Trade and
investment

Africa RISE is a demand-driven facility, based in Brussels, providing technical assistance across 25 countries in Eastern Africa, Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean, to improve the investment climate for inclusive and sustainable growth, job creation and decent work. It aims to promote macro-economic policy and regulatory reform to create a business environment that encourages investment, enhancing the capacity of the private sector, and promoting inclusive public-private dialogue, leading to better economic and social development. Recent assignments have been in the areas of digital transformation, the green economy, women economic empowerment and access to finance, circular economy and waste management, e-commerce, geographic indication, quality infrastructure and SPS, and anti-illicit trade.

ERF provides grant-based incentives to finance advisory services, training and equipment to enable Bangladeshi firms to identify and address Environment, Social and Quality (ESQ) compliance gaps and upgrade products and production processes as required by multinational buyers/brands and the laws and regulations ​of major export markets. The ERF provides grants on a matching basis to identify and address these constraints in the leather, footwear, plastics and light engineering/electronics sectors (and also for companies wishing to realign their activities to respond to opportunities in the medical and personal protective equipment (MPPE) sector, as a result of COVID-19). The fund is designed as a catalytic, risk sharing instrument that aims to address market failures by mobilising investment in priority industries that will not otherwise materialise because of uncertainty about the expected benefits. The fund assists the target industries by supporting investment in both business/technical services and essential complementary equipment that would help firms identify and address compliance gap and upgrade the quality of products and production processes.

ABIF has been able to drive sustainable economic development by collaborating with entrepreneurs through incorporating a ‘Making Markets Work for the Poor’ (M4P) approach within a challenge fund mechanism. The pilot project provided a financial return to grant recipients while also leading to poverty reduction at scale.

ABIF recognised that in order to change the income inequality that had been created by donor driven economic growth, private sector investment was needed. To change the economic situation, Landell Mills designed and implemented a private sector challenge fund. It encouraged the private sector to conceptualise, develop and implement their own innovative pro poor investment projects. The grantees were the vehicle to introduce new goods, services or jobs into the market, and the beneficiaries were Afghans who directly benefitted from investments.

Landell Mills was contracted by TAF2+ (Trade Advocacy Fund) to develop and implement a National Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) strategy in Rwanda in support to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM). Landell Mills first conducted an economic and legal impact assessment of Rwanda’s current stock of BIT to help the Government of Rwanda to analyse the costs and benefits of its Bilateral Investment Treaties by:

• Analysing the flow of inward and outward foreign direct investment to and from Rwanda;
• Examining the provisions of BITs to assess the level of depoliticization and policy space;
• Analysing the various processes underlying each treaty from negotiation to ratification;
• Identifying areas of legal risk to Rwanda and the scope of the ISDS provision.

Landell Mills then supported MINICOM to elaborate a BIT strategy based on the results of those impacts assessments as well as delivered a programme of capacity development activities to support and strengthen the cross-government BIT committee in carrying out future negotiations on the basis of the model BIT and BIT strategy.

The overall objective of the project is to support the implementation of TSD chapters of EU Trade Agreements through consistent, visible and increased participation of civil society. The consortium provides secretarial support for civil society meetings organised in relation to EU trade agreements. We also implement capacity building activities to increase meaningful participation of both EU and partner countries’ civil society in trade agreements. In addition, our consortium provides capacity building in the form of benchmarking and subsequent implementation of best practices and desk studies. The objective of the studies is to inform the work of the DAGs by providing an in-depth review on a subject of particular relevance, e.g., trade flows of specific types of products or commodities from a partner country and environmental or labour issues linked to such trade, or horizontal – e.g. an analysis of different approaches to responsible business conduct.

This technical assistance objective supported the Government of DRC (GoDRC) to reform its economy in order to make it more competitive at national, regional and international level, and support the integration of the Congolese economy into the world market within the framework of Economic Partnership Agreements. Landell Mills supported the GoDRC through four components:

• Improvement of judicial and legal security by modernising trade and accountancy laws through the adhesion to the OHADA treaty;
• Facilitation of trade and customs reforms by improving economic governance and commercial exchanges and fighting against corruption through modernisation of customs procedures;
• Strengthening capacity in trade policy by strengthening economic decision-making processes and improving access to tools for trade analysis;
• Improving the competitiveness of non-traditional exports by facilitating the adoption of international trade standards.

In the context of the i-EPA implementation as well as of the regional integration process, Landell Mills supported SMEs in their export strategy and in complying with technical regulations to allow Mauritius' private sector to fully benefit from the current trade agreement with the EU and to increase its participation in national, regional and international trade. Potential for export business creation was unlocked, allowing SMEs to create and innovate into niche markets. In the meantime, exporting SMEs benefited from an empowered skilled labour force and from new opportunities generated by regional and global trade integration. Ultimately, by integrating youth and women and stimulating regional inclusive growth, this support contributed to a fairer income distribution and poverty reduction amongst the vulnerable population. Landell Mills supported the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade and key TISIs to strengthen their support to SMEs, women and youth exporters.

An annual review of the Private Sector Development Programme which has four components: the Business Enabling Environment Programme, the Malawi Oilseeds Sector Transformation Programme, the Business Innovation Facility and the Malawi Innovation Challenge Fund.

Click here to read the review.

Four case studies illustrating successful good practices related to the design, management, effectiveness, sustainability and results dissemination from selected projects implemented by the ACP-EU Technical Barriers to Trade Programme.

1. Certification and Accreditation

2. Quality Infrastructure

3. Standardisation

4. Training

A review of the Business Innovation Facility (‘BIF’) phase 2, a five year, DFID-funded programme which aims to improve the lives of the poor in three countries: Malawi, Burma, and Nigeria.

Click here to read the review.