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Currently, both domestic and overseas SEZs are key elements of the BRI and China's strategy to augment access with consent to the global community and to lay down a new blueprint for trade. The concept of a Lusophone Maritime Silk Road can be contextualised within the maritime leg of the BRI to refer to a commercial corridor which is an extension of the China–Indian Ocean–Africa–Mediterranean Sea Blue Economic Passage, which, in turn, is one of the BRI's three Blue Economic Passages. Facing significant challenges, SEZs in African Portuguese-speaking countries (APSCs) have been struggling for success, bringing only limited economic impact (there is also limited social indicators to reflect the impact). Using a theoretical-inductive perspective and mixed qualitative dominant approach, this chapter seeks to answer the main research question: What can be learned from the establishment of SEZs in APSCs in terms of performance (challenges) and experience (lessons)? The authors put forth a comprehensive model for analysing SEZs, using Mozambique's Nacala Special Economic Zone as a case study.