Business Advocacy Fund, Kenya (2006-2020)

The Business Advocacy Fund was an initiative funded by DANIDA to support business member organisations (BMOs) to engage in private public dialogue and advocate an improved business environment in Kenya. As fund manager, we (a partnership of IGA and Coffey International (now Tetra Tech) Development were responsible for every aspect of marketing the fund, assisting BMOs to prepare compelling policy proposals, taking recommendations to the board, providing capacity building support and offering implementation assistance. We commenced work on Phase 1 (described as BAF1) in September 2006 and the Fund was formally launched in November 2006. BAF1 ended at the end of 2010 and BAF2 was launched towards the end of 2011. In turn, this lasted until mid-2016. BAF3 was launched to coincide with the end of BAF2 and continued until mid-2020.

Successes

During its 15 years, BAF

• awarded 295 advocacy grants totalling more than $7m to 90 BMOs to finance advocacy activities resulting in the publication of 187 research reports and 304 policy position papers, more than 2,500 dialogues and consultations with government, the raising of more than 1,000 issues with government and 426 reforms of public policy;
• trained more than 3,500 participants from 580 BMOs in advocacy skills and techniques;
• piloted a range of approaches to support business membership organisations including offering sustainability support, recruiting dedicated research and policy advisers, offering dedicated communications and public relations support to business membership organisations, and set up an issues, information and guidance portal; and
• encouraged journalists to write more deeply and more knowledgeably about the business enabling environment.

What people say about BAF and my involvement

One of the innovations in BAF3 was the introduction of Research & Policy Advisers. The RPAs worked closely with BMOs supporting them to undertake research and develop coherent and well argued policy positions. This made a considerable difference to the quality of the documents prepared by BMOs.



More information, including impact assessments, cost benefit analyses and annual reports is available at the Business Advocacy Network website

Papers covering aspects of learning from BAF's work are available at Publications & papers

BEST - Advocacy Component: longitudinal impact assessment (2010-2015)

Business Environment Strengthening for Tanzania (BEST) was a major programme to promote regulatory and other reform within Government, with several omponents, with one exception all undertaken within government. One compnent, the Advocacy Component, funded by a consortium of donors, was managed outside of the government and existed to support private sector organisations (PSOs) to engage in private public dialogue and to advocate an improved business environment in Tanzania. It launched in 2006 and continued until 2019. In an attempt to explore whether support of this type could make a discernible and sustainiable difference, IGA, in partnership with Annabel Jackson Associates and Coffey (now Tetra Tech) International Development, undertook a five year longitudinal impact assessment funded by DFID (now FCDO). They worked with a small number of 'case study' business associations as well as regularly interviewing public officials and other stakeholders to assess the impact achieved by business associations supported by BEST-AC. Overall, BEST-AC was deemed to have been a success. More information on the programme and its impact is available.

Fundo para Ambiente de Negocios, Mozambique (2011-2016)

This programme, originally described by DANIDA as the Advocacy & Business Research programme but which instead called itself Fundo para Ambiente de Negocios (FAN) was intended to support research insitutions (RI) and business member organisations (BMO) to undertake effective research and to engage in private public dialogue in order to advocate an improved business environment in Mozambique.

Working in a consortium of IGA with Coffey International (now Tetra Tech) Development and Process Consultoria through a director, Orlando Conceicao, we were responsible for every aspect of marketing the fund, assisting RIs and BMOs to prepare compelling proposals, taking recommendations to the board, providing capacity building support etc.

FAN today

FAN has changed its name to Fundação para a Melhoria do Ambiente de Negócios (Foundation for the improvemenent of the business environment) with a mission to build the capacity of private sector organisations to improve services to their members, to engage more effectively in public private dialogue and to facilitate national and international partnerships to deleiver added value to both public and private sectors.

Evaluating BEST Advocacy Component, Tanzania (2006)

I was commissioned by DANIDA, in partnership with Coffey International Development) to undertake the first mid-term review of BEST-Advocacy Component. Around 95 per cent of the recommendations were implemented. Moreover, it was this evaluation that led me to think clearly about how business and trade associations should take a clear and logical approach to their advocacy and led to the development of the five stage approach to advocacy.

Investment climate reform in China (2004-2008)

This project, which ran until 2008, was a major project with China's National Development & Reform Commssion (a super-Ministry) and the cities of Chengdu, Lanzhou and Shenzhen. There were twin objectives of developing the cities' skills to support new and growing businesses and to improve the enabling environment.

My role was to lead on the regulatory reform component, which included preparing a city 'Cost of Doing Business' scorecard, undertaking interviews and focus groups discussions with small businesses to identify barriers to growth and regulatory constraints, advising on the preparation of guidance notes for regulatory compliance, advising on the preparation of regulatory impact assessments.

In addition, I played a supporting role on the SME support component, including the preparation of a process consultancy training programme for consultants and the preparation of a diagnostic tool to assist the consultants pinpoint the priority areas for support.

This project was managed by Coffey International (now Tera Tech) Development and funded by the Department for International Development (now FCDO)

Small Enterprises Development Company, Swaziland (1999-2001)

Partnered with Coffey (now Tetra Tech) to provide assistance to Swailand's Small Enterprises Development Company (SEDCO) to enable them to complete a strategic review and then to provide capacity building for staff to assist them to implement successfully the recommendations – for all of their small business support services but with with particular emphasis on the development of their workspace activities.