"We are investing strongly in the Economic Infrastructurei in Drakenstein Municipality to promote economic development, we want to share with and learn from others in Africa. LEDNA looks a great opportunity for us all."
Gulelat Kebede
Traditional Irrigation and Environmental Development Organisation (TIP)
Kenya
"LEDNA is an excellent resource and a promising knowledge network to advance the LED agenda in Sub Sahara Africa. We should nurture and use it to catalyze partnerships that respond to the real needs of local authorities."
Dr. I.H. Kawa
Traditional Irrigation and Environmental Development Organisation (TIP)
Tanzania
"It is great to have LEDNA, which serves as a perfect forum for linking and learning among LED academics and practitioners."
Gulelat Kebede
Traditional Irrigation and Environmental Development Organisation (TIP)
Kenya
"LEDNA is an excellent resource and a promising knowledge network to advance the LED agenda in Sub Sahara Africa. We should nurture and use it to catalyze partnerships that respond to the real needs of local authorities."
Dr. I.H. Kawa
Traditional Irrigation and Environmental Development Organisation (TIP)
Tanzania
"It is great to have LEDNA, which serves as a perfect forum for linking and learning among LED academics and practitioners."
Hamisi Mboga
Secretary General of the Association of Local Government Authorities of Kenya
"In our cities we find both poverty and wealth in very close proximity. Local economic development process seems to be one of those strategies to address the challenges and hence my interest on this network."
Dr. Sidima Kabanyane
Municipal Manager
South Africa
"We are investing strongly in the Economic Infrastructurei in Drakenstein Municipality to promote economic development, we want to share with and learn from others in Africa. LEDNA looks a great opportunity for us all."
Given my understanding of the potentials that Iganga has, I understand why you pose this important question. Although it may appear improper to answer the question with a set of questions, i suggest that you ponder on the following in relation to the problem: a) What factors account for Iganga's inability to seize the opportunites availed by the transnational highway that traverses its territory? b) How can one explain the pace at which Idudi, along the same highway, has developed? c) What is the Myaor's vision of the developmental state of Iganga Municipality and the incorporating Iganga Local Governmenti ten years from now? and d) What would be the appropriate strategies that the municaplity, the local government and other development partners in Iganga, including the farming communities and the private sector, to enable the realization of that vision?
In my view, the transnational highway offers two important complementary opportunities: a) improved access by people of Iganga to information, technology, resources and so on from places such as Jinja, Kampala, and Malaba; and b) supply of services required by those who ply the highway and the urban-industrial centre of Jinja.
Your answeerrs to some of the questions I posed above will enable you to appreciate why Iganga has not optimally seized these opportunities despite the prevailing relatively conducive macro-economic and political environment, at leaset in the last two decades. In addition there are some basic factors to consider:
The entrepreneurail capacity of the private sector agencies including the farming communities in the hinterland to appropriately read and respond to the services demanded by those who ply the highway
The ability of service providers in Iganga and other trading centres along the highway to provide quality services that attract and retain customer loyalty among those who ply the highway
The quality of the basic infrastructure and utilities within the municipality.
Security of person and property (remember the decline of Kakoge on the Kampala-Gulu Highway and rapid growth of Mijera along the same highway
The bottomline for Iganga Municpality is the existence ovibrant farming communities in the hinterland and the private sector firms operating within the community, which would provide a growing tax base to boost the municipality's revenue. WIth enhanced revenue generation capacity, the Municipality would be best placed to engage in puclic-private pertnaships for enhancing local development.
Given my understanding of the potentials that Iganga has, I understand why you pose this important question. Although it may appear improper to answer the question with a set of questions, i suggest that you ponder on the following in relation to the problem: a) What factors account for Iganga's inability to seize the opportunites availed by the transnational highway that traverses its territory? b) How can one explain the pace at which Idudi, along the same highway, has developed? c) What is the Myaor's vision of the developmental state of Iganga Municipality and the incorporating Iganga Local Governmenti ten years from now? and d) What would be the appropriate strategies that the municaplity, the local government and other development partners in Iganga, including the farming communities and the private sector, to enable the realization of that vision?
In my view, the transnational highway offers two important complementary opportunities: a) improved access by people of Iganga to information, technology, resources and so on from places such as Jinja, Kampala, and Malaba; and b) supply of services required by those who ply the highway and the urban-industrial centre of Jinja.
Your answeerrs to some of the questions I posed above will enable you to appreciate why Iganga has not optimally seized these opportunities despite the prevailing relatively conducive macro-economic and political environment, at leaset in the last two decades. In addition there are some basic factors to consider:
The entrepreneurail capacity of the private sector agencies including the farming communities in the hinterland to appropriately read and respond to the services demanded by those who ply the highway
The ability of service providers in Iganga and other trading centres along the highway to provide quality services that attract and retain customer loyalty among those who ply the highway
The quality of the basic infrastructure and utilities within the municipality.
Security of person and property (remember the decline of Kakoge on the Kampala-Gulu Highway and rapid growth of Mijera along the same highway
The bottomline for Iganga Municpality is the existence ovibrant farming communities in the hinterland and the private sector firms operating within the community, which would provide a growing tax base to boost the municipality's revenue. WIth enhanced revenue generation capacity, the Municipality would be best placed to engage in puclic-private pertnaships for enhancing local development.
Given my understanding of the potentials that Iganga has, I understand why you pose this important question. Although it may appear improper to answer the question with a set of questions, i suggest that you ponder on the following in relation to the problem: a) What factors account for Iganga's inability to seize the opportunites availed by the transnational highway that traverses its territory? b) How can one explain the pace at which Idudi, along the same highway, has developed? c) What is the Myaor's vision of the developmental state of Iganga Municipality and the incorporating Iganga Local Governmenti ten years from now? and d) What would be the appropriate strategies that the municaplity, the local government and other development partners in Iganga, including the farming communities and the private sector, to enable the realization of that vision?
In my view, the transnational highway offers two important complementary opportunities: a) improved access by people of Iganga to information, technology, resources and so on from places such as Jinja, Kampala, and Malaba; and b) supply of services required by those who ply the highway and the urban-industrial centre of Jinja.
Your answeerrs to some of the questions I posed above will enable you to appreciate why Iganga has not optimally seized these opportunities despite the prevailing relatively conducive macro-economic and political environment, at leaset in the last two decades. In addition there are some basic factors to consider:
The entrepreneurail capacity of the private sector agencies including the farming communities in the hinterland to appropriately read and respond to the services demanded by those who ply the highway
The ability of service providers in Iganga and other trading centres along the highway to provide quality services that attract and retain customer loyalty among those who ply the highway
The quality of the basic infrastructure and utilities within the municipality.
Security of person and property (remember the decline of Kakoge on the Kampala-Gulu Highway and rapid growth of Mijera along the same highway
The bottomline for Iganga Municpality is the existence ovibrant farming communities in the hinterland and the private sector firms operating within the community, which would provide a growing tax base to boost the municipality's revenue. WIth enhanced revenue generation capacity, the Municipality would be best placed to engage in puclic-private pertnaships for enhancing local development.
I really agree with what you have said. I think in any context, such costless LED actions as a change in attitude by government officials or reform of business regulations often achieve the best results with very little costs. In the African context, these are especially effective given the shortage of finances and capacity within local governments.
There is often an urge, however, to support local producers or micro enterprises financially because access to finance is a huge constraint they face. Local governments in Mozambique, for example, are doing this through the OIIL fund (see the Mozambique country page on LEDNA for more info). In principle this makes a lot of sense because microfinance institutions are currently not targeting those clients. In practice, however, due to capacity constraints within local government, this type of financial support most often achieves sub optimal results.
A better option, in my view, would be to use local governments' scarce funds to incentivise a microfinance provider to locate in the area or to target previously unserved groups of producers or enterprises. This would leave the complex business of running the actual access to finance programmes to the experts - the microfinance providers.
I hope that through LEDNA these issues can be thoroughly discussed and experience shared so that the best programme and policy decisions are made to support local producers and enterpreneurs.
I really agree with what you have said. I think in any context, such costless LED actions as a change in attitude by government officials or reform of business regulations often achieve the best results with very little costs. In the African context, these are especially effective given the shortage of finances and capacity within local governments.
There is often an urge, however, to support local producers or micro enterprises financially because access to finance is a huge constraint they face. Local governments in Mozambique, for example, are doing this through the OIIL fund (see the Mozambique country page on LEDNA for more info). In principle this makes a lot of sense because microfinance institutions are currently not targeting those clients. In practice, however, due to capacity constraints within local government, this type of financial support most often achieves sub optimal results.
A better option, in my view, would be to use local governments' scarce funds to incentivise a microfinance provider to locate in the area or to target previously unserved groups of producers or enterprises. This would leave the complex business of running the actual access to finance programmes to the experts - the microfinance providers.
I hope that through LEDNA these issues can be thoroughly discussed and experience shared so that the best programme and policy decisions are made to support local producers and enterpreneurs.
I would think that given their limited resources, African local governments can hardly afford to give financial assistance to local firms even if they wished. However there are a lot of non-financial assistance that local governments can provide and these alone can go a long way in improving the performance of local firms. These type of measures include actions such reforms aimed at improving the business environment as well as sometimes simple things such as a completely costless campaign to drive home to all local stakeholders the importance of local businesses. A mayor whose LED strategy consists in a sincere show of respect, a listening hear and open-door attitude to local entrepreneurs can achieve a lot! Just that can make miracles. I think it will be useful at one point to discuss these completely free/costless LED actions that can be initiated by a small local government.
I would think that given their limited resources, African local governments can hardly afford to give financial assistance to local firms even if they wished. However there are a lot of non-financial assistance that local governments can provide and these alone can go a long way in improving the performance of local firms. These type of measures include actions such reforms aimed at improving the business environment as well as sometimes simple things such as a completely costless campaign to drive home to all local stakeholders the importance of local businesses. A mayor whose LED strategy consists in a sincere show of respect, a listening hear and open-door attitude to local entrepreneurs can achieve a lot! Just that can make miracles. I think it will be useful at one point to discuss these completely free/costless LED actions that can be initiated by a small local government.
Thanks very much for your comments! I agree with you that at the national level, African governments need to regulate the activities of multi-national firms and ensure that privatisation leads to efficiently run businesses that improve employment and poverty reduction. When privatising, governments need to rigorously assess whether multi-nationals are likely to act in a way that benefits the local population, compared with a local company.
At the local level, however, which was the main focus of my blog, multi-nationals are less of a threat, as we are talking about small productive ventures like the dairy factory example that I gave, olive pressing factories, tourist accomodation, etc and here I stand by what I said that I dont think local government has the expertise or the mandate to run this kind of enterprise efficiently.
China and Singapore are great examples of how a developmental state can achieve economic development but these governments have greatly encouraged private sector ownership and competitiveness in recent years. Most enterprises are privately owned in Singapore and China, it's just that the government invests a lot of money into providing an enabling environment for business, good infrastructure, good human skills and attracting investment....which I think are policies that no one would argue with as they are not market distortive...
But I totally agree that the main focus of local governments should be on encouraging local enterpreneurship in their localities. It's just I'd rather see them supporting local businesses and start ups rather than starting them up themselves!
Thanks very much for your comments! I agree with you that at the national level, African governments need to regulate the activities of multi-national firms and ensure that privatisation leads to efficiently run businesses that improve employment and poverty reduction. When privatising, governments need to rigorously assess whether multi-nationals are likely to act in a way that benefits the local population, compared with a local company.
At the local level, however, which was the main focus of my blog, multi-nationals are less of a threat, as we are talking about small productive ventures like the dairy factory example that I gave, olive pressing factories, tourist accomodation, etc and here I stand by what I said that I dont think local government has the expertise or the mandate to run this kind of enterprise efficiently.
China and Singapore are great examples of how a developmental state can achieve economic development but these governments have greatly encouraged private sector ownership and competitiveness in recent years. Most enterprises are privately owned in Singapore and China, it's just that the government invests a lot of money into providing an enabling environment for business, good infrastructure, good human skills and attracting investment....which I think are policies that no one would argue with as they are not market distortive...
But I totally agree that the main focus of local governments should be on encouraging local enterpreneurship in their localities. It's just I'd rather see them supporting local businesses and start ups rather than starting them up themselves!
This paper makes a lot of sense. It is trite knowledge that macro-economic consideration alone will not help address the regional and socio-economic disparities in North African countries. It seems INEQUALITY rather than Poverty as such is the main drive for popular uprising. As such countries in which great wealth cohabits side by side with extreme poverty, luxurious suburds with terrible slums, the income and livestyle gap between tiny upper and middle classes and the majority unemployed lower classes keep widening etc... are more likely to experience popular uprising. Countries beware of the growing phenomena of unemployed graduates! Targeted local strategies can help address these challenges in a practical way.
PPP is not an excuse for government to get back into the business sector but is it an excuse for the private sector (particularly multi-nationals) to seize up control of the public sector in weak countries? That is a question that exercises my mind, Ms Hobson. It seems like too much government interventions in the business sector is just as bad a total laissez faire regime. Developing countries need government to steer the development agenda. What is needed in my view is developmental (local) governments. We know of the phenomenon of pervasive growth whereby all the growth generated in a country benefit only a segment of the population and mostly multinational corporations which constantly repatriate the funds to their home countries further impoverishing on the long run their host countries. What is needed is empowerment of the locals to begin to take available business opportunities and (local) governments need to be present and friendly to these efforts. Actually to fast track development, government need to be the main driver of the process. PPP can help but it not a panacea neither is it a sacrosanct principle that government should not get involved in business. Let not elevates issues to absolute, to dogmas. Look at Singapore to see how government entrepreneurship can do it for the best. China is an example too that government can get it right in the economic sector and unleash the broader potential of the locals. Context determines action, not preset dogmas and assumptions, so I submit respectfully.
PPP is not an excuse for government to get back into the business sector but is it an excuse for the private sector (particularly multi-nationals) to seize up control of the public sector in weak countries? That is a question that exercises my mind, Ms Hobson. It seems like too much government interventions in the business sector is just as bad a total laissez faire regime. Developing countries need government to steer the development agenda. What is needed in my view is developmental (local) governments. We know of the phenomenon of pervasive growth whereby all the growth generated in a country benefit only a segment of the population and mostly multinational corporations which constantly repatriate the funds to their home countries further impoverishing on the long run their host countries. What is needed is empowerment of the locals to begin to take available business opportunities and (local) governments need to be present and friendly to these efforts. Actually to fast track development, government need to be the main driver of the process. PPP can help but it not a panacea neither is it a sacrosanct principle that government should not get involved in business. Let not elevates issues to absolute, to dogmas. Look at Singapore to see how government entrepreneurship can do it for the best. China is an example too that government can get it right in the economic sector and unleash the broader potential of the locals. Context determines action, not preset dogmas and assumptions, so I submit respectfully.
I agree - the single most important function of the LEDNA website is to search and find resources by keyword, topic and country. If this works smoothly and links to correct and wide ranging resources for each category then the job is pretty much achieved.
Looking forward to seeing it all online on the 1st August!!
I agree - the single most important function of the LEDNA website is to search and find resources by keyword, topic and country. If this works smoothly and links to correct and wide ranging resources for each category then the job is pretty much achieved.
Looking forward to seeing it all online on the 1st August!!
I agree - the single most important function of the LEDNA website is to search and find resources by keyword, topic and country. If this works smoothly and links to correct and wide ranging resources for each category then the job is pretty much achieved.
Looking forward to seeing it all online on the 1st August!!
Serge, I hope the new functionalities will bring back some of the functionalities that were available on LEDNA, prior to the last 'upgrade' several years ago. It will be interesting to once again be able to search by tag the many resources which are in the system but cannot be found currently. As the users cannot be expected to know by heart all the tags in the system, they cannot have access to all the codified resources, so lets hope they have been reinstated.
I see that the last upgrade several years ago responded according to the site to 200 users comments, we never saw those comments, so I was wondering what stakeholder engagement that had been for this latest upcoming upgrade, as I did not see a survey.
Looking forward to seeing the new site and exploring the functionalities.
PS the link you posted to the beta site is non- functioning
Serge, I hope the new functionalities will bring back some of the functionalities that were available on LEDNA, prior to the last 'upgrade' several years ago. It will be interesting to once again be able to search by tag the many resources which are in the system but cannot be found currently. As the users cannot be expected to know by heart all the tags in the system, they cannot have access to all the codified resources, so lets hope they have been reinstated.
I see that the last upgrade several years ago responded according to the site to 200 users comments, we never saw those comments, so I was wondering what stakeholder engagement that had been for this latest upcoming upgrade, as I did not see a survey.
Looking forward to seeing the new site and exploring the functionalities.
PS the link you posted to the beta site is non- functioning
Serge, I hope the new functionalities will bring back some of the functionalities that were available on LEDNA, prior to the last 'upgrade' several years ago. It will be interesting to once again be able to search by tag the many resources which are in the system but cannot be found currently. As the users cannot be expected to know by heart all the tags in the system, they cannot have access to all the codified resources, so lets hope they have been reinstated.
I see that the last upgrade several years ago responded according to the site to 200 users comments, we never saw those comments, so I was wondering what stakeholder engagement that had been for this latest upcoming upgrade, as I did not see a survey.
Looking forward to seeing the new site and exploring the functionalities.
PS the link you posted to the beta site is non- functioning
Emma,
Interesting comments.
I think the funding issue is a whole discourse in its own right. I still think we could re-construct LED conceptualization, especially to suit crisis ridden contexts whether national or subnational. Why don't we explore, conceptually, LED as a crisis solution tool? Should we really recycle conditionalities in LED? I would think that we stand a better chance for success if we view LED as a paradigm. We could take liberties in utilizing Thomas Kuhn trail of thought, that
"...In periods of acknowledged crisis scientists have turned to philosophical analysis as a device for unlocking the riddles of their field".
I'll also, here, pick up the 'process' definition LED, and its implications on LED operationalization. Perhaps what we need to consider is a changing of financial models? Outputi based funding models have made progress, but they present some serious challenges especially as far as LED outcomes [which range from quantitative to qualitative] are concerned. And if LED is going to be a paradigm-which we argue it is- it needs to retain its uniqueness even on the financial models. Perhaps we could engage on developing outcomes measuring tools?
Perhaps the arguments we make need to be treated like a sick child. Are we not better off struggling with finding solutions rather than sticking to a diet simply because it is too common and therefore safe? Just some random thoughts...
Emma,
Interesting comments.
I think the funding issue is a whole discourse in its own right. I still think we could re-construct LED conceptualization, especially to suit crisis ridden contexts whether national or subnational. Why don't we explore, conceptually, LED as a crisis solution tool? Should we really recycle conditionalities in LED? I would think that we stand a better chance for success if we view LED as a paradigm. We could take liberties in utilizing Thomas Kuhn trail of thought, that
"...In periods of acknowledged crisis scientists have turned to philosophical analysis as a device for unlocking the riddles of their field".
I'll also, here, pick up the 'process' definition LED, and its implications on LED operationalization. Perhaps what we need to consider is a changing of financial models? Outputi based funding models have made progress, but they present some serious challenges especially as far as LED outcomes [which range from quantitative to qualitative] are concerned. And if LED is going to be a paradigm-which we argue it is- it needs to retain its uniqueness even on the financial models. Perhaps we could engage on developing outcomes measuring tools?
Perhaps the arguments we make need to be treated like a sick child. Are we not better off struggling with finding solutions rather than sticking to a diet simply because it is too common and therefore safe? Just some random thoughts...
Emma,
Interesting comments.
I think the funding issue is a whole discourse in its own right. I still think we could re-construct LED conceptualization, especially to suit crisis ridden contexts whether national or subnational. Why don't we explore, conceptually, LED as a crisis solution tool? Should we really recycle conditionalities in LED? I would think that we stand a better chance for success if we view LED as a paradigm. We could take liberties in utilizing Thomas Kuhn trail of thought, that
"...In periods of acknowledged crisis scientists have turned to philosophical analysis as a device for unlocking the riddles of their field".
I'll also, here, pick up the 'process' definition LED, and its implications on LED operationalization. Perhaps what we need to consider is a changing of financial models? Outputi based funding models have made progress, but they present some serious challenges especially as far as LED outcomes [which range from quantitative to qualitative] are concerned. And if LED is going to be a paradigm-which we argue it is- it needs to retain its uniqueness even on the financial models. Perhaps we could engage on developing outcomes measuring tools?
Perhaps the arguments we make need to be treated like a sick child. Are we not better off struggling with finding solutions rather than sticking to a diet simply because it is too common and therefore safe? Just some random thoughts...
Emma,
Interesting comments.
I think the funding issue is a whole discourse in its own right. I still think we could re-construct LED conceptualization, especially to suit crisis ridden contexts whether national or subnational. Why don't we explore, conceptually, LED as a crisis solution tool? Should we really recycle conditionalities in LED? I would think that we stand a better chance for success if we view LED as a paradigm. We could take liberties in utilizing Thomas Kuhn trail of thought, that
"...In periods of acknowledged crisis scientists have turned to philosophical analysis as a device for unlocking the riddles of their field".
I'll also, here, pick up the 'process' definition LED, and its implications on LED operationalization. Perhaps what we need to consider is a changing of financial models? Outputi based funding models have made progress, but they present some serious challenges especially as far as LED outcomes [which range from quantitative to qualitative] are concerned. And if LED is going to be a paradigm-which we argue it is- it needs to retain its uniqueness even on the financial models. Perhaps we could engage on developing outcomes measuring tools?
Perhaps the arguments we make need to be treated like a sick child. Are we not better off struggling with finding solutions rather than sticking to a diet simply because it is too common and therefore safe? Just some random thoughts...
Dear Hajj,
Given my understanding of the potentials that Iganga has, I understand why you pose this important question. Although it may appear improper to answer the question with a set of questions, i suggest that you ponder on the following in relation to the problem: a) What factors account for Iganga's inability to seize the opportunites availed by the transnational highway that traverses its territory? b) How can one explain the pace at which Idudi, along the same highway, has developed? c) What is the Myaor's vision of the developmental state of Iganga Municipality and the incorporating Iganga Local Governmenti ten years from now? and d) What would be the appropriate strategies that the municaplity, the local government and other development partners in Iganga, including the farming communities and the private sector, to enable the realization of that vision?
In my view, the transnational highway offers two important complementary opportunities: a) improved access by people of Iganga to information, technology, resources and so on from places such as Jinja, Kampala, and Malaba; and b) supply of services required by those who ply the highway and the urban-industrial centre of Jinja.
Your answeerrs to some of the questions I posed above will enable you to appreciate why Iganga has not optimally seized these opportunities despite the prevailing relatively conducive macro-economic and political environment, at leaset in the last two decades. In addition there are some basic factors to consider:
The bottomline for Iganga Municpality is the existence ovibrant farming communities in the hinterland and the private sector firms operating within the community, which would provide a growing tax base to boost the municipality's revenue. WIth enhanced revenue generation capacity, the Municipality would be best placed to engage in puclic-private pertnaships for enhancing local development.
Best regards
Joseph Opio-Odongo
Dear Hajj,
Given my understanding of the potentials that Iganga has, I understand why you pose this important question. Although it may appear improper to answer the question with a set of questions, i suggest that you ponder on the following in relation to the problem: a) What factors account for Iganga's inability to seize the opportunites availed by the transnational highway that traverses its territory? b) How can one explain the pace at which Idudi, along the same highway, has developed? c) What is the Myaor's vision of the developmental state of Iganga Municipality and the incorporating Iganga Local Governmenti ten years from now? and d) What would be the appropriate strategies that the municaplity, the local government and other development partners in Iganga, including the farming communities and the private sector, to enable the realization of that vision?
In my view, the transnational highway offers two important complementary opportunities: a) improved access by people of Iganga to information, technology, resources and so on from places such as Jinja, Kampala, and Malaba; and b) supply of services required by those who ply the highway and the urban-industrial centre of Jinja.
Your answeerrs to some of the questions I posed above will enable you to appreciate why Iganga has not optimally seized these opportunities despite the prevailing relatively conducive macro-economic and political environment, at leaset in the last two decades. In addition there are some basic factors to consider:
The bottomline for Iganga Municpality is the existence ovibrant farming communities in the hinterland and the private sector firms operating within the community, which would provide a growing tax base to boost the municipality's revenue. WIth enhanced revenue generation capacity, the Municipality would be best placed to engage in puclic-private pertnaships for enhancing local development.
Best regards
Joseph Opio-Odongo
Dear Hajj,
Given my understanding of the potentials that Iganga has, I understand why you pose this important question. Although it may appear improper to answer the question with a set of questions, i suggest that you ponder on the following in relation to the problem: a) What factors account for Iganga's inability to seize the opportunites availed by the transnational highway that traverses its territory? b) How can one explain the pace at which Idudi, along the same highway, has developed? c) What is the Myaor's vision of the developmental state of Iganga Municipality and the incorporating Iganga Local Governmenti ten years from now? and d) What would be the appropriate strategies that the municaplity, the local government and other development partners in Iganga, including the farming communities and the private sector, to enable the realization of that vision?
In my view, the transnational highway offers two important complementary opportunities: a) improved access by people of Iganga to information, technology, resources and so on from places such as Jinja, Kampala, and Malaba; and b) supply of services required by those who ply the highway and the urban-industrial centre of Jinja.
Your answeerrs to some of the questions I posed above will enable you to appreciate why Iganga has not optimally seized these opportunities despite the prevailing relatively conducive macro-economic and political environment, at leaset in the last two decades. In addition there are some basic factors to consider:
The bottomline for Iganga Municpality is the existence ovibrant farming communities in the hinterland and the private sector firms operating within the community, which would provide a growing tax base to boost the municipality's revenue. WIth enhanced revenue generation capacity, the Municipality would be best placed to engage in puclic-private pertnaships for enhancing local development.
Best regards
Joseph Opio-Odongo
Dear Momo Mengue,
I really agree with what you have said. I think in any context, such costless LED actions as a change in attitude by government officials or reform of business regulations often achieve the best results with very little costs. In the African context, these are especially effective given the shortage of finances and capacity within local governments.
There is often an urge, however, to support local producers or micro enterprises financially because access to finance is a huge constraint they face. Local governments in Mozambique, for example, are doing this through the OIIL fund (see the Mozambique country page on LEDNA for more info). In principle this makes a lot of sense because microfinance institutions are currently not targeting those clients. In practice, however, due to capacity constraints within local government, this type of financial support most often achieves sub optimal results.
A better option, in my view, would be to use local governments' scarce funds to incentivise a microfinance provider to locate in the area or to target previously unserved groups of producers or enterprises. This would leave the complex business of running the actual access to finance programmes to the experts - the microfinance providers.
I hope that through LEDNA these issues can be thoroughly discussed and experience shared so that the best programme and policy decisions are made to support local producers and enterpreneurs.
Dear Momo Mengue,
I really agree with what you have said. I think in any context, such costless LED actions as a change in attitude by government officials or reform of business regulations often achieve the best results with very little costs. In the African context, these are especially effective given the shortage of finances and capacity within local governments.
There is often an urge, however, to support local producers or micro enterprises financially because access to finance is a huge constraint they face. Local governments in Mozambique, for example, are doing this through the OIIL fund (see the Mozambique country page on LEDNA for more info). In principle this makes a lot of sense because microfinance institutions are currently not targeting those clients. In practice, however, due to capacity constraints within local government, this type of financial support most often achieves sub optimal results.
A better option, in my view, would be to use local governments' scarce funds to incentivise a microfinance provider to locate in the area or to target previously unserved groups of producers or enterprises. This would leave the complex business of running the actual access to finance programmes to the experts - the microfinance providers.
I hope that through LEDNA these issues can be thoroughly discussed and experience shared so that the best programme and policy decisions are made to support local producers and enterpreneurs.
I would think that given their limited resources, African local governments can hardly afford to give financial assistance to local firms even if they wished. However there are a lot of non-financial assistance that local governments can provide and these alone can go a long way in improving the performance of local firms. These type of measures include actions such reforms aimed at improving the business environment as well as sometimes simple things such as a completely costless campaign to drive home to all local stakeholders the importance of local businesses. A mayor whose LED strategy consists in a sincere show of respect, a listening hear and open-door attitude to local entrepreneurs can achieve a lot! Just that can make miracles. I think it will be useful at one point to discuss these completely free/costless LED actions that can be initiated by a small local government.
I would think that given their limited resources, African local governments can hardly afford to give financial assistance to local firms even if they wished. However there are a lot of non-financial assistance that local governments can provide and these alone can go a long way in improving the performance of local firms. These type of measures include actions such reforms aimed at improving the business environment as well as sometimes simple things such as a completely costless campaign to drive home to all local stakeholders the importance of local businesses. A mayor whose LED strategy consists in a sincere show of respect, a listening hear and open-door attitude to local entrepreneurs can achieve a lot! Just that can make miracles. I think it will be useful at one point to discuss these completely free/costless LED actions that can be initiated by a small local government.
Thanks very much for your comments! I agree with you that at the national level, African governments need to regulate the activities of multi-national firms and ensure that privatisation leads to efficiently run businesses that improve employment and poverty reduction. When privatising, governments need to rigorously assess whether multi-nationals are likely to act in a way that benefits the local population, compared with a local company.
At the local level, however, which was the main focus of my blog, multi-nationals are less of a threat, as we are talking about small productive ventures like the dairy factory example that I gave, olive pressing factories, tourist accomodation, etc and here I stand by what I said that I dont think local government has the expertise or the mandate to run this kind of enterprise efficiently.
China and Singapore are great examples of how a developmental state can achieve economic development but these governments have greatly encouraged private sector ownership and competitiveness in recent years. Most enterprises are privately owned in Singapore and China, it's just that the government invests a lot of money into providing an enabling environment for business, good infrastructure, good human skills and attracting investment....which I think are policies that no one would argue with as they are not market distortive...
But I totally agree that the main focus of local governments should be on encouraging local enterpreneurship in their localities. It's just I'd rather see them supporting local businesses and start ups rather than starting them up themselves!
Thanks very much for your comments! I agree with you that at the national level, African governments need to regulate the activities of multi-national firms and ensure that privatisation leads to efficiently run businesses that improve employment and poverty reduction. When privatising, governments need to rigorously assess whether multi-nationals are likely to act in a way that benefits the local population, compared with a local company.
At the local level, however, which was the main focus of my blog, multi-nationals are less of a threat, as we are talking about small productive ventures like the dairy factory example that I gave, olive pressing factories, tourist accomodation, etc and here I stand by what I said that I dont think local government has the expertise or the mandate to run this kind of enterprise efficiently.
China and Singapore are great examples of how a developmental state can achieve economic development but these governments have greatly encouraged private sector ownership and competitiveness in recent years. Most enterprises are privately owned in Singapore and China, it's just that the government invests a lot of money into providing an enabling environment for business, good infrastructure, good human skills and attracting investment....which I think are policies that no one would argue with as they are not market distortive...
But I totally agree that the main focus of local governments should be on encouraging local enterpreneurship in their localities. It's just I'd rather see them supporting local businesses and start ups rather than starting them up themselves!
This paper makes a lot of sense. It is trite knowledge that macro-economic consideration alone will not help address the regional and socio-economic disparities in North African countries. It seems INEQUALITY rather than Poverty as such is the main drive for popular uprising. As such countries in which great wealth cohabits side by side with extreme poverty, luxurious suburds with terrible slums, the income and livestyle gap between tiny upper and middle classes and the majority unemployed lower classes keep widening etc... are more likely to experience popular uprising. Countries beware of the growing phenomena of unemployed graduates! Targeted local strategies can help address these challenges in a practical way.
PPP is not an excuse for government to get back into the business sector but is it an excuse for the private sector (particularly multi-nationals) to seize up control of the public sector in weak countries? That is a question that exercises my mind, Ms Hobson. It seems like too much government interventions in the business sector is just as bad a total laissez faire regime. Developing countries need government to steer the development agenda. What is needed in my view is developmental (local) governments. We know of the phenomenon of pervasive growth whereby all the growth generated in a country benefit only a segment of the population and mostly multinational corporations which constantly repatriate the funds to their home countries further impoverishing on the long run their host countries. What is needed is empowerment of the locals to begin to take available business opportunities and (local) governments need to be present and friendly to these efforts. Actually to fast track development, government need to be the main driver of the process. PPP can help but it not a panacea neither is it a sacrosanct principle that government should not get involved in business. Let not elevates issues to absolute, to dogmas. Look at Singapore to see how government entrepreneurship can do it for the best. China is an example too that government can get it right in the economic sector and unleash the broader potential of the locals. Context determines action, not preset dogmas and assumptions, so I submit respectfully.
PPP is not an excuse for government to get back into the business sector but is it an excuse for the private sector (particularly multi-nationals) to seize up control of the public sector in weak countries? That is a question that exercises my mind, Ms Hobson. It seems like too much government interventions in the business sector is just as bad a total laissez faire regime. Developing countries need government to steer the development agenda. What is needed in my view is developmental (local) governments. We know of the phenomenon of pervasive growth whereby all the growth generated in a country benefit only a segment of the population and mostly multinational corporations which constantly repatriate the funds to their home countries further impoverishing on the long run their host countries. What is needed is empowerment of the locals to begin to take available business opportunities and (local) governments need to be present and friendly to these efforts. Actually to fast track development, government need to be the main driver of the process. PPP can help but it not a panacea neither is it a sacrosanct principle that government should not get involved in business. Let not elevates issues to absolute, to dogmas. Look at Singapore to see how government entrepreneurship can do it for the best. China is an example too that government can get it right in the economic sector and unleash the broader potential of the locals. Context determines action, not preset dogmas and assumptions, so I submit respectfully.
Excellent job well done! I can see now that the new website is up and running and of high quality. Kudos to the LEDNA team.
Excellent job well done! I can see now that the new website is up and running and of high quality. Kudos to the LEDNA team.
Excellent job well done! I can see now that the new website is up and running and of high quality. Kudos to the LEDNA team.
I agree - the single most important function of the LEDNA website is to search and find resources by keyword, topic and country. If this works smoothly and links to correct and wide ranging resources for each category then the job is pretty much achieved.
Looking forward to seeing it all online on the 1st August!!
Good luck
I agree - the single most important function of the LEDNA website is to search and find resources by keyword, topic and country. If this works smoothly and links to correct and wide ranging resources for each category then the job is pretty much achieved.
Looking forward to seeing it all online on the 1st August!!
Good luck
I agree - the single most important function of the LEDNA website is to search and find resources by keyword, topic and country. If this works smoothly and links to correct and wide ranging resources for each category then the job is pretty much achieved.
Looking forward to seeing it all online on the 1st August!!
Good luck
Serge, I hope the new functionalities will bring back some of the functionalities that were available on LEDNA, prior to the last 'upgrade' several years ago. It will be interesting to once again be able to search by tag the many resources which are in the system but cannot be found currently. As the users cannot be expected to know by heart all the tags in the system, they cannot have access to all the codified resources, so lets hope they have been reinstated.
I see that the last upgrade several years ago responded according to the site to 200 users comments, we never saw those comments, so I was wondering what stakeholder engagement that had been for this latest upcoming upgrade, as I did not see a survey.
Looking forward to seeing the new site and exploring the functionalities.
PS the link you posted to the beta site is non- functioning
Serge, I hope the new functionalities will bring back some of the functionalities that were available on LEDNA, prior to the last 'upgrade' several years ago. It will be interesting to once again be able to search by tag the many resources which are in the system but cannot be found currently. As the users cannot be expected to know by heart all the tags in the system, they cannot have access to all the codified resources, so lets hope they have been reinstated.
I see that the last upgrade several years ago responded according to the site to 200 users comments, we never saw those comments, so I was wondering what stakeholder engagement that had been for this latest upcoming upgrade, as I did not see a survey.
Looking forward to seeing the new site and exploring the functionalities.
PS the link you posted to the beta site is non- functioning
Serge, I hope the new functionalities will bring back some of the functionalities that were available on LEDNA, prior to the last 'upgrade' several years ago. It will be interesting to once again be able to search by tag the many resources which are in the system but cannot be found currently. As the users cannot be expected to know by heart all the tags in the system, they cannot have access to all the codified resources, so lets hope they have been reinstated.
I see that the last upgrade several years ago responded according to the site to 200 users comments, we never saw those comments, so I was wondering what stakeholder engagement that had been for this latest upcoming upgrade, as I did not see a survey.
Looking forward to seeing the new site and exploring the functionalities.
PS the link you posted to the beta site is non- functioning
Emma,
Interesting comments.
I think the funding issue is a whole discourse in its own right. I still think we could re-construct LED conceptualization, especially to suit crisis ridden contexts whether national or subnational. Why don't we explore, conceptually, LED as a crisis solution tool? Should we really recycle conditionalities in LED? I would think that we stand a better chance for success if we view LED as a paradigm. We could take liberties in utilizing Thomas Kuhn trail of thought, that
"...In periods of acknowledged crisis scientists have turned to philosophical analysis as a device for unlocking the riddles of their field".
I'll also, here, pick up the 'process' definition LED, and its implications on LED operationalization. Perhaps what we need to consider is a changing of financial models? Outputi based funding models have made progress, but they present some serious challenges especially as far as LED outcomes [which range from quantitative to qualitative] are concerned. And if LED is going to be a paradigm-which we argue it is- it needs to retain its uniqueness even on the financial models. Perhaps we could engage on developing outcomes measuring tools?
Perhaps the arguments we make need to be treated like a sick child. Are we not better off struggling with finding solutions rather than sticking to a diet simply because it is too common and therefore safe? Just some random thoughts...
Jason Musyoka M
Emma,
Interesting comments.
I think the funding issue is a whole discourse in its own right. I still think we could re-construct LED conceptualization, especially to suit crisis ridden contexts whether national or subnational. Why don't we explore, conceptually, LED as a crisis solution tool? Should we really recycle conditionalities in LED? I would think that we stand a better chance for success if we view LED as a paradigm. We could take liberties in utilizing Thomas Kuhn trail of thought, that
"...In periods of acknowledged crisis scientists have turned to philosophical analysis as a device for unlocking the riddles of their field".
I'll also, here, pick up the 'process' definition LED, and its implications on LED operationalization. Perhaps what we need to consider is a changing of financial models? Outputi based funding models have made progress, but they present some serious challenges especially as far as LED outcomes [which range from quantitative to qualitative] are concerned. And if LED is going to be a paradigm-which we argue it is- it needs to retain its uniqueness even on the financial models. Perhaps we could engage on developing outcomes measuring tools?
Perhaps the arguments we make need to be treated like a sick child. Are we not better off struggling with finding solutions rather than sticking to a diet simply because it is too common and therefore safe? Just some random thoughts...
Jason Musyoka M
Emma,
Interesting comments.
I think the funding issue is a whole discourse in its own right. I still think we could re-construct LED conceptualization, especially to suit crisis ridden contexts whether national or subnational. Why don't we explore, conceptually, LED as a crisis solution tool? Should we really recycle conditionalities in LED? I would think that we stand a better chance for success if we view LED as a paradigm. We could take liberties in utilizing Thomas Kuhn trail of thought, that
"...In periods of acknowledged crisis scientists have turned to philosophical analysis as a device for unlocking the riddles of their field".
I'll also, here, pick up the 'process' definition LED, and its implications on LED operationalization. Perhaps what we need to consider is a changing of financial models? Outputi based funding models have made progress, but they present some serious challenges especially as far as LED outcomes [which range from quantitative to qualitative] are concerned. And if LED is going to be a paradigm-which we argue it is- it needs to retain its uniqueness even on the financial models. Perhaps we could engage on developing outcomes measuring tools?
Perhaps the arguments we make need to be treated like a sick child. Are we not better off struggling with finding solutions rather than sticking to a diet simply because it is too common and therefore safe? Just some random thoughts...
Jason Musyoka M
Emma,
Interesting comments.
I think the funding issue is a whole discourse in its own right. I still think we could re-construct LED conceptualization, especially to suit crisis ridden contexts whether national or subnational. Why don't we explore, conceptually, LED as a crisis solution tool? Should we really recycle conditionalities in LED? I would think that we stand a better chance for success if we view LED as a paradigm. We could take liberties in utilizing Thomas Kuhn trail of thought, that
"...In periods of acknowledged crisis scientists have turned to philosophical analysis as a device for unlocking the riddles of their field".
I'll also, here, pick up the 'process' definition LED, and its implications on LED operationalization. Perhaps what we need to consider is a changing of financial models? Outputi based funding models have made progress, but they present some serious challenges especially as far as LED outcomes [which range from quantitative to qualitative] are concerned. And if LED is going to be a paradigm-which we argue it is- it needs to retain its uniqueness even on the financial models. Perhaps we could engage on developing outcomes measuring tools?
Perhaps the arguments we make need to be treated like a sick child. Are we not better off struggling with finding solutions rather than sticking to a diet simply because it is too common and therefore safe? Just some random thoughts...
Jason Musyoka M