Engaging the private sector in Africa’s peaceful development

The policy brief examines the potential for leveraging private sector activity to enhance Africa's 'rising' economic phenomenon, emphasizing that non-inclusive growth can exacerbate insecurity. It identifies a shift toward more explicit business engagement in sustainable development driven by commercial risk management, a desire to be a 'partner of choice', and investor impatience with state capabilities. The author recommends that governments create transparent platforms for business engagement in national development plans and that donors link foreign investment to local private sector development.

• The 'Africa rising' narrative of high economic growth is complex and potentially risky; growth that is non-inclusive or unsustainable can increase the risk of serious conflict, while fragility in certain regions inhibits investment.
• There is a growing trend toward direct business engagement in sustainable development, driven by the alignment of long-term development issues with commercial risk scenarios, the desire for firms to be seen as a 'partner of choice', and investor frustration with government delivery capabilities.
• Despite high-level rhetoric, few African countries have systematically implemented collaboration between the state and the private sector at scale or established standing platforms for designing national development plans.
• Barriers to effective public-private cooperation include institutional mistrust, where business views government partnerships as sources of bureaucracy and rent-seeking, and bureaucrats fear that business partners may subvert public policy goals.
• The document recommends that governments establish transparent and accountable platforms to engage business in national development plans, ensuring the inclusion of small and medium enterprises and labour groups.
• Donors are encouraged to link foreign investment projects to local private sector development through hiring and local content programmes, and to promote conflict-sensitive business practices.

APA

Ford, J. (2014). Engaging the private sector in Africa’s peaceful development. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief55_2014.pdf

Chicago

Ford, Jolyon. Engaging the private sector in Africa’s peaceful development. Institute for Security Studies, 2014. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief55_2014.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ford |first1=Jolyon |title=Engaging the private sector in Africa’s peaceful development |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=June 2014 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief55_2014.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ford2014engaging, author = {Ford, Jolyon}, title = {{Engaging the private sector in Africa’s peaceful development}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2014}, month = jun, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief55_2014.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }