Increasing attention is being given to supporting local investment promotion agencies to promote private investment for economic growth and job creation. While a national investment promotion agency, or IPA, builds on a country’s brand in foreign investment markets, a local agency works from the ground up. Local investment promotion agencies connect outside investors to the…
Business Environments|Economic Development|Entrepreneurial Places|Investment|Private Sector Development
One-stop shops for investment
A one-stop shop for investment can improve opportunities for private sector development, but not necessarily in the way you might imagine. In general, a one-stop shop is a place or agency that offers a range of products or services under one roof. The term relates to how many stops or points of contact customers need…
The Impact of Business Environment Reform: Two Rapid Evidence Assessments
The UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) have just published to reports I co-authored this year with Peter Fortune. These present the evidence of the impact of business environment reform in two areas. Business environment reform and investment: rapid evidence assessment Over the past few years, business environment reform has increasingly been seen as…
Creating public-private partnerships in Agriculture
Today, I met with the senior management team of the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) in Johannesburg, South Africa. This non-for-profit organisation facilitates linkages between private and public actors to build markets in the agriculture sector –– specifically in fertilisers. It does this so that African smallholder farmers can grow food and profits. AFAP works to:…