Private Sector Development, Privatization, and Industrial Policy

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Shifting Kenya's Private Sector into Higher Gear: A Trade and Competitiveness Agenda

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-04-01) World Bank Group

Shifting Kenya’s private sector into higher gear: a trade and competitiveness agenda’ was born out of the World Bank’s Trade and Competitiveness (T&C) Global Practice recent stock taking of its work in Kenya. This was part of a Programmatic Approach that aimed to organize T&C’s knowledge, advisory, and convening services to address Kenya’s development challenges in the private sector space. By Sub-Saharan African standards, Kenya has a large private sector, which accounts for around 70 percent of total formal employment. As a result, the dynamics of the private sector are a key determinant of the trajectory of the Kenyan economy. The country’s product market regulations a restrictive for domestic competitors and foreign entrants, and the actions of cartels and behavior of dominant firms across sectors undermines competition and hurts consumers. The Kenyan Government recognizes these challenges and has invested significantly in unlocking these bottlenecks with impressive results so far and several important laws passed. Additional efforts to ease regulatory constraints and expedite important legislative changes could improve the investment climate at national and county levels.
Islamic Republic of Pakistan : Diagnostic Review of Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy, Volume 1. Key Findings and Recommendations

(Washington, DC, 2014-03) World Bank

The diagnostic review for Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy (CPFL) provides a detailed assessment of the institutional, legal, and regulatory framework in four segments of the financial sector: banking, microfinance, securities, and insurance. The review took place in response to a request for World Bank technical assistance in the field of financial consumer protection made by Pakistan's Ministry of Finance (MoF), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). The review consists of two volumes. Volume one summarize the key findings and recommendations of the review and Volume two presents a detailed assessment of each financial segment compared against the good practices for financial consumer protection. The key findings and recommendations in volume one cover five areas: (i) the institutional, legal, and regulatory framework for consumer protection; (ii) disclosure; (iii) business practices; (iv) dispute resolution mechanisms; and (v) financial education. Priority recommendations are outlined in table one; a more detailed list of recommendations is included in annex one.
Sierra Leone Growth Pole Diagnostic : The Growth Poles Program

(Washington, DC, 2013-08) World Bank

This First Phase Report on Sierra Leone growth poles is the result of a 9 months consultative process led by the Office of the President which specifically requested that the output of this diagnostic be in an engaging format. The fundamental concept of growth poles is that they exploit agglomeration economies and spillover effects to spread resulting prosperity from the core of the pole to the periphery. At the basis of this theory is the assumption that economic development is not uniform over a region. Rather, it concentrates around a geographic feature or economic hub. In particular, it frequently concentrates around a key industry, around which linked industries develop. A growth pole can be used to nurture direct and indirect linkages from the flagship industry to supporting sectors, which vastly expands the employment generation potential of new investments in said flagship industry. The expansion of this key industry implies the expansion of output, employment, related investments, as well as new technologies and new industrial sectors.
Armenia : Diagnostic Review of Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy, Volume 1. Key Findings and Recommendations

(Washington, DC, 2012-06) World Bank

The objectives of the diagnostic review of consumer protection and financial literacy for Armenia are: (i) to assess the existing financial consumer protection framework, by reviewing laws, regulations and practices in Armenia compared to international good practices; and (ii) to provide recommendations on ways to improve consumer protection and financial literacy in Armenia. The review provides a detailed assessment of the institutional, legal and regulatory framework in four financial segments, namely banking, non-bank credit institutions, securities, and insurance. Many key steps have already been taken in financial consumer protection, especially at the regulatory and institutional levels. Regarding the institutional framework, adequate resources need to be allocated to the consumer protection team and modern supervisory tools should be made available. Consumer organizations should be strengthened and motivated to assist the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) in market monitoring. In terms of consumer disclosure, the CBA should issue regulations that require financial institutions to provide clear, understandable, timely, comparable and standardized information to consumers. In the area of regulation of business practices, the CBA should require that sales agents are well trained and should test them regularly. All financial institutions should regularly analyze the complaints received and the analysis should be provided to the CBA. The Steering Committee for the National Strategy of Financial Education should become the key body to manage financial education in Armenia.
Zambia - More Jobs and Prosperity in Zambia : What Would it Take? Based on the Jobs and Prosperity : Building Zambia’s Competitiveness Program

(World Bank, 2011-06-01) World Bank

While Zambia's economy performs well, in macroeconomic terms, low levels of productivity plague industry, and this constrains growth, diversification and prosperity. In recent years, economic growth has averaged 5-6 percent a year, business reforms are being implemented, and investment levels are at an all time high. However, according to the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness index 2010-2011, Zambia is not a competitive place in which to do business (ranking 115th out of 139 countries). Not surprisingly, business productivity tends to be low, and few Zambian industries are internationally competitive. Formal employment is shrinking and rural poverty is increasing. In summary, there is an urgent need to increase productivity, growth and employment. These questions continue to preoccupy policy makers, businesses and civil society especially in light of government's strategy to embrace private sector-led growth and facilitate competitiveness and diversification. The Jobs and Prosperity: Building Zambia's Competitiveness (JPC) Program is an effort to answer these questions and, at the same time, to achieve some concrete results that improve industry productivity and competitiveness. The Zambian government, with support from donors, has, for a long time, been trying to raise prosperity by encouraging more productive businesses, more competitive and diverse industries, and greater employment. Yet these efforts have not generated the results sought. The goal of the JPC Program is to achieve some meaningful progress towards improving industry productivity and competitiveness. The Program focuses on four industries so as to build traction and keep the scope of work manageable. The industries were selected by a group of Zambian stakeholders. The Program facilitated a process through which Zambian stakeholders identified some narrowly defined target results that, if achieved, could help these industries become more productive and then supports initiatives to achieve these results.
Croatia : Diagnostic Review of Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy, Volume 1. Key Findings and Recommendations

(Washington, DC, 2010-02) World Bank

As financial markets develop and deepen, one of the key issues for a fair, open and efficient market is effective consumer protection and financial literacy. The European Union takes the approach that an effective regime of financial consumer protection should allow consumers to have access to: sufficient information to make informed decisions about their financial choices; cost-effective recourse mechanisms to redress violations of financial service contracts; and programs of consumer education and financial literacy that empower them to understand their financial rights and obligations. This review has found that the quality of consumer protection in financial services in Croatia has improved in recent years. In particular, the approval of the 2007 Consumer Protection Act incorporated many of the EU Directives related to financial consumer protection. In addition, the National Council on Consumer Protection was established in 2008 to advise the Government on its national strategy for consumer protection in the coming years. A nation-wide baseline survey of financial literacy would provide useful information in designing programs in financial education and consumer awareness. As pioneered in the United Kingdom, financial literacy surveys can identify which part of the population is most vulnerable to financial abuse. The baseline survey should be segmented by age, gender, geographic area, household income, and formal education. After a period of three to five years, a follow-up survey could be done to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs of financial education and consumer awareness.
Costa Rica : Competitiveness Diagnostic and Recommendations

(World Bank, 2009-07-01) World Bank

Costa Rica is a clear success story. The country enjoys the highest standard of living in Central America and one of the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Not surprisingly, poverty levels are among the lowest in LAC. Indeed in 2004, Costa Rica had the second lowest poverty headcount in LAC with just nine percent of households below the US$2 poverty line. This report is a contribution to those efforts. Based on multiple data sources, it assesses the main obstacles that affect private sector growth in Costa Rica and provides policy options and targeted interventions for improving the business environment and increasing competitiveness, with the goal of achieving sustained and broad-based growth. In this regard, the main focus of the report is on the long-term instead of on cyclical issues. This report outlines a program to address the critical bottlenecks that hamper Costa Rica in diverse fields including infrastructure, technological innovation and quality, human capital, red tape, and access to credit. The result is a rich and encompassing agenda. The rest of the report is structured in the following way. In section two, the report diagnoses the principal obstacles to export growth and of competitiveness in Costa Rica. The diagnostics reveal four areas most in need of reform: infrastructure, human capital and innovation, business regulation, and access to finance. Sections three to six cover each of these areas. Finally, the report closes with a section on conclusions and recommendations.
Russian Federation : Diagnostic Review of Consumer Protection in Financial Services, Volume 1. Key Findings and Recommendations

(Washington, DC, 2009-07) World Bank

This paper is a pilot diagnostic review of consumer protection in financial services in the Russian Federation. The review examines financial services in Russia, but also emphasizes the need for a set of good practices, or benchmarks, for use in reviewing consumer protection in financial services in any jurisdiction. This work will prove helpful to the international community, and those in emerging markets. The review finds that most people in Russia do not consider themselves financially literate, and have little understanding of their rights as consumers. The review's objectives are to conduct a review of the existing rules and practices in Russia, compared to international good practices on consumer protection in financial services; provide recommendations on ways to improve consumer protection in financial services in Russia; and refine a set of good practices prepared by the World Bank for assessing consumer protection in financial services. As part of the conclusion, methods for better financial education for consumers, are provided
Kenya : Growth and Competitiveness

(Washington, DC, 2005-01) World Bank

The conclusions of the recently-conducted Kenya Investment Climate Assessment (ICA), based on a survey of 368 firms, have a bearing on the country's growth agenda. The results have a bearing on the key issue of labor productivity and its implications on firm performance, revealing that capital-intensity in Kenya was relatively high, compared to the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and also to firms in China and India, but also relatively less productive. Labor productivity in Kenya had not improved materially over the past decade or so, so that unit labor costs compared very unfavorably with those prevailing in Asian countries like India, China, Indonesia or Thailand. Major constraints to doing business cited by firms in the survey related to infrastructure, tax administration and corruption. On infrastructure, power supply was seen as the most problematic, on account of the high number of outages, compounded by high losses in transmission and distribution. 64 percent of firms reported damage to equipment on account of power outages or fluctuations valued at nearly $15,000 per firm per year. To cope with these outages 70 percent of firms had acquired generators, further adding to the cost of doing business. Road and rail services were reported by most firms as being of very poor quality, and nearly a quarter of firms reported having to spend their own resources to improve the quality of roads in surrounding areas. On corruption, three quarters of firms surveyed reported this as a problem, though only about half reported having to spend resources in terms of unofficial payments.
Indonesia : Private Sector Development Strategy

(Washington, DC, 2001-01-04) World Bank

The report reviews the Bank's private sector development strategy in Indonesia, stipulating that the country's potential will not be realized without a pattern of private sector activity, - different from the past - but, taking the opportunity offered by the crisis to make fundamental changes in the business environment, and in how business is conducted. The first priority calls for the banking, and corporate sectors to speed up the resolution of corporate debt, and ease financial flows for investment, and working capital to resume. Second, the structural inefficiencies, partly conducive to the crisis, and to its long lasting effect, need to be overcome; therefore, reforms should enable Indonesia to become a modern market economy, able to avoid future crises. This encompasses fighting corruption in the public administration, ensuring the rule of law through the court system, reinforcing property rights, and dispute resolution mechanisms, and, ensuring transparency and corporate governance. Third, broad-based, and sustainable economic growth need to be ensured by measures such as removal of obstacles to small, and medium enterprise (SME) activity, as well as SME development promotion, including physical, and social infrastructure building. Finally, the creation of an infrastructure, and regulatory framework to take full advantage of new information/communications technologies, is paramount.