232
Special Economic Zones in Africa
Box 7.7 (continued)
Ninety percent of the students come from large families earning less than US$300/month; the fee for a year of full-time training is US$1,500. Expenses are partly covered by companies, charitable organizations, and governments; for example, a U.S. NGO covers transportation and a daily meal; a Swiss company that supplies chemicals to the local textiles industry donated a chemistry lab; a French company provided design equipment; and an Italian company donated sewing equipment. Roughly 95 percent of the students receive a corporate scholarship that covers 75 percent of their fees. In return, they commit to work for the sponsor for two to four years. Source: Author.
Monitoring, Enforcement, and Learning Monitoring and enforcement of labor and environmental standards in zones is improving but remains a source of weakness and risk. As discussed previously in this report, most zone programs have made significant improvements over the past decade in their de jure standards for workers’ rights. With some significant exceptions, most zone programs are now in compliance with ILO standards and operate labor regimes that do not differ from those that prevail in the national economy. But a gap remains between the de jure and de facto environments in many zones. Data are relatively limited, but anecdotal evidence suggests that labor standards, including monitoring and enforcement, tend to be better inside than outside the zone regimes in most low-income countries. In traditional assembly-based EPZs—where competition for footloose, cost-conscious investment is fierce—there is a serious risk of a race to the bottom in terms of standards enforcement. In sectors such as garments, strict codes of conduct imposed by international buyers on zone-based suppliers are increasingly prevailing over those set by the regulatory authority. But given the demands of some international buyers for ever lower costs and flexibility, it remains to be seen whether the suppliers will be able to (or choose to) comply with the codes. Despite the problems, some programs are beginning to establish structures to improve compliance and the quality of the work environment. For example, in Bangladesh, where the rights to organize labor unions and enter into collective bargaining were long banned in the zones, workers have gained increasing legal rights since 2004. The launch of the Labor