Africa's Private Sector What's Wrong with the Business Environment and What to Do About It

by Ramachandran, Vijaya; Gelb, Alan; Shah, Manju Kedia

• ISBN13: 9781933286280
• ISBN10: 1933286288
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-30
• Publisher: Center for Global Development

Summary

Why is the private sector yet to take off in much sub-Saharan Africa? Drawing on a unique set of enterprise surveys, Vijaya Ramachandran and her co-authors identify the biggest obstacles: inadequate infrastructure (especially unreliable electricity and crumbing roads) and burdensome regulation. They then show how ethnic minorities dominate the private sector in many countries, inhibiting competition and demands for a better business environment, and thus impeding the emergence of an entrepreneurial middle class. Based on this careful diagnosis, the authors suggest investing in infrastructure and reforming regulation to lower the cost of doing business, and increasing the access to education of a broader-based business class that crosses ethnic divides. Book jacket.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Summary	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
The Countries and the Surveys	p. 6
The Business Environment in Sub-Saharan Africa	p. 19
Black Ownership of Businesses in Africa	p. 53
Approaches to Building AfricaÆs Private Sector	p. 69
Appendixes	p. 91
References	p. 105
Index	p. 111
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