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Centre on conflict, development & peacebuilding
02 October 2017

Business Environment Reform in fragile and conflict-affected states

Business environment reform (BER) is increasingly seen as a key component of development strategies in fragile and conflict-affected states, and to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The hope is that BER will contribute to a broader agenda of market development, investment promotion, inclusive growth, and more peaceful and inclusive societies in settings in which conflict – both violent and non-violent – tends to revolve around the control of economic assets and resources, and the benefits flowing from them.

To further this debate, the CCDP was recently mandated by the Business Environment Reform Facility, managed by a consortium led by KPMG and commissioned by the Conflict Advisor within the Growth and Resilience Department of the UK’s Department for International Development. Under the lead of Achim Wennmann (CCDP Senior Researcher), Brian Ganson (CCDP Research Associate and Head of the Africa Centre for Dispute Settlement at the University of Stellenbosch), and John Luiz (Professor of International Business at the Universities of Sussex and Cape Town), the purpose of the study was to showcase the operational experiences of BER programming in a number of country settings.

The study emphasises the need to go beyond understanding BER as mere technical assistance on the ease of doing business, but rather as an intrinsic component of meaningful political reforms in fragile states. It finds that if BER focuses predominantly on economic growth, it tends to fail as a policy instrument to foster inclusive development. The study therefore proposes an upgrade to ‘BER 2.0’ that (a) embraces a systems approach to recognise the complex networks behind business interests and agendas in fragile states; (b) fosters business initiative and innovation in both formal and informal markets; and (c) is cognisant of conflict and political economy dynamics to ‘do no harm’ when implementing BER programmes.

The project, which encompassed desk research on Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Uganda as well as stakeholder consultations with over 80 experts in London, Freetown, and Kampala, demonstrates the CCDP’s ability to catalyse its wealth of in-house and affiliated expertise in order to carry out large-scale mandates of this nature. In this particular case, Wennmann, Ganson and Luiz were joined by CCDP Research Associates Claudia Seymour and Koenraad Van Brabant, CCDP staff member Kazushige Kobayashi, as well as Herbert M’cleod, currently the Country Director of the International Growth Centre for Sierra Leone and Liberia. The CCDP core team provided additional guidance, peer review, and editing support.

To read the full report, click here.

 

Business environment reform (BER) is increasingly seen as a key component of development strategies in fragile and conflict-affected states, and to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The hope is that BER will contribute to a broader agenda of market development, investment promotion, inclusive growth, and more peaceful and inclusive societies in settings in which conflict – both violent and non-violent – tends to revolve around the control of economic assets and resources, and the benefits flowing from them.

To further this debate, the CCDP was recently mandated by the Business Environment Reform Facility, managed by a consortium led by KPMG and commissioned by the Conflict Advisor within the Growth and Resilience Department of the UK’s Department for International Development. Under the lead of Achim Wennmann (CCDP Senior Researcher), Brian Ganson (CCDP Research Associate and Head of the Africa Centre for Dispute Settlement at the University of Stellenbosch), and John Luiz (Professor of International Business at the Universities of Sussex and Cape Town), the purpose of the study was to showcase the operational experiences of BER programming in a number of country settings.

The study emphasises the need to go beyond understanding BER as mere technical assistance on the ease of doing business, but rather as an intrinsic component of meaningful political reforms in fragile states. It finds that if BER focuses predominantly on economic growth, it tends to fail as a policy instrument to foster inclusive development. The study therefore proposes an upgrade to ‘BER 2.0’ that (a) embraces a systems approach to recognise the complex networks behind business interests and agendas in fragile states; (b) fosters business initiative and innovation in both formal and informal markets; and (c) is cognisant of conflict and political economy dynamics to ‘do no harm’ when implementing BER programmes.

The project, which encompassed desk research on Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Uganda as well as stakeholder consultations with over 80 experts in London, Freetown, and Kampala, demonstrates the CCDP’s ability to catalyse its wealth of in-house and affiliated expertise in order to carry out large-scale mandates of this nature. In this particular case, Wennmann, Ganson and Luiz were joined by CCDP Research Associates Claudia Seymour and Koenraad Van Brabant, CCDP staff member Kazushige Kobayashi, as well as Herbert M’cleod, currently the Country Director of the International Growth Centre for Sierra Leone and Liberia. The CCDP core team provided additional guidance, peer review, and editing support.

To read the full report, click here.