The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) has called on American investors and institutions to seize the vast business opportunities available within Nigeria’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs), describing them as engines of industrial growth and regional competitiveness.
Olufemi Ogunyemi, Managing Director of NEPZA, appealed while delivering a lecture titled “Free Zones and Industrial Competitiveness: Catalysing Investment Through Regulatory Innovation” at a side event of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Thursday in New York.
The event, themed “Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria: A New Era of Economic Opportunities,” brought together U.S. business councils, chambers of commerce, and development partners to discuss prospects for deeper investment ties.
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In a statement signed by Martins Odeh, NEPZA’s Head of Corporate Communications, Ogunyemi said Nigeria’s Free Zones were not just designated areas but thriving business enclaves designed to host industrial upgrades and attract regionally scalable investments.
“We are therefore asking U.S. investors and institutions to undertake site visits to Lagos Free Zone, Lekki Free Zone, Abuja Industrial Park Free Zone (AIPFZ), and other Nigerian zones to see infrastructure and anchor tenants operating,” he said
According to him, NEPZA is seeking partnerships to develop anchor projects that would expand into factory shells for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), create jobs, and strengthen local procurement. He also invited investors to co-finance shared infrastructure to enable tenant investments and scale up export production.
“We are seeking partnerships for anchor projects that would transform into Small and Medium Enterprises’ factory shells, creating jobs and promoting local procurement content.
“We also invite investors to participate in co-financing shared infrastructure that enables hundreds of tenant investments and to support the scaling up of production for exports,’’ Ogunyemi said.
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Ogunyemi assured prospective investors of regulatory clarity, robust due diligence processes, and a business-friendly environment, highlighting four key drivers of competitiveness within the zones: world-class infrastructure, regulatory predictability, cluster effects, and market access.
He emphasised that the Federal Government, through NEPZA, was committed to deepening private capital participation in infrastructure development under both private and public-private partnership (PPP) models, which remain the backbone of the scheme’s transformation.
The NEPZA boss further pointed to Nigeria’s large domestic market as a springboard for regional growth and international exports, urging U.S. businesses to view the country not only as an investment destination but also as a gateway to Africa.
