ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (IIP) was founded by Gagan Gupta in 2010, and backed by Africa Finance Corporation, Afreximbank’s FEDA, Equitane/ATIF and Vision Invest. With more than US$1 billion in equity and US$2 billion in project finance mobilized, it has grown into Africa’s leading industrial zone operator, designing, financing, building, and managing platforms that shift raw commodities into value-added manufacturing.

Gagan Gupta, Founder and CEO of Arise IIP 

It runs major zones in Gabon (Nkok), Togo (PIA), and Benin (Glo-Djigbé), hosting over 400 companies across 47 sectors, mobilizing US$7 billion in investment, and creating more than 50,000 jobs to date. New platforms are underway in Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Republic of Congo, Chad, Malawi, and Nigeria, with the African Development Bank recently committing US$100 million in equity to accelerate this continental rollout.

Now Ghana wants in. The country’s $4 billion 24-Hour Economy is backed by $300-400 million in state seed capital and about $2 billion in private commitments. It is built on eight sub-programmes covering agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, finance, tourism, logistics, human capital, and governance. The target is 1.7 million jobs in four years.

The anchor is the Volta Economic Corridor, with 2 million hectares around Lake Volta for agro-industrial parks, logistics, and a floating port. The AfDB is backing corridor design, logistics, and a credit-enhancement facility to mobilize Ghana’s $5.2 billion pension assets. ARISE IIP has pledged $250-300 million for light industrial parks in the Western Region and has formally endorsed the program.

Arise IIP Track Record

ARISE IIP’s flagship zone is the Gabon Special Economic Zone at Nkok, launched in 2010 as its first industrial platform under a public-private partnership with the government of Gabon. It was designed to kickstart local timber processing and broader industrialization. The zone spans 1,126 hectares and combines industrial, commercial, and residential areas. It hosts 144 companies from around 17 countries across 22 industrial sectors, including a core wood-processing cluster.

Nkok has created approximately 20,000 direct and indirect jobs and attracted €740 million in foreign direct investment, totaling €1.6 billion in foreign capital mobilized. In 2022 alone, the zone processed around 1 million cubic metres of timber and exported goods worth €272 million in 2021. Its logistics infrastructure handled 23,297 TEUs in 2023. It also holds the distinction of being Africa’s first carbon‑neutral industrial zone under ISO 14064‑1.

ARISE IIP’s second major zone is the Plateforme Industrielle d’Adétikopé outside Lomé, launched in 2021 as a public-private partnership with the Republic of Togo. Phase 1 covers about 130 hectares within a 410-hectare footprint, with a dry port that can hold 12,500 containers and parking for roughly 700 trucks. The site sits about 15 km north of Lomé and integrates industrial, commercial, storage, and logistics functions.

By January 2025, the zone hosted about 20 companies across textiles, agri-processing, and pharmaceuticals, with several already operating. Reported job creation passed 3,000 by late 2022, with fresh recruitment rounds in 2025 for 600 textile workers and a stated plan to generate about 5,000 jobs in 2025.

Since launch, investment has exceeded €150 million, including about US$77 million in foreign direct investment. The zone has generated US$155 million in revenues and paid around €8.8 million in taxes between 2021 and 2023. Separate Afreximbank project materials cite total capex for the zone at roughly CFA 130 billion in Phase 1. In 2023, the government established a single-window clearance at PIA’s dry port to simplify permits and processing.

The Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ) in Benin, launched in 2021 as ARISE IIP’s third platform through a PPP with the state, spans 1,640 hectares and is being developed in three phases. By late 2023, about 400 hectares had already been built out with 36 active investors. Twelve operational units have created over 10,000 jobs, expected to rise to 14,000 by the end of 2024.

Phase 1 secured US$1.4 billion in investment, including more than US$1 billion in FDI, and has generated about US$1.9 billion in revenues to date. The zone is projected to create 300,000 jobs by 2030, with roughly 100k in agro-processing and 200-250k in textiles. Current activity spans cashew and soy processing, ceramics, electronics assembly, pharmaceuticals, and an expanding textile base.

One integrated textile unit under testing will process 20,000 tonnes of cotton fibre and employ about 5,000 people. Outputs already include more than 600k Made-in-Benin garments exported to The Children’s Place and 12,000 military uniforms delivered locally, with new partnerships underway with brands such as KIABI.

Congo’s Kin‑Malebo Industrial Zone (CIP), launched in September 2022 via a framework agreement between ARISE IIP (60%) and the DRC government (40%), marks the group’s fourth platform. Phase 1 covers 514 hectares; ARISE has committed US $200 million, targeting up to 20,000 direct and indirect jobs. The zone, situated 40 km from Kinshasa and 10 km from the international airport, plans to attract roughly US $850 million in multi-sectoral investment, focusing on wood and poultry processing, beverages, pharmaceuticals, plastics recycling, household appliances, and electric vehicles.

Congo Industrial Platforms – Master Plan of Kin Malebo

Several ARISE IIP zones remain under development. In Nigeria, the Remo Free Zone in Ogun State is a 45-year PPP covering more than 5,000 hectares. ARISE has committed US$400 million for Phase 1 on 423 hectares, due for completion by December 2026, with 40,000 direct jobs targeted. Six firms have already secured land, and two are expected to begin operations in mid-2025. In Rwanda, the Bugesera SEZ is being built under a 60/40 PPP with the government, covering 330 hectares near the new airport. Backed by US$100 million, it will focus on timber, packaging, agro-processing, construction materials, and logistics, with operations planned three years after construction began.

In Sierra Leone, the SIZ-Koya project launched in May 2023 with ARISE investing US$120 million in a first phase of 150 hectares, attracting US$165 million in FDI and aiming for 2,500 jobs, rising to 6,500 in Phase 2 on 350 hectares. Côte d’Ivoire’s PEIA, agreed in June 2022, began operations in January 2024 on 444-500 hectares, targeting agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, and logistics. Malawi’s Magwero Industrial Park, launched in June 2024 under a 65/35 PPP with the state’s Export Development Fund, spans 417 hectares with US$300 million from Afreximbank and will host agro-processing (soy, cotton, maize, peanuts), glass, construction materials, LED lighting, and paper production.

Conclusion

Over the past decade ARISE IIP zones have mobilized more than US$7 billion in investment, attracted 400+ companies across 47 sectors, and created over 50,000 jobs. Gabon’s Nkok zone has drawn €1.6 billion in FDI and processes over 1 million m³ of timber annually. Togo’s Adétikopé platform has secured €150 million in investment, US$77 million in FDI, generated US$155 million in revenue, and created 3,200 jobs with thousands more in the pipeline. Benin’s Glo-Djigbé zone has brought in US$1.4 billion in its first phase, produced nearly US$1.9 billion in revenues, and is on track for 300,000 jobs by 2030. 

Against that track record, Ghana’s target stands out. The government is aiming for 1.7 million jobs in just four years, nearly six times Benin’s long-term target, compressed into a fraction of the time. With US$4 billion in planned investment, AfDB backing, and ARISE committing US$250-300 million for light industrial parks, the ambition is clear. To reach it, Ghana must secure land, deliver reliable energy, expand port and corridor capacity, enforce efficient permitting, and stick to project timelines. Without that, the 24-Hour Economy risks going the way of earlier stalled industrial plans.