Weekly Program Highlights
Ghana – While in Accra for CIPE’s first Africa
Partners Roundtable, CIPE Africa staff, together with
Executive Director John D. Sullivan and board member
and CIPE founder Michael Samuels, met with CIPE partners based in Accra.
In a meeting with Dr. Osei Boeh-Ocansey and Moses Agyeman of the Private
Enterprise Foundation (PEF), PEF discussed the impact it has had on business
legislation in the country through reviewing laws and making policy recommendations
to government. Bills that have improved through PEF
input include the Insolvency Act, Corporate Bodies Act, and Companies
Code. CIPE is working with PEF to share its successes with other private
sector organizations in Africa. CIPE is currently supporting PEF to strengthen
advocacy among farmer-based organizations in northern Ghana.
Nigeria – President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers
of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA)
Dr I. I. Adaji met with leaders of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria
and the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association to finalize recommendations
for the Nigerian Electoral Reforms Committee. The three
associations together form the Organized Private Sector (OPS), which
advises the Nigerian government on private sector policy priorities and
recommendations. The recommendations from OPS include the following:
OPS should train and deploy its members to monitor elections and issue
independent reports, OPS should mobilize its members to make input in
constitution review, OPS should be able to sponsor candidates for elections.
CIPE is supporting NACCIMA to publish a monthly legislative alert that
informs its members of policy issues to channel member input into advocacy
efforts with government officials.
Background and Overview
Sub-Saharan Africa has a population of over 700 million people, with more diversity in terms of ethnic, religious, economic, and political makeup than any other region in the world. Africa is host to a full range of political systems – including dictatorships, semi-authoritarian regimes, and electoral and emerging democracies. In those countries where democratic elections have taken place, progress has been made in developing many formal democratic institutions. Countries like Senegal, Ghana, Benin, and Mauritius have successfully negotiated a relatively smooth transition of power. Yet, in several African countries, key elements of thriving liberal democracies remain at a rudimentary level of development.
Newly elected governments are grappling with how to govern effectively, and civil society organizations
are still learning how to contribute to the policymaking process. Governments have been dominated by the
executive branch and remain so in many countries. Decentralization is bringing governance to the local level but is also adding another tier of government dependant on tax revenues from the struggling business
community. Central governments are passing legal and regulatory reforms that are driven more from their need to secure donor funding than from input provided by civil society groups. These problems and the lack of
government capacity to implement sound policies have created a growing sense of frustration with the
democratic process.
Think tanks and business associations can have a major impact in overcoming this frustration.
Specifically, they are the vehicles through which the business community can contribute to the policymaking
process, provide necessary training to business owners, and channel information to civil society as well as
policymakers. Despite many challenges, the business community in many African countries, through its
private, voluntary business associations and policy think tanks, is playing a growing role in engaging the
government in policy dialogue on economic reform issues of concern to the private sector. However, their
potential is inhibited due to a lack of funding, which can be attributed to the weakness of the private
sector. In sub-Saharan Africa, CIPE partners with local business associations, think tanks, and other
private sector organizations to advocate for necessary reforms to create an environment conducive to
doing business, to work towards the effective implementation and enforcement of existing rules and
regulations, and to increase business understanding of and compliance with those rules and regulations.
CIPE’s efforts are contributing to the process of democratic decision-making that builds a strong sense of
ownership in the rule of law governing economic activity.
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Programs and Resources
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