Published on 27 Aug 2025

Arise IIP puts up new industrial zones in Africa

Industrial developer doubles down on manufacturing in Cameroon, Tanzania, and Nigeria

Officials at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Dibamba Industrial-Port Activities Zone. Photo source: Business & Finance International

Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms (Arise IIP) has kicked off the development of two new industrial parks in Cameroon and Tanzania, and announced plans to invest in a US$2bn garment manufacturing hub in Nigeria.

In Cameroon, Arise IIP has broken ground on the US$410m Dibamba Industrial-Port Activities Zone, a public-private partnership with the Port Authority of Douala. The 470-hectare project on the banks of the Dibamba River, near the country’s economic hub of Douala, will combine a logistics facility with an industrial park. The Dibamba Douala Logistics Platform will feature warehouses and storage space to help ease congestion at the existing port of Douala, to which it will be linked by both road and maritime routes. The facility is also expected to strengthen trade with landlocked countries such as the Central African Republic and Chad, which rely on Cameroon’s ports for imports.

The Dibamba Douala Industrial Park will provide infrastructure for a variety of manufacturers and offer investors tax incentives. The zone is targeting sectors ranging from agro-processing to pharmaceuticals. Cameroon’s timber industry presents particular promise. The country is one of the world’s largest exporters of tropical hardwood, but shipments have historically been limited to raw logs and sawn wood products that are largely unprocessed. In recent years, the government has moved to curb such exports and encourage local processing. Arise IPP has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Dibamba Wood Industries to operate in the zone.

Further east, in Tanzania, Arise IIP has laid the foundation stone for the Kwala Industrial Park, a 1,000-hectare development about 80km from the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. The project, a joint venture with local engineering and construction firm Group Six, will seek to attract industries including agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, automotive and textiles. It is strategically located near the Kwala Inland Dry Port and connected to Tanzania’s new standard gauge railway – a US$10bn network linking Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean to Mwanza on Lake Victoria, and further to neighbouring countries. Once fully operational, the railway is expected to greatly improve the movement of cargo both within Tanzania and across the region.

The Dubai-based integrated industrial park specialist Arise IIP has also partnered with Nigeria’s Ogun State, bordering the commercial hub of Lagos, to build a US$2bn garment manufacturing hub. The integrated complex will have the capacity to produce 4.4m items of clothing a day and process up to 1,000 tonnes of cotton daily. It is estimated that the project will generate as many as 150,000 direct and indirect jobs.

The project will be located within Arise’s Industrial Platform Remo (IPR) Free Zone, which targets sectors including agro-processing, light manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and logistics. The zone is adjacent to the new Gateway International Agro-Cargo Airport, which will offer cargo and passenger services for industrial users. Arise IIP will oversee construction and manage the garment hub, with work scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2025 and operations expected to commence by mid-2026.

Ogun state borders the commercial hub of Lagos. To bolster raw material supply, the state has allocated 10 hectares for cotton cultivation and plans to work with local farmers through an outgrower scheme backed by guaranteed offtake agreements. Items manufactured at the hub will be sold to both domestic buyers and regional markets.

Arise IIP designs, finances, builds and operates tailor-made industrial zones across Africa. It is part of the wider Arise group, which also includes Arise Ports and Logistics (P&L) and Arise Infrastructure Services. The group emerged from the restructuring of the Gabon Special Economic Zone, launched in 2010 as a public-private partnership between Singaporean agribusiness company Olam and the Gabonese government. Olam has since exited Arise IIP and Arise IS, and earlier this year agreed to sell its remaining 32.4% stake in Arise P&L.

Gagan Gupta at the Afreximbank Annual Meetings 2025. Photo source: Afreximbank

Arise IIP, which is led by the charismatic former Olam executive Gagan Gupta, already operates industrial zones in Gabon, Togo and Benin, with more than half a dozen other zones currently under development across Africa. Its Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone in Benin houses Benin Textile Corporation, which produces garments for French retailers Kiabi and Gémo, as well as US brands The Children’s Place and U.S. Polo Assn.

The Nigerian textile industry was once a major economic driver, employing hundreds of thousands and supplying fabrics to both local and export markets. Production supported a large base of cotton farmers. But the sector has suffered decades of decline after the Republic struck an oil boom, which made nearly all manufacturing activity uncompetitive. The textile industry continued to languish even when the oil boom was over, hit by unreliable power supply, inconsistent policies and competition from low-cost imports, particularly from China. Only a handful of factories remain in operation.

The planned Ogun hub is intended to help reverse this trend through modern production equipment, stable power and a structured supply chain. It aligns with broader government efforts to revitalise agro-industrial processing through Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ). The African Development Bank, in partnership with the Islamic Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and Nigeria’s federal and state governments, has committed US$538m to the first phase of the SAPZ programme, covering eight states. Zones have already been launched in Oyo, Kaduna and Cross River States.

In June, the African Development Bank announced a US$100m investment in Arise IIP. This came after the company secured a US$450m credit facility from the African Export-Import Bank earlier in the year.

References

'ARISE IIP signs a development agreement with the Ogun State of Nigeria for the establishment of the Remo Economic Industrial Cluster', ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms, 07 November 2022

'Unleashing private sector growth creating markets in Cameroon', International Finance Corporation, December 2022

‘Olam Group completes the divestment of remaining equity stakes in ARISE IIP and ARISE IS’, Olam, 03 January 2023

'Aluko & Oyebode advises on landmark PPP, Remo Cluster Gains Free Trade Zone Status', Aluko & Oyebode, April 2024

'ARISE IIP and the port authority of Douala sign a partnership agreement to establish the Dibamba Industrial Port Zone, a new catalyst for Cameroon’s industrialisation', Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms, 01 October 2024

'Dibamba port expansion project: Douala Port Authority, Arise Group sign development partnership', The Guardian Post Daily, 04 October 2024

'ARISE IIP secures $450 million Afreximbank facility to develop Industrial Parks and Special Economic Zones', Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms, 06 March 2025

'How Nigeria lost its textile market to Chinese imports', Deutsche Welle, 21 March 2025

'GDIZ announces first garment shipment for French brand GEMO: A major milestone for ‘made in Benin’ textiles', Glo-Djibé Industrial Zone, 23 May 2025

'The African Development Bank approves an investment of US$100 million in Arise IIP', Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms, 05 June 2025

'Cameroon: Arise IIP starts the construction of a $411 million industrial hub Near Douala', Ecofin Agency, 25 July 2025