Private Sector Development, Privatization, and Industrial Policy

96 items available

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2162

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Creating Markets in Kenya: Unleashing Private Sector Dynamism to Achieve Full Potential

(International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, 2019-07-31) International Finance Corporation

Kenya has the opportunities and resources to stimulate sustainable economic growth and development, but its potential has been constrained by under-investment and low firm-level productivity. Altogether, its development has not been sufficiently sustainable or equitable to transform the lives of ordinary citizens. Poverty remains high, with thirty-six percent of Kenyans living under the national poverty line, whereas the richest ten percent of the population receive forty percent of the nation’s income. This country private sector diagnostic (CPSD) sheds light on how the private sector can more effectively contribute to advancing the country’s developmental goals. Applying a sectoral lens, it puts forward operational recommendations highlighting strategic entry points for diversification and growth and addresses key constraints to private sector engagement. It also seeks to inform World Bank and IFC strategies, paving the way for joint programming to create markets and unlock private sector potential.
Creating Markets in Ethiopia: Sustaining Progress Towards Industrialization

(International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, 2019-03-20) World Bank ; International Finance Corporation

Ethiopia has made impressive strides along its developmental path. Job creation is now the critical development challenge, raising the importance of the private sector agenda. After more than a decade of sustained public sector-led growth, the government is revising its growth strategy to allow for a much greater role for the private sector in driving growth and job creation. Broadening the base for job creation beyond light manufacturing toward a wider range of high productivity agricultural and services activities will help to overcome the uneven spatial distribution of manufacturing jobs across the country. Ethiopia has a number of advantages that it can leverage to attract the investment needed for job creation. These include rapidly improving transport and energy infrastructure, low labor costs, a large and growing domestic market, cheap power, an ideal climate, and preferential market access to the European Union, the United States, and other major markets. The purpose of the Ethiopia country private sector diagnostic (CPSD) is to support the transition to a private sector- driven growth model that advances the country’s development objectives and, in particular, delivers the necessary jobs. It identifies investment opportunities that can materialize in the short term, and the reforms that are needed to enable these opportunities to emerge. It also discusses how specific actions by the public sector, in collaboration with the private sector, in filling gaps in public investment, reforming business regulations and trade policy, addressing market failures, and enhancing the efficiency of key backbone services and sectors, while tackling gender inequalities, can fully unleash the potential of private sector investment.
South Africa Digital Economy Assessment

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018) World Bank

An assessment of South Africa’s digital economy has been launched as part of the World Bank Group’s digital economy for Africa (DE4A) initiative, which leverages an integrated and foundations-based diagnostic framework to examine the present level of digital economy development across Africa. The assessment will map the current strengths and weaknesses that characterize the national digital economy ecosystem, as well as identify challenges and opportunities for future growth. Rapid digital transformation is now re-shaping the global economy, permeating virtually every sector and aspect of daily life - changing the way one learns, work, trade, socialize, access public and private services and information. Well-functioning digital economies are thus expected to achieve faster economic growth, offer innovative products and services, as well as create more job opportunities. Assessing where strategic investments and interventions need to be made is a critical first step to enabling digital economy growth. This background paper will provide an overview of digital entrepreneurship in South Africa.
Assessing the Potential for the Electronics and ICT Manufacturing Industry in Ethiopia

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-09-30) Zhihua Zeng, Douglas ; Kayonde, Susan

The report includes the analysis of global Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and electronics value chains, an assessment of Ethiopia’s current and potential participation in these regional and global networks, and an analysis of the country’s competitive positions in specific segments of the sector. The findings of these efforts have been used to provide strategic direction for the development of the sector and to draft an action plan and road map to implement the sectoral strategy in the short, medium, and long term. The analysis shows that the overall electronics and ICT industry is currently playing only a modest role in the Ethiopian economy, with a relatively limited presence of companies and commercial activity. The analysis also illustrates important differences in the competitive position across the various segments analyzed. In conclusion, the analysis has shown that the ICT and electronics industry has potential in Ethiopia, with a presence already emerging in selected segments.
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.