrial future of Africa, a continent which until now has only 2% of global industrial capacity.
Invest Africa, a British organization recognized for its role in promoting business and investment in Africa, brought together African entrepreneurs and investors from around the world for a morning to provide an overview of emerging economic opportunities in the continent expected to experience one of the most promising growths in the world over the coming years. The continent’s industrial sector is projected to experience exponential growth, with output potentially reaching nearly $1 trillion over the next decade. This development would be mainly driven by the manufacturing sector, which represents a preferred route to reducing imports and effectively responding to growing local demand.
During the event, Arise IIP shared its experiences and successes in establishing special economic zones in Africa based on the public-private partnership model. Illustrating the valorization of local production, from Gabon, to the recent development in Malawi, via Benin, Togo or Chad, the pan-African company, supported by the AFC and Afreximbank, aims to create transformation sectors in sectors such as textiles, wood, meat, cashew nuts and soybeans. Arise IIP’s strategy aims to position the continent as a central player in the global manufactured goods economy, driven by competitive production costs, constantly improving infrastructure, and a young and skilled workforce.
In Gabon, the Gabon Special Economic Zone (GSEZ), which has 35,000 employees and is home to nearly 120 companies since its launch in 2009, now ranks second in the world for the production of certain tropical wood products.
In Benin, the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ) is at the heart of an ambitious project with the installation of a complex of five cashew nut processing factories. When launched, these factories are expected to process more than 100,000 tonnes of cashew nuts, with the aim of quickly increasing their capacity to process the 300,000 tonnes produced by the country. In the cotton sector, of which Benin is the leading producer, an integrated textile complex developed with Arise IIP is already operational with the aim of processing a significant part of the 700,000 tonnes of fiber harvested each year in the country. In addition, a series of processing industries, particularly in the soybean and other agricultural sectors, are emerging.
This strategy is also applied in Lomé, where the Adétikopé Industrial Platform (PIA) has already exported its first “made in Togo” clothing, and the soy processing factory has started processing its first productions. In Ivory Coast, Chad and Rwanda, similar projects are under development.
The recent expansion of Arise IIP in Nigeria, where new industrial platforms are being developed, perfectly confirms the group’s ambition to strengthen African industrial capacity.
For officials of the pan-African developer, this ambitious strategy aligns with the idea of making Africa a central hub for global exports of manufactured goods.
“The continent’s competitive advantage lies in its advantageous production costs, its constantly improving infrastructure and a young, dynamic and increasingly trained workforce.,” we insist within ARISE IIP.
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