Promoting Development through Business – Volume 3, Issue 6 (June 2014)

Download GREAT Insights Editorial San Bilal - Head of Economic Transformation Programme, ECDPM
That private sector is a key engine for economic prosperity is stating the obvious in the eyes of business people. For development cooperation actors, however, the role of private sector in development, and how to engage it, is a less familiar and more challenging issue ...

Features
Working with the Private Sector for a Stronger Link Between Growth and Poverty Alleviation Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Development
In every market-based system the private sector is the main engine that powers economic growth.  But can the private sector also contribute to poverty reduction? Yes, say many economists, assuming that growth, by pushing up incomes, will eventually bring about a rise in incomes among the poor ...

Interview with Lapo Pistelli Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Italy
For too long private sector contribution to partner countries’ development has been looked upon with suspicion. But in recent times it has become clearer that "economic growth and development are not two distinct goals, and should not be approached in distinct ways ...

Private Sector for Development: How Private Investments Have Helped Mining Sector Growth Daphne Mashile-Nkosi, CEO Kalagadi Manganese Company, South Africa
Today’s widely accepted thesis that the private sector is a key engine of economic growth stands in stark contrast to the model that most post-colonial African countries adopted during the early years of their independence ...

A Donor Perspective

The Dutch Approach: Combining Aid and Trade and Working Together for Effective Private Sector Development Jeroen Roodenburg, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands
In pursuit of a more coherent policy for development cooperation, Lilianne Ploumen was appointed Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation in November 2012. A significant decision since it was the first time that the Dutch government decided to combine efforts to boost exports with those of fighting poverty ...

Team Finland Doing Good Home and Abroad Leena Pentikainen and Mika Vehnämäki, Finnish Government
Team Finland is a network that brings together public bodies and actors who promote the internationalisation of Finnish companies, Finland’s country brand, external economic relations and bringing foreign private investments to Finland ...

Swedish Experiences of Challenge Funds: Case of Innovations Against Poverty Ola Möller, Jenny Åkerbäck, (Sida), Lena Eriksson-Åshuvud (PwC)
Sida’s experience of challenge funds covers both funds established by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), such as, Innovation Against Poverty (IAP) and The Challenge (in Bosnia), as well as funds set up through co-financing with other donors, such as the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) ...

Business and Beyond
Corporate Sustainability Emerging as Major Driver in the UN's Post-2015 Agenda Georg Kell, UN Global Compact
The corporate sustainability movement is growing in every region of the world. Every year, more companies place responsible business practices and sustainability objectives at the heart of their business strategy. Companies are increasingly helping to tackle the world’s most pressing problems through their core businesses, and realising benefits and opportunities from doing so ...

Africans Doing Business in Africa: The Impact of a Midsized Private Company in the Ugandan Economy Maggie Kigozi, International Federation of Business and Professional Women, Uganda
Uganda is among the fastest growing countries in Africa with average GDP growth of 7% over the last 20 years. The economy was liberalised in 1989. Government owned enterprises were prepared for privatisation and three Ugandan entrepreneurs bid successfully for the Lake Victoria Bottling Company Ltd. The company had been kept in business for many years by government subsidies but failed to meet the demand for ...

Private Sector Development: The Role of Food and Agriculture Business (FAB) Principles Natalia Federighi, YARA International, Norway
No country can develop without a thriving private sector. Most developing countries have a large share of their GDP in agriculture, feeding the local population and providing important export revenues. So the need for a strong private sector is even greater than agriculture in developing countries ...

Ending Hunger: Not Without the Smallholder Farmers! Arif Husain, World Food Programme
Globalisation has many important benefits but there are some unintended externalities as well. Social media today is much more prevalent and communities are no longer living in isolation of each other. Many who perceived themselves as doing well within their own rural surroundings are no longer content because they see now the economic disparities between themselves and those living far away ...

Inclusive Economic Growth Through Women's Entrepreneurship Promotion: What Works and What Doesn't? Saskia Vossenberg, Maastricht School of Management, The Netherlands
Is entrepreneurship promotion a miracle solution to inclusive economic growth? No, we need to temper our expectations and look for alternative and feminist strategies to overcome issues of gender-inequality that underpin exclusive economic development.  With the recognition of entrepreneurship as a key driver for economic development, it is no surprise that many international donors and development organisations ...

Co-Creating New Partnerships for Financing Sustainable Development: The Furntech Partnership Model Michael Reddy, Furntech, South Africa
The Furniture Technology Centre Trust (Furntech) is in the strategic business of wealth creation (Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME) development) and Human Resource Development (vocational skills development) in the furniture and wood products sector in South Africa. Its mission is to contribute to the growth of the industry by offering world-class training and innovative business technology incubation in order to ...

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In addition to structural support by ECDPM's institutional partners The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and Austria, this particular issue also benefits from funding from the Department of International Development (DFID), United Kingdom.  Read GREAT Insights, Volume 3, Issue 5:  [gview file="http://ecdpm.org/wp-content/uploads/Great_Insights_Vol3_Issue6_June_2014.pdf" save="1"]