enterprise-development

Mining and Local Economic Development

This website includes resources and tools on how mining communities can develop LED strategies and projects in partnership with the private sector. It links to a file application on the topic.

Local Economic Development: New Generations of Actors, Policies and Instruments

This paper discusses LED in low income countries. It offers useful definitions and categorizes LED activities into 3: community-based economic development, enterprise development and locality development.

ICT as a Catalyst to Entreprise Competitiveness: A Research Report

This USAID report examines the use of ICT as a tool to increase enterprise competitiveness. It also focuses on how to engage the private sector in successfully implementing the tools of ICT, the successes and challenges of various ICT projects, and how ICT is being used in a variety of sectors, such as manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism.

ICT as a catalyst for enterprise competitiveness: Daybreak Series

3 Mar 2010

Where: Armenia Bulgaria China Egypt Ghana Kenya Macedonia Senegal Zambia

https://www.businessgrowthinitiative.org/Pages/default....

competitiveness enterprise-development ICT technology

Shared by mducker - 26/02/2010

Building Competitiveness in Africa's Agriculture

This comprehensive guide looks at different approaches to value chain, together with told and examples- take a look it is unbiased and does not support one specific approach. This will soon become an interactive resource and I will share as soon as it is. Definitely worth reading ahead of undertaking value chain activities whether done in-house or consultants are commissioned. Gwen

Seventy-five percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas and most are involved in agriculture. In the 21st century, agriculture remains fundamental to economic growth, poverty alleviation, and environmental sustainability. The World Bank’s Agriculture and Rural Development publication series presents recent analyses of issues that affect the role of agriculture, including livestock, fisheries, and forestry, as a source of economic development, rural livelihoods, and environmental services. This Guide to value chain approaches provides the user with actionable methods and tools to design programs and investment projects that aim to increase the productivity and performance of sub-Saharan African agriculture. Value chains are a key framework for understanding how inputs and services are brought together and then used to grow, transform, or manufacture a product; how the product then moves physically from the producer to the customer; and how value increases along the way.Thanks to USAID BGI for uploading into the public domain.

Upgrading Along Value Chains: Strategies for Poverty Reducuction

This briefing examines how value chain analysis (VCA) can, in a practical way, help the rural poor participate gainfully in local, regional and global trade. It begins by explaining why value chains have emerged as a helpful entry point for discussions on rural poverty. Focusing on Latin America, it then summarizes some constraints faced by low-income participants in agriculture, while outlining a framework for how the rural poor can upgrade their position within viable value chains. It concludes by pulling together lessons learnt on using value chain analysis and development effectively as a tool to augment the incomes of poor people in rural areas.

There are a few new resources that are very useful for members thinking of value chains, especially the analysis [most important!]- this is in my view a very good overview of what they are and lessons learned on implementation. Thanks to ODI for sharing. Gwen Swinburn

Making rural businesses bankable in Mozambique (thanks to ELDIS)

An interesting microfinance 'plus' project in rural Mozambique- see how microfinance with additional business support, market development and business association activities is effective- this holistic approach is a core in LED policy and practice. Take a look!

Most farms and small businesses in rural Mozambique lack access to finance and operate in poorly coordinated markets. This restricts rural economic development and leaves many people trapped in poverty. The active lending approach of one financial institution, Gabinete de Consultoria e Apoio à Pequena Indústria (GAPI), is helping to address these problems.

Research from the Open University, in the UK, and the Institute of Social Studies, in the Netherlands, examines the work of GAPI, a development finance institution in Mozambique. It explores how GAPI successfully combines loans with business support services to help rural industries grow.

GAPI became one of Mozambique’s first development finance institutions in 1990. Jointly owned by a German non-governmental organisation (NGO) and the Mozambican Ministry of Planning, GAPI finances its activities through the support of aid agencies and other donors.

The development of rural production in Mozambique is constrained by a number of factors. The limited availability of credit and the lack of coordination between different stages of the supply chain are major barriers faced by farms and small- and medium-sized rural businesses.

Unlike most banks in Mozambique, GAPI focuses on lending to farms and firms based in rural areas. In 2004, 66 percent of its lending financed rural production and trade (including agriculture and agro-processing).

The main characteristics of GAPI’s lending approach are: the combination of credit with business support services (thus improving the ability of borrowers to repay), supporting the whole supply chain in which borrowers operate, and the development of partnerships with other organisations. The researchers show how this distinctive approach to lending has helped promote rural industrial development in northern Mozambique. They use two case studies: the revival of cashew nut processing and the introduction of poultry farming.

The case studies show how GAPI:

• http://www.eldis.org/images/dotContent.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 5px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; margin: 0px;">supported cashew nut farmers by offering access to affordable credit and training
• http://www.eldis.org/images/dotContent.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 5px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; margin: 0px;">worked with the Cooperative League of the USA (CLUSA) to help farmers join together in associations, which increases their bargaining power when dealing with large traders and processors
• http://www.eldis.org/images/dotContent.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 5px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; margin: 0px;">worked with a partner organisation, the American non-government organisation TechnoServe, to help farmers find export markets for their cashews
• http://www.eldis.org/images/dotContent.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 5px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; margin: 0px;">worked with partner organisations to support small-scale poultry producers through training, setting up producer associations and micro loans.

The case studies show that GAPI’s active lending approach has boosted the development of two rural industries in northern Mozambique. This has helped create thousands of jobs, contributing to raising incomes and reducing poverty. It has also helped to lay the foundations for future rural industrial development.

The researchers conclude that:

• http://www.eldis.org/images/dotContent.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 5px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; margin: 0px;">development finance institutions do have a role to play in poverty reduction
• http://www.eldis.org/images/dotContent.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 5px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; margin: 0px;">not only can they provide credit and support to individual rural firms and farms, they can also aid the transformation of the rural economy
• http://www.eldis.org/images/dotContent.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 5px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; margin: 0px;">to do this, financial institutions should be designed to meet the specific needs of rural industries in poor countries (not modelled on institutions in rich countries).

Africa from the Bottom Up - Cities, Economic Growth and Prosperity in SSA

This is a comprehensive report looking at the prospects,critical challenges and opportunities that African urban areas offer to lead growth in sub-Saharan Africa.

Three focus areas for investment are highlighted: Infrastructure, human resources and foreign direct investment. These are also amongst the key functional competences of our LEDNA approaches to local economic development.

This report will provide context and ideas to Governments addressing the need to develop better frameworks for local economic development as well as for towns and cities developing their own local and regional economic development strategies and plans. Thanks to Monitor for producing this work- Gwen Swinburn, Local Economic Development Adviser (gwen.swinburn@gmail.com)

Cities, Economic Growth and Prosperity in Sub-Saharan Africa

Amid signs of incipient recovery, the long-term development trajectory of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains uncertain: will the region resume the healthy growth rates in the decade before the global economic crisis, or will its well known political, economic, and social challenges hold it back yet again?

Africa from the Bottom Up acknowledges SSA’s very real problems but also points out sustained structural reasons why this time, at last, a better outcome may be in the offing. Drawing on Monitor’s long experience in SSA as well as its understanding of the sources of global economic prosperity and the drivers of regional economic competitiveness, we argue that SSA’s growth before the downturn was a sign of healthy and increasingly diverse development—growth that we expect to resume with the recovery of the global economy. The subcontinent is becoming more prosperous despite its obvious challenges, as cities and competitive urban clusters lead the way. SSA’s fortunes are building from the bottom up.

In SSA and elsewhere, rapid urbanization turbocharges economic growth and diversification, enhances productivity, increases employment opportunities, and improves standards of living. Cities bring people together to transact business and share ideas; they provide enabling infrastructure such as offices, power, transportation, and telecommunications; most importantly, they concentrate talent, innovation and entrepreneurship in a single location to create competitive economic clusters. All these are vital for economic development and improving competitiveness.

In this report, Monitor focuses on three themes critical to the development and future prosperity of SSA’s cities and competitive urban clusters:

1. The fundamental imperative to upgrade infrastructure.Compared to the regional leader (Mauritius), poor infrastructure in SSA is estimated to reduce economic growth by an average of 4.7 percent. Sufficient transport networks, a reliable power supply, clean, reliable drinking water and sanitation, and fast, extensive telecommunications services all attract commerce to a city and facilitate economic growth. Without these SSA will not fulfill its economic potential, as local ventures struggle to grow and foreign businesses locate their operations in other regions with better services and lower costs.
2. The vital importance of cultivating human assets. Economic prosperity in a global, knowledge-based economy is not solely derived from natural resources and agricultural commodities, which today account for nearly all of SSA’s wealth. Rather, the source of sustainable economic prosperity is human assets working in productive and value-adding companies and sectors. SSA’s economic future lies with its peoples, who are enhancing their skills and knowledge as entrepreneurs, managers, and workers in existing and emerging competitive clusters.
3. The critical role of foreign direct investment. Achieving economic prosperity of course requires investment, which comes in many forms. Among these, FDI brings with it multiple benefits in a globalizing economy: money, ideas, talent, and connections to the wider world. It is the single most effective source of investment in contributing to economic growth, strengthening companies and sectors, and increasing employment and incomes. In the case of Africa, FDI originates not only outside the continent but also, increasingly, within it as more advanced economies themselves invest in Africa’s future beyond their own borders.

The report highlights numerous findings around these themes based on an examination of ten countries and four cities in SSA selected for their contrasting and complementary patterns of economic development and their distinctive geographic and cultural variety.

For more information about the study, contact:
Christoph Andrykowsky (Christoph_Andrykowsky@Monitor.com)
Bernard Chidzero, Jr. (Bernard_Chidzero@Monitor.com)
Jan Schwier (Jan_Schwier@Monitor.com)
Jude Uzonwanne (Jude_Uzonwanne@Monitor.com)

Tax Administration Modernization Project, Russia

This World Bank project in Russia provides an example of how a tax administration can facilitate the growth of SMEs by eliminating administrative and other burdens faced by these enterprises.

Private Agricultural Sector Support, Tanzania

This project component is part of Denmark’s support to Tanzania’s agricultural sector. Its aim is to increase growth of private commercial farming and agri-business, and the project can serve as an inspiration on how to include credit guarantees as part of an SME promotion strategy.