Business as a partner in development

24 September 2014. A new report, titled ‘Partnering for Impact: Supporting Systemic Change to Deliver the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa,' by Richard Gilbert and Beth Jenkins, evaluates the cooperation necessary to achieve the SDGs in African countries.

The report was launched in New York, US, on 24 September 2014, on the sidelines of the 69th UN General Assembly, at the annual Business Call to Action Forum.

The report was published jointly by the Harvard Kennedy School, Business Action for Africa, and The Partnering Initiative.

• Recognizing high rates of economic growth on the continent, the publication identifies the challenges of translating this growth into poverty reduction, and highlights poor education, health, security and food systems as threats to sustainable development. 
• It calls for multi-sectoral partnerships to become the “new normal” in development, and analyzes how such partnerships can drive systemic change across the continent. By identifying success factors and practical experiences of partnerships, the study hopes to inform collaborative efforts for greater scale and impact.

Extracts:

Guinness Ghana has engaged with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, which is providing assistance as part of roots and tuber agricultural project (Root and Tuber Improvement and Marketing Programme) within its overall agricultural strategy (Medium Term Agriculture Sector Investment Plan), and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which has been actively supporting cassava cultivation in the country. (page 13)

SABMiller and GIZ support the Water Futures Partnership financially and contribute the core capabilities of their respective organisations. For example, GIZ builds the capacity of governments at the local level to establish robust policy and regulatory frameworks and institutions for effective water management. WWF provides in-kind hydrology and environmental expertise alongside The Nature Conservancy (TNC). (page 39)