NIGERIA EXPORT PROCESSING ZONES AUTHORITY (NEPZA)
The Nigeria Free Zone Scheme was introduced in 1992 by the federal government as a policy instrument to drive the economy on a path of industrialization and economic development.
The NEPZA Act No. 63 of 1992 established the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) as the government agency with the mandate to handle the responsibility of establishing, licensing, regulating, and monitoring of free zones in Nigeria.
Due to global dynamics, the Nigeria Free Zones was modified in 2001 to expand the scope of free zones from export oriented activities to include agriculture, commerce, logistics, ICT, tourism, real estate, and more.
The Free Zone program is now liberalized to allow the active participation of the private sector of the economy. It has three types of ownership namely:
- Public Free Zones
- Private Free Zones and
- A combination of both
NEPZA has created 34 Free Zones spread across the country. Some of the Zones cater for a specific area of economic enterprise while others are more general in nature. There are currently over 300 licenced Free Zone enterprises operating in the various Zones across the country.
Website: www.nepza.gov.ng/