SYSTEMIQ is proud to announce that the “Sustainable Special Economic Zone” project by The Made in Africa Initiative, LADOL and SYSTEMIQ, has been selected as one of the P4G 2018 Scale-Up Partnership Finalists.
Eight partnerships were selected from a global competition that attracted 450 nominations from 80 countries. As scale-up partnership finalists, each partnership is receiving facilitation support to advance their project’s plans and is under consideration to receive up to US$ 1 million in scale-up funding. P4G will announce the partnerships receiving scale-up funding at the P4G Copenhagen Summit.
On October 19th, the P4G Copenhagen Summit 2018 will gather Heads of States and Government, leaders of international organizations, businesses, academia, and civil society to form a powerful coalition on the Sustainable Development Goals through innovative partnerships.
Sustainable Special Economic Zones (SSEZ)
A special economic zone (SEZ) is a geographic region whose economic laws differ from those typical within the rest of the zone’s country. These discrepancies, which most often manifest in rules and laws related to lower tariffs, duties and the like, are put in place to level the economic playing field and increase foreign investments. However, while SEZs deliver economic growth and create jobs, their environmental footprint is typically disregarded, and labour conditions and community impact are often criticized. The Made in Africa Initiative and LADOL, with direct project management support from SYSTEMIQ, are evolving the concept of SEZs by moving beyond “do no harm” environmental stewardship to proactively developing zones to drive attainment of the SDGs through promoting businesses and processes that create positive social and or environmental outcomes. Through the institution of sustainable special economic zones (SSEZs), this partnership will focus on promoting human rights, social benefits and curbing the environmental impact of industrial production, while aiming to extend economic growth and job creation beyond the enclave of the zone. Building upon previous success in Nigeria, this partnership will scale in Ethiopia and Kenya, with a special focus on sustainable energy and the reuse of water and waste.
Photo Credit LADOL
