| This seminar, held at DIIS on December 2, focuses on the impact of development assistance for private sector development in Africa. Despite more than a decade of economic growth, progress on job creation and poverty alleviation have been limited in most Sub-Saharan African countries. Although extreme income poverty has declined, the absolute number of poor is higher today than in 1990. Unemployment – especially among the youth – is high. By 2020 more than a third of the working-age population in sub-Saharan Africa will be below the age of 25. The private sector is central to dealing with these problems. Development assistance is indeed increasingly used to promote private sector development in recipient countries. Furthermore, donor countries increasingly look for synergies between aid and their businesses at home. Most recently, the Danish government’s new strategy for export promotion and economic diplomacy, "More trade. New jobs", seeks to combine development goals with support to export and to the internationalisation of Danish companies. However, these shifts in priorities have caused controversy. More often debates have been based on preconceived ideas than on knowledge about what works and what does not. Evaluation experience is rarely shared systematically among actors within the field. The basic idea behind the seminar is to look at the impact of aid for sector development based on evaluations. To what extent can support to private sector development create jobs, promote economic transformation and reduce poverty? What role do donors and recipient states play? In short, what works and what can be achieved? | | | | The seminar is organized by DIIS in cooperation with IDA Global Development and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. | | | | Speakers | | | | Nanna Hvidt, Director, DIIS | | Tony Addison, Chief Economist/Deputy Director, UNU-WIDER, Finland | | Mushtaq Khan, Professor, SOAS, London | | Flora Nankhuni, Independent Consultant | | Sunil Sinha, Managing Director, Nathan Associates London Ltd | | Werner Raza, Director, ÖFSE, Austria | | Per Kirkemann, Partner, Nordic Consulting Group (NCG) | | Mads Bugge Madsen, Director in Danish Trade Union Council for International Development Co-operation (Ulandssekretariatet) | | Morten Elkjær, Head of Danida’s Green Growth office | | Marie Gad, Chief Adviser, Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) | | Kirsten Hjørnholm Sørensen, Policy Advisor, MS/ActionAid | | | | Moderator:: Nils Boesen, consultant, former director of UNDP´s Capacity Development Group, Nils Boesen A/S | |
