My Beauty Best Teacher

Lauren Citrome in CIPE:

When businesses are informal, they do not have recourse to legal protection. When a corrupt official comes to collect a bribe, they do not have any formal means to contest. An informal business owner cannot easily grow his or her operations because without formal registration papers, there is less access to capital. If a business cannot use legal dispute-resolution mechanisms, there is increased risk for hiring employees outside of one’s family.
In many countries, however, prohibitive barriers to formalization keep entrepreneurs in the informal sector. For example, business registration offices may be located only in major cities and rural entrepreneurs cannot access them. Formalization may also entail an overly burdensome tax responsibility. In some cases, business owners lack the information and know-how to register their businesses, even if they wanted to do so.

Firstly over at CIPE:

Betty Maina and others on developing "a link between fighting corruption and strengthening democracies."

On November 9, 2010, the French Supreme Court of Appeals overturned a decision rendered a year ago by the Paris Court of Appeals, agreeing to hear the case brought by the French section of the NGO Transparency International [fr] called “the ill-gotten gains” of the heads of state of Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinee and members of their entourage...[continue reading]

Rebecca Regan-Sachs of Next Billion interviewing Alex Shkolnikov of CIPE:

NextBillion: You have mentioned that CIPE works frequently with business associations to find ways to fight corruption. However, in many developing countries, a large segment of the business sector is informal. If these "shadow economy" enterprises don't have official association representation, how can they defend themselves against corruption?
Alex Shkolnikov: We've actually seen in a number of countries that informal sector associations emerge spontaneously to defend the rights of small business. They act as a self-defense mechanism. So if inspectors come in, you have an association that basically provides protection. They also provide market information, of goods and prices and stuff like that, but they really emerged as kind of a self-defense mechanism.

Over at CIPE:

Elections are a key component of democracy. Without democratic institutions to operate between voting periods, however, elections will only produce the shell of democracy without the benefits of a truly accountable government.Institutions such as representation systems, consultation committees, and comment-and-notice periods ensure that policymakers must confer with their citizens and other elected officials before making policy. Without these institutions and practices, elected lawmakers can behave like dictators, enacting and implementing policies as they see fit.

In CIPE Robert Litan on capitalism:

When oligarchs dominate, they keep entrepreneurs from building new industries that might threaten their hold on power. When state-guidance dominates, bureaucrats can import ideas to jump-start development but aren’t equipped to develop new ideas. When big firms dominate, innovation becomes routinized and incremental rather than radical and transformational. The oil-rich countries of the Middle East and North Africa have long been more or less oligarchic thanks to revenues from oil and the patronage they support.
When entrepreneurs have a strong presence, they help break down oligarchies through creative destruction from new industries, generate new ideas to sustain development, and, in tandem with the dispersive commercial capacity of big firms, they radically transform every day lives for the better.

CIPE reports:

Teaching young people vital business skills is one of the key elements of Afghanistan’s reconstruction. Since 2005, CIPE has been conducting a popular entrepreneurship course called Tashabos in select high schools around the country. The program, featured on Sky News, today reaches more than 33,000 students in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade at 44 schools in Kabul, Bamiyan, Nangahar, and Parwan. CIPE Afghanistan staff interviewed several students who have started their own business after completing the Tashabos course to learn how they have benefited from the program. Here is what they told us...[continue reading] watch related video:

Jonathan H. Apikian writing in CIPE:

Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation and co-author, with William J. Baumol and Robert E. Litan, of the book Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, explained in a recent article for Foreign Affairs that just supporting democracy around the world is no longer sufficient—the economic policies necessary to sustain it must also be taught. Schramm notes that economic growth achieved through an entrepreneurial-driven policy is “critical to establishing social stability, which is the ultimate objective of the counterinsurgency campaigns and disaster-relief” that are a part of most reconstruction efforts. Research shows that a healthy middle class based on a thriving entrepreneurial society is essential to maintaining democratic stability.

Erica Poff writing in CIPE:

...the untold story in Ethiopia is what’s going on outside of Addis Ababa, where a challenged but vibrant private sector is taking the lead in promoting economic sustainability by advocating for democratic reform.
Despite increased restrictions on media, independent radio programs in the rural northern region regularly broadcast programs directed to the business community to provide them access to information on the business environment and how they can effectively advocate for needed reforms in their local government. One such radio program in Mekelle, the Voice of the Mekelle Chamber, inspired the successful advocacy efforts by the Mekelle business community to encourage the local government to develop better, more transparent tax rates.

In CIPE:

Rahel Weldeab, second place winner of the 2009 CIPE International Essay Competition talks about the importance of fostering a sense of citizenship among Eritrea’s youth.
She says, “Active citizenship on the part of the youth ensures that their voices are heard; such participation develops and strengthens the opportunities for young people to learn their rights and responsibilities.”

Article at a Glance

• Citizenship is not innate; it needs to be taught and cultivated in young people through civic education and leadership training.

• Citizenship includes both rights and responsibilities; for youth to become active citizens, they need to be given a voice in decision-making processes that affect them.

• In order for young people to develop a sense of citizenship, they must first realize the positive role they can play through active civic participation.

Anna Nadgrodkiewicz  at CIPE highlights Richard Joseph's contentions on a "key weakness" of 'frontier Africa' one:

...that undermines not only political stability, but also sustained growth: the overwhelming power of the executive. Despite the introduction of formal elections, many African democracies persist in the old ways of seeing the government as a way of getting rich. Newly elected leaders tend to move toward accumulating more power and influence with the end result not much different from the personal rule of their authoritarian predecessors.

Michael Hendrix in CIPE:

A new generation of authoritarians is creating “decorative democracies,” where pre-determined elections allow the state to co-opt the legitimacy of liberty without the substance to support it. At the grassroots, democracy holds little meaning. People are told that they are living in a democracy, but everything around them belies the trappings of fairness and liberty. This result is often achieved by touting economic success, as well as belittling civic institutions and the disaggregated nature of democracy...The greatest response to decorative democracy lies in nurturing local civil societies from the ground up, laying the foundation for institutions responsive to the voice of reform. CIPE helps local private sector organizations across the globe to institutionalize the democratic process – supporting the very characteristics that set true democracies apart from the merely decorative ones...[continue reading]

From the CIPE Blog:

In Ghana, rural entrepreneurs are gaining presence as a political constituency...With a greater political voice for rural entrepreneurs, the people in poverty can lead the charge to eradicate poverty.The Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF)has several programs designed to bring rural entrepreneurs into the political process.

• With proper resources and training, farmer-based associations can become an effective voice for rural entrepreneurs.
• Engaging the private sector in the legislative advisory process provides a vital opportunity for dialogue on reform issues with policymakers.
• Private sector associations are important for improving Ghana’s business climate and making the broader business community a part of democratic decision-making.

Anna Nadgrodkiewicz writes at CIPE:

Democracy is not just about singular events such as elections and inaugurations – even the most memorable ones – and it is not about particular leaders. Instead, the essence of democracy lies in building and constantly perfecting a system where decision-making in open, transparent, and inclusive, where the rule of law and accountability apply equally to all, and where economic prosperity is possible as a result...[continue reading]

Essay competition winner Chinwe Mirian Onwubiko writes

Entrepreneurship could become a major avenue for Nigeria to accelerate economic growth, create job opportunities, reduce the importation of manufactured goods, and decrease the trade deficit,” says Onwubiko. “Many young Nigerians aspire to be successful entrepreneurs, but their ability to make use of their skills remains highly constrained…The failure of the government to provide a conducive entrepreneurial environment and to satisfy basic social needs exacerbates these problems. It is imperative, that policies are implemented to address these issues, with Nigerian youth at their core...[continue reading(pdf)]-CIPE

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Nicky Oppenheimer write in the IHT:

Effective use of aid can support African reforms, but it must not be the organizing principle for African development. The key to success will be the extent to which African governments can provide the private sector with the right incentives to add value to the economy, so both business and government can concentrate on what each does best...[continue reading]

David R. Francis writes in the CSMonitor:

If a developing nation wants to make fast progress, it must educate its girls and give them more equality in jobs and economic opportunities.Decades of international and domestic efforts to speed development in more than 100 poor countries shows that, as the title of a recent study puts it, "Girls Count."More than just counting, helping girls get ahead and out of the limitations that so many cultures have placed on them for hundreds of years is vital to overcoming poverty and growing prosperity...[continue reading]

Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke misfires with "Africans for Obama"-Akin
Why worry about Doha? Securing Economic Growth through Trade Facilitation-Daniel Ikenson
Mobile money transfers to exceed $5bn by 2013-Juniper research
Aleksandr Shkolnikov writes about Democracies and economic outcomes.-CIPE

At the CIPE Anna Nadgrodkiewicz writes:

....many of the roadblocks to Africa’s development have to do with the tendency of governments to be protectionist, interventionist, and perpetuating over-regulation – often in the name of defending the poor but rarely with the result of improving their lot. Meanwhile, more than 80% of poverty reduction in Africa in the past 30 years is directly attributable to economic growth delivered by the private sector, not governments, and often in spite of harmful policies of those governments...[continue reading]