The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) has called for the integration of Nigeria’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs) into European value chains as a strategy to drive economic growth, prosperity, and industrialisation.
The Managing Director of NEPZA, Dr. Olufemi Ogunyemi, made the call on Monday at a trade and investment facilitation meeting held at the European House in Abuja.
Addressing European diplomats and stakeholders, Ogunyemi said Nigeria’s Free Zones, operating under NEPZA’s strategic framework, could serve as effective platforms for strengthening EU Nigeria economic cooperation amid ongoing global economic realignments.
” It is a privilege to address this distinguished gathering at this critical moment in global economic history,” he said.
“Our discussion today examines how Nigeria’s Free Zones can enhance EU–Nigeria economic cooperation as the global order shifts from a predictable, rules based system to one shaped by changing alliances and economic pressures.
According to him, the European Union should increasingly leverage Nigeria’s Special Economic Zones to expand and deepen its economic partnership with Africa’s largest economy.
Ogunyemi noted that EU leaders have articulated a vision of European independence and economic strength anchored on diversified, resilient, and strategically aligned partnerships, rather than reliance on a narrow set of global suppliers.
He added that increased EU economic activities along Nigeria’s SEZ corridors would reduce dependency concentration, safeguard critical supply chains, and stimulate economic engagement across high growth regions of West Africa.
The NEPZA chief further observed that recent EU efforts to realign its economy underscored the need for mutually beneficial partnerships between Europe and Africa, adding that deeper engagement through Special Economic Zones could accelerate shared economic gains.
“Even as we acknowledge that the European Union is Africa’s leading partner in trade and investment with trade in goods nearing €355 billion in 2024 and services exceeding €100 billion the dominance of raw material exports from Africa remains a shared strategic challenge,” he said.
He warned that overreliance on primary commodities without meaningful value addition hampers industrial growth, limits human capital development, and threatens the long term sustainability of EU–Africa supply chains, stressing that targeted investments in Nigeria’s economic zones could help address these imbalances.
The meeting was attended by ambassadors of European nations, heads of delegation of EU member states, as well as representatives of the European Commission and the European External Action Service.
