Assessing the Outcomes in Africa’s SEZs
101
Figure 3.13 Share of Females in the SEZ Workforce Compared with the Overall Nonagricultural Workforce 80
74%
70
percent
60
66% 52%
53%
57%
61%
39%
40
40% 34%
30 20
56%
51%
50 32%
32%
22%
20%
31%
21% 15%
11%
10
Se ne ga l Ta nz an ia
Ni ge ria
a
th o Le so
Ke ny
an a Gh
Do
Ba ng la m de in ica sh n Re pu bl ic Ho nd ur as Vi et na m
0
female share of SEZ employment female share of national nonagricultural employment Source: SEZ surveys.
SEZ employment is more than twice as female-intensive as employment in the nonagricultural economy overall. In Senegal and Nigeria, female participation in the overall nonagricultural economy is substantially lower than in the other countries surveyed. These findings are broadly in line with the sector specialization in the zones. In fact, the link between female workers and SEZs is not a direct one. SEZs do not attract female workers per se, but they do attract firms in sectors whose basis of competition is highly dependent on the available supply of low-wage, flexible, and unskilled/semiskilled workers, a set of requirements that often results in female workers. These firms are most likely attracted to economic zones in part because they (1) minimize costs (e.g., through tax incentives and administrative efficiencies); (2) provide access to serviced land and more reliable infrastructure; and (3) reduce the investment requirement, lowering risk and providing operational and strategic flexibility. So it is probably more appropriate to refer to sectors and tasks that are gender-concentrated rather than zones. Although female share of the labor force for a particular industry varies by country, some general patterns become clear by pooling the data from all 10 countries in the survey (see Table 3.10).