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Macroeconomic “Shock-absorbers” for Africa
The need for further fiscal consolidation
Lessons Learned
The privatisation process in Africa is still far from complete and has led to mixed results. The successful cases of the Compagnie Ivorienne d’Electricité, Sonatel, and Société d’Energie et d’Eau du Gabon can not hide the dramatic failures.
A Limited Impact on Private Sector Development
Since the beginning of the process in 1990, the number of privatisations through public flotation has been only 4 per cent of total transactions. Moreover, the trend is downward, confirming the difficulty in African countries of building stock exchanges and capital markets, still often used by governments to raise loan finance rather than capital for industry.
Facts about SMEs in Africa
Very few countries have working definitions of SMEs, except some members of UEMOA/WAEMU and Mauritius and Morocco. So data on this is hard to compare, though patterns can be seen and countries can be ranked by extent of SME activity:
Expanding the supply of finance through the non-financial private sector - Increasing SME Access to Finance: A Four Pronged Approach
Financial institutions are not the only source of money for SMEs. Apart from remittances by nationals working abroad, which are a key boost to private-sector growth, the interdependence between SMEs, large firms and sectoral “clusters” is a major potential source of finance, as shown in Asia and Latin America.
Helping SMEs meet the requirements of formal financing - Increasing SME Access to Finance: A Four Pronged Approach
Apart from the need to boost SME capacities, some financial instruments can help provide missing information or reduce the risk stemming from some SMEs’ lack of transparency.
Restricted Access to Finance
Africa’s SMEs have little access to finance, which thus hampers their emergence and eventual growth. Their main sources of capital are their retained earnings and informal savings and loan associations (tontines), which are unpredictable, not very secure and have little scope for risk sharing because of their regional or sectoral focus.

Other policy insights Related Articles

“TOP TEN TIPS TO EFFECTIVELY WORK WITH POLICY MAKERS”
We are sometimes called on to work with policy makers in a variety of organizations we are associated with in our personal, business and volunteer lives. Working with these policy makers can be very rewarding and can be very frustrating. Since 1970 I have been working with policy makers at all levels of government, non-profits, businesses, institutions and other organizations. And from the experience of those years, I developed a list of the top 10 tips to effectively work with policy makers. I have summarized those tips below:

5.1 The SME Development Policy (SMEDP): Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
It should be noted that the latest round of SME development policies are very recent. The MIT released its national SME Development Policy in 2003, a process it has been working on since 1998. The SME Development Policy was approved by Parliament on 11 February 2003 and officially launched on 27 August 2003. The overall objective of the policy is “to foster job creation and income generation through promoting the creation of new SMEs and improving the performance and competitiveness of the existing ones to increase their participation and contribution to the Tanzanian economy” (MIT, 2003). The implementation plan for the SME Development Policy includes a list of priority programmes and projects,24 categorized under seven major objectives:
9.3 Micro-finance institutions (MFIs): Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
Micro-finance operators in Tanzania function within the framework of the Government’s National Micro Finance Policy of 2000. The objectives of this policy are to provide the basis for the evolution of an efficient and effective micro-finance system to serve the low segment of society and contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction (as described in MIT, 2002). The policy establishes a framework within which micro-finance operators will develop, lays out the principles to guide operations of the system, defines roles and responsibilities of actors, and provides guidelines for coordinating mechanisms. The Central Bank was given the mandate to coordinate implementation of the policy. It is interesting to note that the Micro Finance Policy includes “gender equity” as a best practice.
5.1 Determinants of diversification in Africa: Economic Report on Africa 2007
Diversification and policy variables constitute a two-way process in that diversification not only influences policy outcomes, but is itself influenced by policy variables. This proposition naturally leads to the search for those economic and non-economic policy actions that are likely to affect the level and rate of diversification in a country. What evidence is there that links economic and non-economic variables with national capacity to diversify?
Does the Present Buy American AccordBy-Pass Popular Opinion Relative to Protectionism
In the October 1st, 2009 Procurement Insights post titled “Buy American Policy: Economic Imperative or Popular Opinion,” I provided an excerpt from my interview with Canada’s Trade Minister Stockwell Day regarding the basis for the Buy American policy. It was of course the Minister’s expressed belief that popular American opinion surrounding protectionism was the basis for Congressional support of the conditions associated with the stimulus bill that would block Canadian firms from accessing the US government market, versus the existence of legitimate economic imperatives. In short, the U.S. Congress was yielding to public sentiments.
Monetary Police is Science, Everything Else is Stamp-Collecting
This new Eric Leeper paper seems delusional in arguing that monetary policy is science, while fiscal policy is stamp-collecting, but I maybe I'm just being crotchety. The piece also comes up with the new-to-me argument that monetary policy would be even better science if it weren't for fiscal policy mucking things up.
Auto Insurance Companies - How To Cancel A Policy
Canceling a car insurance policy is quite easy, and it's important to know how to cancel a policy when you're shopping for insurance.

The Fundamentals of a Successful Corporate Social Media Policy
Whether your corporate culture embraces social media or not, it is crucial to implement a social media policy in the workplace. Any business that does not have a solid policy in place exposes themselves to significant risks. Learn about the key elements of an effective workplace social media policy.
The state of lead generation today with Jim Dickie of CSO Insights
Jim Dickie, Managing Partner of CSO Insights sat down with the Fearless Competitor to share insights and takeaways from their recent Lead Generation Optimization study in which they surveyed 525 companies. The data was shocking. Let me summarize it for you here.
Insurance Defense Costs
Does Your Business Insurance Policy Cover Defense Costs Within the Insurance Limit or Defense Costs Outside of the Insurance Limit? Did you know that a liability policy, which is part of any typical business insurance policy or commercial insurance policy coverage, has two distinct obligations? A liability insurance policy, if it is a general liability, product liability or professional liability insurance policy is designed to protect you against your legal obligation to pay others because you have hurt them and/or have damaged their property. A policy also defends you against claims or lawsuits. In other words, besides paying for claims or suits, a liability policy also pays for their related legal costs and court fees.
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