Programs for Enterprise Growth

Over the past year, IGD has been exploring a range of new initiatives to complement our advocacy efforts with opportunities to catalyze enterprise growth and private investment in developing countries. Working with Dalberg Global Development Advisors, IGD has created Programs for Enterprise Growth, which will launch early next year. The first program to be rolled out will be Frontier 100. Between now and the IGD National Summit in May of 2009, we will identify a class of 20 promising CEOs from Africa and will create opportunities for these leaders and IGD CEOs to exchange knowledge, develop business and collaborate in global leadership. IGD will work with a variety of business organizations, NGOs and foundations to secure candidate nominations.

Congressional Meetings

This fall IGD is working to set up meetings between IGD partners and their members of Congress. Partners in Minneapolis and Portland will attend meetings during the election recess, and meetings in other IGD cities are planned for 2009. IGD’s strategy to develop congressional champions for poverty and development includes targeting members of Congress who represent IGD cities and who serve on legislative committees that are important to our core issue areas: aid effectiveness, trade expansion and economic development. These introductory meetings are intended to highlight the range of IGD policy issues and the important role that business must play in economic development. Our first district meeting, with Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota’s 4th district on October 21, 2008, was well received and we look forward to future meetings.

Modernizing Foreign Assistance

An important part of IGD’s efforts to elevate global development as a national priority is advocating for foreign aid modernization. This summer IGD began working in partnership with the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN), a coalition of NGOs, think tanks and others, to raise these issues with Congress and the new administration. In early October MFAN launched a new website to urge the presidential candidates, their supporters and Congress to embrace foreign aid reform as a critical step in making our development assistance more effective in reducing poverty and boosting economic growth in developing countries. Especially during this time of economic weakness and tight budgets, it is imperative that the United States use its resources wisely and in support of well defined strategic objectives.  The MFAN website features a bipartisan plan to make U.S. foreign assistance more effective through smarter strategy, stronger accountability, and a streamlining of the U.S. government agencies that implement these investments into a strong, coordinated structure.

Millennium Challenge Corporation

After sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader Reid in June opposing the rescission of $525 million of the MCC’s FY08 funds for short-term humanitarian needs, IGD joined the Millennium Challenge Account Working Group in sending a letter to Senate leadership that urged them to provide the MCC with funding for FY09 sufficient to continue new compacts with eligible countries. While the rescission was largely rolled back, Congress has not yet finalized the FY09 international affairs funding; they passed a continuing resolution to maintain funding at current levels until next March. We will continue to demonstrate our support for the MCC and the principles it embodies – country ownership, transparency and accountability, and making strategic long-term investments in countries that are well-governed.

Global Poverty Act

The Global Poverty Act (GPA) would help achieve one of IGD’s primary goals – elevating global development and poverty reduction as national priorities. The bill would require the president to develop a comprehensive strategy for reducing poverty, incorporating input from key government agencies, multilateral organizations and the private sector. To support the GPA, IGD sent a letter cosigned by 64 IGD partners to Senate Majority Leader Reid urging him to bring this bill to the Senate floor for a vote before the election recess. With the economic crisis consuming much of the congressional calendar last month, the Senate did not take up the Global Poverty Act before adjourning. Looking ahead, there is still a chance that the Senate could vote on the bill if it reconvenes after the election for a lame duck session. The bill’s supporters appreciated IGD’s efforts. It is critical going into the next Congress and administration that many voices express support for the principles of foreign aid embodied in the GPA – clarity, coordination and accountability.

Speaker Series

IGD Speaker Series events encourage in-depth conversations among influential business leaders and promote action on IGD’s policy initiatives.

Former USAID Administrators Brian Atwood and Andrew Natsios | Sept 18 | Minneapolis

Dean J. Brian Atwood and Ambassador Andrew Natsios shared their experiences as USAID administrators and agreed that lasting progress in the fight against global poverty will not be realized until it becomes central to our foreign policy efforts. They argued that the best way to reduce poverty is to establish stable economic growth in developing regions, and that the private sector has a unique opportunity to cultivate such growth.

Dean Atwood, head of the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, maintained that U.S. foreign assistance should focus on creating employment opportunities in developing nations, which will lead to those countries’ ability to generate wealth and increase stability. He urged businesses leaders to participate in accelerating the economic growth of developing countries.

Ambassador Natsios described U.S. policies that undermine our development objectives and must be reformed. For example, the United States gave $120 million in aid to Bangladesh and Cambodia in 2006 yet collected $853 million in import duties from them the same year. He stressed that the U.S. government must take a leadership role in global development by establishing a policy environment that will allow private sector growth in poor countries.

Both Dean Atwood and Ambassador Natsios championed the value of the public and private sectors working collaboratively to reduce global poverty.

Related media: A bipartisan approach to global poverty - op-ed by Brian Atwood and Andrew Natsios published in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune

Rob Mosbacher, President & CEO, Overseas Private Investment Corporation | October 7 | Boston

Mr. Mosbacher talked about poverty as a major inhibitor to safety and security within developing nations. He stated that entrepreneurial capital is the strongest soft power tool the U.S. government has to reduce poverty, yet the United States has yet to understand how to use this power to achieve the most impact.

Mr. Mosbacher explained that while many developing nations appreciate the value of open markets and free trade, they lack the necessary credit programs to promote businesses and generate job growth. OPIC fills this gap by providing access to lending programs for small and medium size businesses in nations with emerging markets.

OPIC has seen successes in countries with apparent high-risk credit environments, where their programs have facilitated change through private investment. In the West Bank, for example, a partnership between OPIC and the leading local bank established a mortgage financing structure that enabled many Palestinians to buy their first homes.

Mr. Mosbacher said that despite many successes in recent years, U.S. foreign assistance must be updated to achieve greater impact. He argued that U.S. business leaders who recognize the value of overseas investment could participate by promoting private sector involvement in U.S. aid programs. He credits partnerships between the public and private sector as the key to significant global poverty reduction.

Event co-hosted by WorldBoston