News & Publications

By: Emmanuel Adefeso (Esq.)

The Federal Government of Nigeria has approved the designation of four international airports as Special Free Economic Zones (hereinafter referred to as “SEZ”).

The announcement was made by the Honourable Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who revealed this on his Twitter handle on Thursday 20^th day of May, 2021, as follows; “I am very glad to announce that Mr. President has approved our four international airports as Special Economic Zones. These are Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt. Our roadmap is working.”

A SEZ is a zone with business and trade laws that are different from the rest of the country and are usually located within a country’s national borders with the aim of increasing investment, job creation, and effective administration. In Nigeria, a Free Trade Zone is a category of the special economic zone as they are areas where goods may be landed, manufactured, handled, stored, or perhaps reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation. The goods processed for export from free trade zones are not subject to customs duty. The government agency overseeing the activities in the free trade zones in Nigeria is the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) established under the Nigeria Export Processing Zone Act Cap N107 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 (the Act).

The move by the Federal Government in designating the four international airports as SEZ is commendable and will no doubt, promote exports of goods and services, investment from domestic and foreign sources, create employment opportunities and develop infrastructure facilities in those areas and particularly in the aviation sector of the Nigerian economy.

Disclaimer: This news update is intended only to provide general information and does not by itself constitute or serve as legal advice. For further information, we are available to provide detailed legal advice. For more information contact us on info@asalawpractice.org or call 0908 482 0000, 0806 749 8777