Many countries in Africa constrain the potential of the private sector to contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction because they have poor investment climates and business environments. SA IDEAS provides support to national and sub-national government authorities, as well as the business community and civil society, on how to improve the business environment for private sector development that leads to economic growth and poverty reduction.
Creating better business environments requires a multidisciplinary approach involving enterprise, economic, governance, livelihoods and infrastructure perspectives. Special interest is given to the institutions that shape the business environment and the political economy of reform.
The business environment is the policy, legal, institutional, and regulatory conditions that govern business activities. It is a sub-set of the investment climate and includes the administration and enforcement mechanisms established to implement government policy, as well as the institutional arrangements that influence the way key actors operate (i.e., government agencies, regulatory authorities, business membership organisations, civil society organisations, trade unions, etc.).
A systemic approach to business environment reform addresses the whole system, including all the relevant institutions, the “rules of the game”, cultural and social norms. This is not a one-off act, but a process of adapting to new challenges and changes, and involves a degree of trial and error, learning from international best practice.
SA IDEAS helps strategic partners - public, private and community – to understand and improve the business environment for private sector development and enhance its contribution to economic development and poverty reduction. It plans and conducts national and local business environment assessments and identifies priorities for reform. SA IDEAS builds competencies and capacities among strategic partners to assess the business environment and design, manage and monitor reform programmes. Our past experience includes national and local business environment assessments, the documentation of international best practice in business environment reform; the development of training materials and the delivery of training; the evaluation of reform programmes and the design of new programmes.