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An "I" For Development
Welcome to our new blog series where we will be sharing novel approaches to development that show great promise. We will seek to highlight efforts that we see as cutting-edge—bringing new partnerships, people and methodologies to address development challenges in multiple sectors.
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Skilled managers: the missing link in Africa’s developmentDeirdre White | February 26th, 2013 |
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Africa has reached a turning point. Anyone paying even a modicum of attention must now recognize that the African continent has an abundance of natural wealth, investment is on the rise, and its population is young, large, and increasingly affluent. Yet, one key ingredient is missing: Africa lacks high-quality managers – across the private, public and NGO sectors - with the skills and competence required to translate the opportunities of the next decade into greater prosperity and a better life for all. Read More >>
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Regional Content as an Alternative to Local Content: Is it Feasible?
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I posted a blog last week about the changing attitudes of the oil industry toward local content and how welcome that change is to those of us focused on local economic development and jobs creation in countries with hydrocarbon resources. Of course, the big question remains: how might operators and their contractors facilitate local content development? Read More >>
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Local Content, National Content and the Changing Attitudes of an Industry
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A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, for CWC Group’s 14th Gulf of Guinea Oil & Gas Summit. I have participated in this event in various locations for the past several years, yet this year I noticed a distinct change in tone on the subject of the amount and value of jobs and contracts going to local individuals and businesses, otherwise known as local/national content. In past years I heard largely industry dissatisfaction with the unrealistic nature (even unfairness) of the local content requirements and expectations. This year I sensed a rapidly shifting ground where this subject is concerned. As leader of the National Content Seminar I arrived prepared to make the compelling arguments for why the industry should invest in local content: risk management; community engagement; existing or upcoming legislation; and just because it’s the right thing to do to ensure that citizens can participate in the benefits of their own country’s natural resources. What I found was that industry was prepared to make the arguments for me. Read More >>
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Get Comfortable: Public-Private-Social Partnerships Are Here to Stay
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Last week I had the opportunity to attend an event at CSIS: Advancing Local Content: Harnessing Business Investment for High Impact Development. The forum was organized to mark the release of the most recent CSIS report, Maximizing Development of Local Content across Industry Sectors in Emerging Markets, which was co-authored by Michael Levett, my predecessor as CEO and current Vice Chair of the Board for CDC Development Solutions. An excellent panel was moderated by Dan Runde, CSIS Co-Director of the Project on U.S. Leadership in Development, and included Michael Levett, Paul Guennete of ACDI-VOCA, Haymish Paulse of Chevron, Robert Peck of the World Coca Foundation and Littleton Tazewell from USAID. With this mix of public, private and social sector, I knew I was in for a treat. And I was not at all disappointed by the lively discussion on how U.S. businesses can affect development.
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IBM’s Partnership for Employment-Focused Education
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“We don’t have a jobs problem in this country; we have a skills problem.” This was how Stan Litow, quoting Thomas Friedman, began his presentation to the participants at CRO’s CommitForum! last September. As President of the IBM International Foundation and a former Deputy Chancellor of the New York City schools, Stan has been following the startling education statistics in this country – an overall high school drop-out rate of 25%, with only 30% of high school graduates ever completing a bachelor’s degree. The global economy is increasingly knowledge-based, with an associated increase in the need for workers with post-secondary educations. Because of this, IBM and more than half of US employers report that they cannot find qualified workers. Read More >>
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