Private Sector Development, Privatization, and Industrial Policy
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Publication
Enabling Private Sector Growth in Menya and Assiut, Egypt
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-07-01)Egypt has considerable potential to become a regional trade hub. A key challenge is how to leverage this potential to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth that benefits the country’s population at large. In alignment with Egypt’s decision to expand the Upper Egypt Local Development Program (UELDP) from an initial focus on Sohag and Qena to also include Menya and Assiut, this paper focuses on identifying opportunities and barriers to realizing inclusive and sustainable growth in these two governorates. Menya is the fourth-lowest and Assiut the fifth-lowest productive governorates in Egypt as measured by gross value added per capita. There is thus a pressing need for measures to promote inclusive growth and competitiveness in the two governorates The paper aims to inform the deliberations of the governorates recently established Economic Councils, as well as the continuous sub-sector specific public private dialogue, which forms part of UELDP. This paper thus serves as a starting point, and forth-coming dialogue could give rise to follow-on in-depth studies of sub-sectors of high priority to the governorates. Indeed, cluster competitiveness initiatives which focus on resolving sub-sector specific constraints are a part of the UELDP. -
Publication
Creating Markets in Burkina Faso: Growing Burkina Faso’s Private Sector and Harnessing it to Bolster Economic Resilience
(International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, 2019-07-01)A small landlocked economy in the heart of West Africa’s French-speaking Sahel, Burkina Faso is characterized by its modest economic size, with a rapid population growth, with one of the highest per capita birth rates in the world. Burkina Faso needs to create 300,000 jobs annually to match its demographic growth, while about ninety percent of its workers are in the informal sector. Despite sustained robust economic growth over the past two decades driven by cotton and gold exports, private investment is low. Compounding the considerable development challenges that it faces, Burkina Faso is currently confronted by acute security and climatic threats, together with emerging fiscal risks. This country private sector diagnostic (CPSD) therefore investigates whether opportunities exist for the private sector to contribute more substantially to Burkina Faso’s development. The CPSD proposes a platform for action aimed at boosting Burkina Faso’s development through greater private sector investment. The remainder of the report provides an overview of: (i) the private sector environment; (ii) the cross-cutting constraints to the private sector; (iii) the critical enabling sector bottlenecks to the private sector; (iv) the opportunities for the private sector; and (v) a series of priority private sector focused recommendations. -
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Republic of Armenia Export-led Industrial Development Strategy: Implementation Review and Recommendations on New Toolset
(Washington, DC, 2015-06)The lessons learned from the implications of the global crisis for the Armenian economy led the Government of Armenia to refine its approach to economic development policy. The business environment, the market structure, and the incentive pattern had not fostered reallocation of resources into more productive areas or the emergence of internationally competitive products and services. Despite numerous initiatives and multiple efforts, there was no holistic approach or actionable roadmap for supporting private sector development. The pressing need to restore economic growth despite a small domestic market led the Armenian government to search for new sources of growth in export-oriented industries. At the end of 2011, the Government of Armenia adopted its export-led industrial development strategy. The strategy set as targets improving the general business environment and sector-specific initiatives to address market failures and expand exports. The strategy builds on both a general (crosscutting) and an industry-customized toolset. -
Publication
Republic of Turkey Reform for Competitiveness Technical Assistance : Fostering Open and Efficient Markets through Effective Competition Policies
(Washington, DC, 2013-09-23)Competition in domestic markets is critical to ensure increased international competitiveness. Firms facing more intense competitive pressures are more likely to introduce new products and upgrade existing product lines. Firms usually acquire many of their inputs (such as transportation, energy, construction, and professional services) in local markets. Competition policies are defined as the set of policies and a law ensuring that competition in the marketplace is not restricted in a way that reduces economic welfare. This report reviews the current status of competition policy in Turkey, focusing on the economy-wide enforcement of competition rules and on specific regulations and government policies that affect product market competition. Economic and legal analysis is used to identify key challenges and to propose specific areas of intervention and reform. In addition, this report provides an evaluation of the potential benefits of pro-competition policies. Turkey is benchmarked against other economies that represent international best practice, as well as regional and global standards, with particular reference to European Union (EU) countries. This study finds that although Turkey has made significant progress in enforcing competition law effectively, it still faces challenges in achieving a comprehensive and coherent policy framework to promote product market competition. The study also finds that there is significant scope to achieve efficiency gains from procompetitive sector policies and more effective economy-wide competition policy enforcement. -
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Sierra Leone Growth Pole Diagnostic : The Growth Poles Program
(Washington, DC, 2013-08)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. -
Publication
Zambia - What Would it Take for Zambia’s Beef and Dairy Industries to Achieve Their Potential?
(World Bank, 2011-06-01)This report is a window into a larger initiative, the jobs and prosperity: building Zambia's Competitiveness (JPC) program. The JPC program is a 'joint venture' between the governments of the Republic of Zambia, the Zambian private sector, the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID), the African development bank group and the World Bank Group. As such, the report represents the collective efforts of many people who engaged in this work at different stages in the process. This report is part of a series produced by the World Bank's Africa Finance and Private Sector Development Unit (AFTFP). This report explores the potential contribution that the beef and dairy industries could make to jobs and prosperity in Zambia, and what it will take to achieve this potential. The Zambian government has been looking to increase growth and job creation, and the prosperity resulting from them, by developing a more competitive and diversified economy. This report explores the potential contribution that the beef and dairy industries could make to the government's ambition and sets out what it will take for the industries to achieve their potential. Two main factors provide Zambia with large potential for developing its beef and dairy industries: the country could sustain more than double its current population of cattle; the demand for beef and dairy products in the domestic and regional markets is likely to increase significantly. However, Zambia's beef and dairy industries are currently underperforming and uncompetitive. -
Publication
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)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. -
Publication
Zambia - What Would it Take for Zambia’s Copper Mining Industry to Achieve Its Potential?
(World Bank, 2011-06-01)This report is part of a series produced by the World Bank's Africa Finance and Private Sector Development Unit (AFTFP). This report explores the potential contribution that the copper mining industry could make to jobs and prosperity in Zambia, and what it will take to achieve this potential. Copper has for many years played an important role in Zambia's economy, and the performance of the economy has followed the fortunes of copper mining closely. This report investigates the role copper mining could play in achieving the government's objectives of increasing economic growth and jobs in the future. Although 40 percent of the country has not been geologically surveyed, Zambia is recognized by the international mining industry as having good mineral potential. Zambia possesses 6 percent of known world copper reserves. According to the highly-respected Fraser Institute survey of mining and exploration companies, Zambia ranks 26th out of 79 jurisdictions worldwide for mineral potential. In Africa, only the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burkina Faso have appreciably higher mineral potential scores. -
Publication
Bringing HOPE to Haiti's Apparel Industry : Improving Competitiveness through Factory-level
(World Bank, 2009-11-01)In October 2008 the United States Congress enacted legislation that gave the Republic of Haiti expanded, flexible access to the U.S. market for its apparel exports. The Second Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement act of 2008 (HOPE II, updated from the original legislation passed in 2006) was welcomed for its potential to revitalize a decaying industry, attract new foreign investment, expand formal sector employment, and jumpstart growth and opportunity for Haiti's people. The purpose of the analysis of Haiti's apparel value-chain in this report is to provide a comprehensive view of the advantages and challenges of manufacturing in Haiti relative to manufacturing in the Caribbean and Central America and elsewhere. It situates Haiti's attributes and suggests priorities for improving its competitiveness relative to that of other suppliers. An apparel buyer in the United States today juggles an impressive list of potential suppliers from China and elsewhere in Asia and from Latin America and beyond. Each country offers a unique combination of workforce skills, business environment, costs, 'full-package' services, proximity to raw material or to end markets, preferential access to the U.S. market, and thus competitiveness. This report helps readers to see how Haiti fits into this ever-changing global apparel market kaleidoscope. -
Publication
Organization of Eastern Caribbean States - Increasing Linkages of Tourism with the Agriculture, Manufacturing, and Service Sectors
(Washington, DC, 2008-09)Tourism has become the leading economic sector of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) islands, thus expanding linkages with the local economy seems crucial going forward. Tourism has replaced agriculture as the main economic driver within all the islands comprising the OECS. In the early 1990s, agriculture contributed nearly 12 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) overall; however by 2007 its share dropped to only 5 percent of GDP. Conversely, in the same year the tourism sector of these islands accounted for an estimated 45 percent of GDP, and around 60 percent of foreign exchange earnings, as a result of the more than 2.6 million tourists that visited these islands. This study analyzes the purchasing patterns and demand for agriculture, manufacturing and services by the tourism industry, both directly and indirectly, through a structured survey and in-depth interviews. A detailed survey covering 70 hotels, marinas, and other tourism operators analyzed the current purchasing pattern of agricultural and food products (13 categories from fruits to canned goods), services (12 categories, from legal support to flower arrangements), and manufactured goods (8 categories). From the supply side, 16 small and medium enterprises were surveyed on the obstacles they were facing for their development, and on their revenue and cost structures. Three different missions covered the 6 largest OECS islands, conducted over 80 interviews and included experts from the agricultural sector including Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Private Sector Development (PSD). Additionally, a value chain analysis evaluated the economics of key products. This combined approach provided an extensive source of data and information on linkages that was not available in the islands, as well as insights to improve them going forward. Overall, there seem to be interesting opportunities to increase linkages between tourism and other sectors of the OECS economies. Most hospitality operators, particularly hotels, demonstrate high willingness to increase the share of products and services purchased from local origin; and in addition, local suppliers of goods and services are willing to focus more their offer on the needs of the tourism industry. This study intended to provide some initial conclusions about specific economic activities and particular ways to increase such linkages in the agricultural and food, manufacturing, and services sectors.