Private Sector Development, Privatization, and Industrial Policy
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Publication
Creating Markets In Namibia : Creating Resilient and Inclusive Markets - Country Private Sector Diagnostic
(Washington, DC, 2022-07)Since achieving independence in 1990, Namibia’s remarkable growth has been fueled by foreign direct investment and enabled by prudent economic management. Since 2016, however, growth has declined steadily and the economy fell into recession, exposing the vulnerability of Namibia’s economic growth model to external and climate shocks. These challenges were exacerbated by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, an economic slowdown in neighboring South Africa, worsening terms of trade on the back of declining global demand and commodity prices, a decline in Southern African Customs Union (SACU) revenues, and the effects of crippling droughts on agricultural and industrial production. Namibia has very high levels of poverty and inequality, which are largely driven by high levels of unemployment. The primary objective of this Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD) is to identify near and medium-term reform opportunities to revitalize the private sector and help reposition Namibia’s growth on a green, resilient, and inclusive trajectory. This CPSD explores priority reform opportunities to address five cross-cutting bottlenecks: (1) enhancing the role and performance of the state-owned enterprise (SOE) sector through a more effective competition policy environment; (2) strengthening implementation of the public-private partnership (PPP) framework to expand private investments, especially in infrastructure; (3) leveraging the potential for digital transformation of the economy; (4) addressing inefficiencies in logistics and trade facilitation; and (5) tapping opportunities in the water sector for green and resilient growth. The diagnostic then looks in depth at three sectors prioritized by the Namibian government - renewable energy, climate-smart agribusiness, and housing, and provides recommendations for reducing sector-specific bottlenecks to stimulate growth potential. -
Publication
Creating Markets in Sri Lanka : Private Sector-Led Inclusive Growth from Islands of Excellence: Country Private Sector Diagnostic
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-07)Sri Lanka is a country of paradoxes. With the lowest poverty rates, best social indicators, and highest per capita income in South Asia, Sri Lanka’s economic performance since independence had generally been hailed as a success before the current debt crisis. However, past performance occurred amidst many distortions and an economy less open than its peers, largely reflecting the strong involvement of the state in the economy. Even if this interventionist model of economic policy and the presence of many state-owned enterprises (SOEs) served the country well through the years of conflict and their aftermath, it is no longer sustainable. Indeed, after the rapid growth of the peace dividend in the years post-2009, the economy has faltered and progress on social indicators has stagnated. Many of market distortions remain and have been exacerbated by COVID-19. Understanding how, despite these handicaps, Sri Lanka achieved positive economic and social outcomes in the past provides the building blocks of a realistic, forward-looking growth strategy, one of the objectives of this Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD). The research for this report was conducted prior to the current crisis, but the recommendations remain relevant to implementing public policies that will support private sector-led inclusive and sustainable growth. -
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.