Design and implementation of a working group on "Private sector engagement in development: Towards impact and sustainability"

Project Context

In January 2008, the Employment and Income (E+I) Division of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) held its 10th annual workshop on enterprise development. The workshop focused on the role of public-private development partnerships (PPDPs) in international development. A PPDP suggested an arrangement between a donor agency and an individual business in which the core priorities of both parties are being met. The PPDP therefore achieved both developmental and commercial goals through a mutually-agreed collaboration where the donor agency provided funds and advice to individual business to achieve development goals.

The E+I conference and workshop on PPDPs explored such partnerships, trying in particular to understand better how do they contributed to poverty reduction and how their impact can be increased and measured. The conference aimed at informing the participants about PPDPs, providing a balanced view of the advantages and disadvantages and addressed understanding and gaps in knowledge in an objective way.

To respond to the growth of the annual workshop on enterprise development over the years, the SDC decided to adapt the format of the workshop proceedings. The objective was to design the workshop in ways to make it more interactive as well as work- and results-oriented in order to build on and leverage the diverse sets of expertise and experiences of workshop participants and to enhance joint learning and cross-fertilization. As such, SDC decided to experiment with new formats and methods for its workshop in January 2008, including small working group sessions and the use of the case study method.

Project Objectives

SDC had asked GPPi to assist in the preparation and implementation of the workshop. Specifically, GPPi organized and implemented one working group track, tentatively entitled "Private sector engagement in development: Towards impact and sustainability". In this working group track, the promises and pitfalls of public-private development partnerships were explored. Based on a variety of real-world case studies, working group participants jointly explored the key drivers and levers behind these collaborative ventures, as well as identified key partnership management principles. In that context, the following questions were addressed: What are the incentives for the private sector, and in particular companies, to join forces with donor agencies? Based on analysis of drivers and levers behind that engagement is the push towards partnerships sustainable? Given the diversity of actors involved, what is best practice, what are lessons learned in partnership management? In addition, the increasing engagement of private foundations in international development were also examined.