Download or read book Investment Climate Reports Sub Saharan Africa written by and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Investment Climate Reports written by and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Investment Climate Reports Sub Saharan Africa March 1995 written by and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Investment Climate Reports written by and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book An Assessment of the Investment Climate in South Africa written by Vijaya Ramachandran and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2007-05-10 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most aspects of South Africa's investment climate the location-specific factors that shape opportunities and incentives for firms to invest productively, create jobs, and grow are favorable. The majority of large, registered firms believe that the legal system is able to protect their property rights. Infrastructure is reliable. Tax rates are relatively low. The burden of regulation is comparable to other middle-income countrries. Few firms pay bribes. And most firms have adequate access to credit. In many dimensions, South Africa has a good investment climate. Consistent with this, large South African firms are very productive. Labor productivity is far higher than in the most productive low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and compares favorably with other middle-income countries such as Brazil, Lithuania, Malaysia, and Poland. And although labor productivity in South Africa is slightly lower than in the most productive cities in China, it is over three times higher than in China as a whole. So, why hasn't South Africa been growing faster? As this title explores, while the investment climate is generally favorable, some problems remain. Firms appear to be particularly concerned about four areas: difficulty hiring skilled and educated workers, rigid labor regulations, exchange rate instability, and crime. Using rigorous statistical information on these and related topics, the book aims to assist policy makers and private sector stakeholders in developing reforms that will improve firm performance and growth.
Download or read book Investment Climate Reports written by and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Sub Saharan Africa written by and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Sub Saharan Africa written by United States. International Trade Administration. Office of Africa and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book What Matters to African Firms The Relevance of Perceptions Data written by Alan Gelb and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can perceptions data help us understand investment climate constraints facing the private sector? Or do firms simply complain about everything? In this paper, the authors provide a picture of how firms' views on constraints differ across countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys database, they find that reported constraints reflect country characteristics and vary systematically by level of income - the most elemental constraints to doing business (power, access to finance, ability to plan ahead) appear to be most binding at low levels of income. As countries develop and these elemental constraints are relaxed, governance-related constraints become more problematic. As countries move further up the income scale and the state becomes more capable, labor regulation is perceived to be more of a problem - business is just one among several important constituencies. The authors also consider whether firm-level characteristics - such as size, ownership, exporter status, and firms' own experience - affect firms' views on the severity of constraints. They find that, net of country and sector fixed effects and firm characteristics, firms' views do reflect their experience as evidenced by responses to other questions in surveys. The results suggest that there are both country-level and firm-level variations in the investment climate. Turning to the concept of binding constraints, the Enterprise Surveys do not generally suggest one single binding constraint facing firms in difficult business climates. However, there do appear to be groups of constraints that matter more at different income levels, with a few elemental constraints being especially important at low levels and a few regulatory constraints at high levels, but a difficult range of governance-related constraints at intermediate levels. Adjusting to a constraint does not mean that firms then do not recognize it - for example, generator-owning firms are not distinguishable from other firms when ranking electricity as a constraint. Overall, firms do appear to discriminate between constraints in a reasonable way. Their views can provide a useful first step in the business-government consultative process and help in prioritizing more specific behavioral analysis and policy reforms.
Download or read book Investing in Africa written by Vijaya Ramachandran and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this essay, Dr. Ramachandran examines the constraints to private sector growth in Sub- Saharan Africa. She addresses two sets of issues--the constraints on firm-level productivity and the barriers to investment in the private sector. Focusing on the manufacturing sector, the author identifies and analyzes several key problems that are responsible for low productivity and investment levels in Africa. Finally, she outlines policies that may lead to the improvement of productivity and investment levels, and the role of national and international agencies in promoting these strategies. The author begins by comparing manufacturing sector productivity across developing countries and then examines some of the reasons for the gap between African productivity and that of the rest of the developing world. The key questions with regard to the productivity gap include the following: Can African labor compete with labor from other developing countries? Is the vintage of capital equipment a barrier to raising productivity? How can African firms build export capacity and become competitive in global markets? What types of firms are growing the fastest in Africa? How efficient is the market for credit in the private sector and how does this impact firm-level productivity? Recognizing that Africa's potential to attract private sector investment is at the heart of its ability to achieve a high rate of economic growth, the author identifies some of the major problems faced by investors in the private sector. In particular, she focuses on foreign direct investment because of its critical role in generating growth in the early stages of industrial development. By using case studies and othermaterial, she examines foreign investment trends in Africa, the impact of this investment in terms of output and employment, and the problems faced by new investors in Sub-Saharan Africa. The author concludes with specific recommendations for generating growth in the private sector and for improving productivity and investment levels in Africa. Finally, she suggests concrete steps that national and international policymakers can take to improve the climate for investment in Africa.
Download or read book C te D Ivoire written by Weltbank and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Investment Climate Survey Report (ICSR) for Cote d'Ivoire evaluates the country's business environment by (i) analyzing barriers to private sector investment and growth and how they vary among different types of firms, (ii) benchmarking the Ivorian investment climate and firm performance to that of other countries and (iii) providing recommendations to promote and strengthen the private sector. The ICSR is supported by the statistical analysis of a survey of firms based in Cote d'Ivoire's major urban centers, as well as data from other sources. This ICSR identifies key areas where investment climate reforms may be warranted. It is largely based on the analysis of Enterprise Survey data; which are surveys of mostly manufacturing, formal sector enterprises in the major industrial centers of an economy. Cote d'Ivoire is one of the very few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with a ratio of manufacturing to GDP higher than 15 percent.
Download or read book The Impact of the Investment Climate on Employment Growth written by Reyes Aterido and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using survey data from 86,000 enterprises in 104 countries, including 17,000 enterprises in 31 Sub-Saharan African countries, this paper finds that average enterprise-level employment growth rates are remarkably similar across regions. This is true despite significant differences in the quality of the investment climate in which these enterprises operate. Objective measures of investment climate conditions (including the number of outages, the share of firms with bank loans, and others) indicate that conditions are most challenging within Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as for smaller enterprises. However, enterprises employment in Sub-Saharan Africa is less sensitive to changes in access to infrastructure and finance relative to other low-income regions. This can be understood by looking at non-linear effects by firm size -- and the finding that these size effects are particularly strong within Sub-Saharan Africa. Although unreliable infrastructure services and inadequate access to finance generally hamper growth, in Sub-Saharan Africa they are actually associated with higher employment growth rates among micro enterprises. Although employment growth is good news in Sub-Saharan Africa, that much of the expanded employment is in small, labor-intensive, less productive enterprises raises longer-run concerns about the efficiency of the allocation of resources and aggregate productivity growth in the region.
Download or read book Investment Climate Reforms written by World Bank World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2015-11-02 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Private firms are at the forefront of the development process, providing more than 90 percent of jobs, supplying goods and services, and representing a significant source of tax revenues. Their ability to grow, create jobs, and reduce poverty depends critically on a well-functioning investment climate--defined as the policy, legal, and institutional arrangements underpinning the functioning of markets and the level of transaction costs and risks associated with starting, operating, and closing a business. The World Bank Group has provided extensive support to investment climate reforms. This evaluation by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) assesses the relevance, effectiveness, and social value of World Bank Group support to investment climate reforms as it relates to concerns for inclusion and shared prosperity. IEG finds that the World Bank Group has supported a comprehensive menu of investment climate reforms and has improved investment climate in countries, as measured by number of laws enacted, streamlining of processes and time, or simple cost savings for private firms. However, the impact on investment, jobs, business formation, and growth is not straightforward. Regulatory reforms need to be designed and implemented with both economic and social costs and benefits in mind; IEG found that, in practice, World Bank Group support focuses predominantly on reducing costs to businesses. In supporting investment climate reforms, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation use two distinct but complementary business models. Despite the fact that investment climate is the most integrated business unit in the World Bank Group, coordination is mostly informal, relying mainly on personal contacts. IEG recommends that the World Bank Group expand its range of diagnostic tools and integrate them in the areas of the business environment not yet covered by existing tools; develop an approach to identify the social effects of regulatory reforms on all groups expected to be affected by them beyond the business community; and exploit synergies by ensuring that World Bank and IFC staff improve their understanding of each other's work and business models.
Download or read book Foreign Direct Investment in Africa written by Jacques Morisset and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2000 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A few Sub-Saharan countries, by improving their business environment, have begun to attract more substantial foreign direct investment than other African countries with bigger domestic markets and greater natural resources. Like Ireland and Singapore, perhaps they can become competitive internationally and attract sustainable foreign direct investment.
Download or read book State Business Relations Investment Climate Reform and Firm Productivity in Sub Saharan Africa written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Competitiveness and Private Sector Development in Africa written by Benn Eifert and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Special Economic Zones in Africa written by Thomas Farole and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book, designed for policymakers, academics and researchers, and SEZ program practitioners, provides the first systematic and comprehensive analysis of SEZ programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is the result of detailed surveys and case studies conducted during 2009 in ten developing countries, including six in Sub-Saharan Africa. The book provides quantitative evidence of the performance of SEZs, and of the factors which contribute to that performance, highlighting the critical importance not just of the SEZ itself but of the wider national investment climate in which it functions. It also provides a comprehensive guide to the key policy questions that confront governments establishing SEZ programs, including: if and when to launch an SEZ program, what form of SEZ is most appropriate, and how to go about implementing it. Among the most important findings from the study that is stressed in the book is the shift from traditional enclave models of zones to SEZs that are integrated ? with national trade and industrial strategies, with core trade and social infrastructure, with domestic suppliers, and with local labor markets.Although the book focuses primarily on the experience of Sub-Saharan Africa, its lessons will be applicable to developing countries around the world."
