BizClim, a new ACP-EU Facility - ACP Business Climate

Dossier❯Undertaking of studiesand interventionsBizClim provides technical assistance inorder to improve regulations, legislation,the institutional set up, and financialmeasures (the rules of the game) relatingto the enabling environment of the privatesector in ACP countries and regions andin the Manual of Policies and OperatingProcedures (MPOP), and finalized by thePMU. The Facility caters primarily to privatesector organisations, governments andgovernmental agencies and regionalorganisations.A wider role as a think-tankBizClim may as well implement activitiesrequested by the ACP Group, the EuropeanInvestment Bank (EIB), the EuropeanCommission and its Delegations. Itundertakes activities that are consistentwith its think-tank role in pertinent areassuch as public private partnerships, SOEreforms and privatisation, as well as povertyreduction policies and strategies.BizClim provides assistanceto ACP countries and regionsfor improving their businessclimate and boostinginvestment prospects.Four Types of Activitiesin order to reform the SOEs. To this effect,it supports the undertaking of upstreamstudies and interventions, includingcapacity building and public-privatedialogue.A demand-driven FacilityBizClim operates on a demand-driven basiswith applications for assistance introducedby eligible beneficiaries. Requests arescreened on the basis of criteria set outBizClim is a further step in the integrated ECstrategy to private sector development andpolicy development in the ACP countries:it promotes environments within whichthe private sector can grow and, thus, canplay a major catalytic role. The CotonouAgreement gives an important role to Non-State Actors, including the private sector,and stresses the need to unite all economicand social actors behind the common goalof attaining the sustainable developmentof the ACP States. These are challengedby a variety of old problems as well asnew ones stemming from the evolvinginternational environment, such as theerosion of preferences. It is only necessaryto see the ranking of ACP countries inthe competitiveness stakes to realize thatconcerted action is needed to improve thebusiness climate.Co-operation with other donorsBizClim undertakes four main categories of activities:n Upstream studies and interventions on the enabling environment and StateOwned Enterprises reform, identifying the specific bottlenecks hampering privatesector development, the reforms needed and the way to implement them;n Studies in investment prospects and financial system development, notably toexpand the European Investment Bank portfolio in ACP countries (i.e. upstreamfacilitation of operations funded by the Investment Facility and of PPPs);An amount of € 2 million is dedicated toco-financing two World Bank Trust Funds,namely the Public Private InfrastructureAdvisory Facility (PPIAF) and theKnowledge for Change Programme (KCP).BizClim ensures follow-up andco-ordination with these programmesand integrates their results in its ownactivities. nn Support in the follow-up of recommendations;n Capacity to develop and disseminate analyses of relevant and topical themes.2 BizNEWS n°1 n October-December 2006

First SteeringCommitteeOn September 20, the Steering Committee held its first meeting inBrussels officially launching BizClim.BizClim was officially launchedat the occasion of the firstSteering Committee meetingwhere Ambassador Ferdinand Nyabenda,the Secretariat of the ACP States -Department of Sustainable EconomicDevelopment, and M. Raul Mateus Paula,Head of Unit Decentralized Operations inACP countries (AIDCO/C4) were present.The Steering Committee held its firstmeeting to approve the facility’s keyoperational documents, notably thefirst work programme of the facility for aperiod of 15 months, ending in December2007. This approval signals the start ofthe facility’s operations, meaning thatpotential beneficiaries (e.g. governments,private sector organizations, regionalorganizations, European Commission’sDelegations) are now able to presentrequests for assistance. The Facilityhas earmarked a separate budget forinterventions at the all-ACP level.The Steering Committee stressed the needfor coordination with other instrumentsand institutions of the European Union(CDE, EIB Investment Facility, InfrastructureFacility, Water Facility, Energy Facility,Micro-finance Programme, etc). Thiscoordination will also have to takeplace with the other donors (PPIAF,KCP, OECD,…).The Steering Committee approved thefirst documents produced by the PMU,in particular the Manual of Policy andOperating Procedures (MPOP) and theActivity Report for the period April-June2006. The MPOP has been made availableonline to guide potential beneficiaries inthe formulation and submission of theirrequests.The potential beneficiaries canfrom now on submit proposalsto obtain technical assistance.In addition, the terms of reference ofthe Validation Committee have beenapproved. This committee is composedof four members: two representativesfrom the ACP Secretariat, a representativefrom EC/AIDCO and a representative fromEC/DG-DEV. Applications are screened bythe PMU and submitted for approval bythe Validation Committee. The validationprocedure is meant to be smooth andeffective, allowing the Project ManagementUnit to process requests with celerity. n❯ ❮In briefKick off SeminarA Kick off Seminar was organizedon 14th September with themain stakeholders responsiblefor implementation or oversightof the project as well as the otherEC projects and institutions withwhich coordination will be required.Representatives from the ACPSecretariat, AIDCO, DG Development,the European Investment Bank (EIB),the Center for the Developmentof Enterprises (CDE), Pro€Invest,TradeCom, Capacity Building in Supportof the Preparation of EPAs, EU-SADCInvestment Promotion Programs(ESIPP), the European Business Councilfor Africa and the Mediterranean(EBCAM) and Eurochambres wereamong the participants. Staff of WYGInternational Ltd., the implementingagency in charge of the ProjectManagement Unit, and the team of theunit were present as well.The objective of the workshop was toreview, clarify and agree on the Facilitycycle management and operatingprocedures. By holding this workshopin a participatory way, it was intendedto create a teamwork and a commonunderstanding on the eve of the officiallaunch of the Facility.A simple request can initiate theprocess to carry out a study, anintervention or the organizationof a seminar, with the objective ofimproving the business climate.All the participants expressedcommendation for the initiativetaken by WYG International Ltd. tobring together a broad spectrumof interlocutors and instruments insupport of the ACP private sector.They also hoped for seeing a strongcoordination between BizClim andother institutions and programmeswith the view of achieving the highestimpact on developing the ACP privatesector. nBizNEWS n°1 n October-December 20063

❯ ❮In briefFirst requests have beenreceivedThanks to the information campaignlaunched in August, the first sevenrequests have already been introduced.They relate to, for example, regionalintegration, privatization of stateowned enterprises in infrastructure orto studies on investment prospects. nBusiness Forum in thecontext of the 5 th Summitof the ACP Heads of Statesin December 2006BizClim has been recently required bythe ACP Secretariat to collaborate in thepreparation of a business forum, whichwill take place on the 6 - 7 December2006 in Khartoum in the context of the5th Summit of the ACP Heads of Statesand Governments.The support of BizClim to the Forumincludes the preparation of documentson five important topics for thedevelopment of the ACP privatesector, preparation of the forumagenda, identification of speakers andproviding information to the Europeanand African businesses on issuesrelating to the business climate. nDiaForum 2006:Investment prospectsin the African ICT sector,in June 2006The 2006 African DiasporaInvestment Forum was organizedon 29 - 30 June 2006 in Brusselsby the association African Axis.The forum aimed at mobilizing theAfrican Diaspora for Africa’s privatesector development. BizClim wasinvited to participate and to makea presentation on the investmentprospects in Africa’s ICT (Information& Communication Technology) sectorparticularly in telecommunicationsand outsourcing. nAGENDAEU-Africa Business Forum:an initiative of the new UEstrategy for AfricaSince mid-August of this year, BizClim has been assuming the role of facilitatingthe preparation, by the European and African private sectors, of position papersin the context of the EU-Africa Business Forum that is scheduled to take place onNovember 16-17, 2006 in Brussels.The Forum will bring togetherabout 100 business leaders andrepresentatives of private sectororganisations from Africa and Europe, withthree main objectives. First, to help draw theattention of business representatives to thepotential of the African continent. Second,to facilitate the efforts of representatives ofthe business world to make contacts amongthemselves. And, third, to adopt an ActionPlan or a Declaration by the private sector.A Forum driven by the privatesectorSeveral representatives of European andAfrican private sector organizations andcompanies have volunteered to participate inon-line discussions and to contribute to thepreparation of three position papers.The papers evolve around three mainthemes: 1. interconnectivity (communicationsand infrastructure); 2. opportunities andchallenges of economic integration; and3. good governance.These documents represent a reflection bythe European and African private sector onproblems and opportunities for collaborationas well as on possible solutions intended forgovernments and private sector. In addition,these documents should form the basis forgroup discussions, which should lead to ajoint declaration by the European and Africanprivate sector.An essential part of a new strategyfor AfricaThe Forum planned for 16th and 17thNovember, represents the first of its kind andfits into the European Strategy for Africa.The European strategy for Africa wasadopted on December 12, 2005 by theEU General Affairs and External RelationsCouncil. Further than the Forum, thisstrategy proposes to launch a number ofnew initiatives, such as:n The “EU-African Partnership onInfrastructure”, promoting regionaland continental interconnection atcontinental level to support regionalintegration;n The “EU Governance Initiative”, providingassistance for the implementation ofthe governance reforms proposed bythe African Peer Review Mechanism(APRM). nPlace Title Organization DateBelgium- Namur EPA Negotiations Gresea 08 November 2006Mali- Bamako Novatech PRO€INVEST 07 - 09 November 2006Belgium- Brussels Workshop ACP Secretariat 13 November 2006Belgium- BrusselsBelgium- BrusselsSudan- KhartoumEU-AfricaBusiness ForumTraining on “Europe-Southern Africa ”Business Forum- 5 thSummit on the ACPHead of StatesEuropean16 - 17 November 2006CommissionGresea 23 November 2006ACP Secretariat 06 - 07 December 20064 BizNEWS n°1 n October-December 2006