Setting up an Export processing Zone (EPZ) in Burkina Faso: learning from EPZs experiences in Asia and in Africa

The rapid economic development of the Asian Tigers in the 1980s, mostly based on export oriented policies, has inspired scholars to study the contribution of Export Processing Zones (EPZs) to economic transformation and countries around the world to implement EPZs with the expectation of duplicating the few success stories. The results in terms of economic and social progress of these policies have however been mixed, if not negative for number of countries, partially due to a non adaptation of the model to the changing domestic and international environment. For a developing country like Burkina Faso which has been for a long time looking for solutions to significant economic growth that impact the living conditions of its citizens, a successful export oriented strategy could pave the way to the development of its current week industrial base. However, although the business environment of Burkina Faso seems to allow the adoption of such a strategy, designing a realistic and realizable EPZ regime is a sine qua non for setting the basis of its success. Moreover, the implementation of the project is subject to a strong commitment and cooperation between the Government and external partners that need to be convinced of the worthiness of their investment