Trade association dialogue in Nepal (2021-2024)

I was commissioned by the International Trade Centre to review materials and to deliver a training programme focused on dialogue and advocacy to trade support institutions, mainly trade associations. This was followed by working with a select group of business and trade assocaitions to review major constraints inhibiting growth in internaitonal trade and to develop proposals. This cukminated in the preparation of a detailed policy position on a particlar constraint.

BMO member business development in Myanmar (2023-2024)

The International Trade Centre undertook a survey (using questions that I provided) of business and trade associations in Myanmar to map their reach and activities. This was followed by work directly with selected trade associations to identify trade constraints and to highlight barriers and priorities for action and to suggest possible mitigating actions. Given the inability, currently, of associations to influence public policy, it was concluded greater impact could be achieved through working with selected trade associations to prepare 'member development' strategies, that is, strategies through which the associations could help businesses in general and their members in particular to grow and to engage in more international trade. Associations were subsequently invited to participate in a training programme - with four modules delivered by me over a period of four weeks - to raise their awareness, knowledge and skills to equip them both to prepare and implement member development strategies. Between sessions, associations undertook assignments designed to prepared chapters of their member development strategy. Following the training, ITC facilitated me to deliver further coaching and mentoring as associations continued to refine their strategies and explore how to secure the resources so that they can implement those strategies as well.

Developing dialogue & advocacy skills in Vietnam (2020-2023)

I was commissioned by the International Trade Centre to work with both trade associations and the Ministry of Industry & Trade to develop skills in dialogue and advocacy. The original intention had been to visit Vietnam to assess knowledge and skills but covid meant that was unable to happen; instead a local team was commissioned to undertake interviews based on protocols that I developed. The answers contributed to the preparation of a detailed diagnostic assessment. This was eventually followed by the delivery of a training programme - to a mixed audience of public and private stakeholders - in 2023. Recommendations for further development were made.

Supporting private sector advocacy in Iraq (2021-2022)

I was commisioned by the International Trade Centre to deliver a training programme to business and trade associations in Iraq to develop their competences to engage in dialogue and advocacy. My mission to Iraq was cut short by a re-emergence of covid in mainland Europe. However, I followed up teh training by interviewing selected association to assess their general competence and then offered recommendations for further support.

Developing dialogue & advocacy skills in Bhutan (2018-2021)

I was commissioned by the International Trade Centre to work with both trade associations and the Ministry of Economic Affairs to build skills in dialogue and advocacy for both public and private sector stakeholders with an intent to improve regulation related to international trade. I met with representatives of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce & Industry which helped to identify the constraints faced by businesses wishing to export and to support the Government achiees its target of becoming one of the top 50 countries in the World Bank's Doing Business ranking. In 2018, I ran a training course primarily for public sector participants.

I subsquently organised a study tour to Brussels and London - though in the end the London leg was cancelled as it proved impossible to get visas organised in the timsecale available - to look more closely at how governments and provate sector organisations engage in effective dialogue.

I returned to Bhutan in 2020 when I ran five training programmes aimed at representatives of business member organisations. These covered an introduction to advocacy & dialogue, undertaking research, preparing policy positions, business planning for trade associations and roles & functions of trade associations. There was an expectation that this would be followed by two further missions but unfortunately covid intervened. Further support to develop detailed policy position papers was provided remotely.

Developing dialogue & advocacy skills in ECOWAS (2021)

The International Trade Centre in partnership with UNIDO were providing support to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to implement an EU-funded West Africa Competitiveness Programme, aiming to support selected value chains at national and regional levels to promote transformation and better access to regional and international markets. There was a desire to build teh capacity of regional business associations (RBA) (including the Federation of Business Women and Entrepreneurs, the Federation of West African Manufacturers' Associations, the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce & Industry and the Federation of West African Employers' Associations). International travel was not possible at this time, due to covid, so I prepared three 90-minute webinars with assignments to be completed by participants after the first and second session. Sessions covered an introduction to dialogue and advocacy, preparing policy positions and argumentation and planning advocacy communications. Participants were attentive and motivated and several indicated that they woyuld like further support. As a result, a follow-up webinar was held to enable the RBAs to communicate and debate their priorities for action.

Developing dialogue & advocacy skills for women's associations in Africa (2020)

International Trade Centre’s SheTrades Initiative aims to increase economic growth and job creation in Africa by expanding the international trade activities of women-owned businesses. Inter alia, ITC has partnered with the African Union Commission to support women’s business associations (WBA) to identify policy issues related to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Whilst I was commissioned to provide a general introduction to dialogue and advocacy, there was a much more urgent requirement to ensure that the participants were able to engage in a Ministerial meeting and to seek to influence them. I thus facilitated four workshops backed up wth factsheets and workbooks. As part of the workshops, we narrowed down a large list of issues to just four:

• Ensure equitable representation of WBAs on AfCFTA national committees and on trade facilitation committees
• Digitise cross-border documentary and taxation requirements
• Improve the briefing and training provided to customs officials
• Strive for continent-wide agreement on both common quality standards (for goods) and on mutual recognition of professional qualifications (for trade in services)

We then agreed the people who would present each issue, prepared detailed argumentation for each issue and then rehearsed.

Developing dialogue & advocacy skills in Sri Lanka (2017-2020)

In 2017, David was asked by the International Trade Centre to visit three Chambers in Sri Lanka, to assess their competence to engage in advocacy and dialogue, and to make recommendations for how they could become more effective. In addition, he was asked to run a two day training programme to provide some immediate ideas for tools and techniques to those three Chambers and to others.

David returned in 2019 and ran a two day training programme in Jaffna for local Chambers in the north and east and another in Galle for Chambers in the south. The training was designed to support chambers of commerce understand the role that they could play in local economic development, governance, strategy and business planning.





In 2020, David returned for a further week in Colombo, revisiting the Chambers from the first mission and additionally running advanced training course in policy, dialogue, advocacy and negotiation for the private sector members of the National Trade Facilitation Committee and for the advisory committees attached to the Export Development Board.

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, Tanzania (2006-2018)

Business Environment Strengthening for Tanzania was a major programme to promote regulatory and other reform within Government. The Advocacy Component, managed outside of government, existed to support private sector organisations (PSOs) to engage in private public dialogue and to advocate an improved business environment in Tanzania. To refelct more closely the emphasis on dialogue and its desire to promote a collaborate approach, rather than advocacy which is often seen to be more adversarial, in about 2016, BEST-AC renamed itself BEST-Dialogue. BEST-AC was created in 2005 with support from four donors (Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden and UK). It coninued until the end of 2019.

IGA undertook many assignments for BEST-AC including:

• providing technical assistance to the University of Dar Entrepreneurship Centre (UDEC), who were providing most of BEST-AC's traiining for PSOs, to support them in their aspiration to become a centre of excellence for private sector advocacy (2007);
• preparing the redesign for phase II following recommendations in the 2007 evaluation that BEST-AC should be extended for a further five years;
• providing advice & support as required including, inter alia, assisting with survey instruments to assess member and target audience views of private sector organisations and assisting with annual Business Leader Perception surveys

Successess

In November, 2007, it was announced that Dr Donath Olomi, Director of the University of Dar Entrepreneurship Centre, had been selected as the Tanzania country prize winner of the 1st Pan-African Prize for Entrepreneurial Teachers.

More information

There is more information, especially about impact, available at Business Advocacy Network.

BEST-Dialogue helpfully created an archive which is available online and contains a wealth of information about its activities, performance and impact.

Jordan Chamber of Commerce for ILO (2016)

IGA was commissioned by ILO to provide capacity building to the Jordan Chamber of Commerce to help them become more effective both as a chamber in general and as an advocate on behalf of the private sectror in particular. I putt together and delivered a five day programme that covered leadership, strategy and planning; advocacy and dialogue; preparing policy positions (in this case focused on the minimum wage negotiations underway at the time) and communications; and raising funding and sponsorship.

Dialogue & advocacy: ENABLE (2009-2012)

ENABLE aimed to support business associations in NIgeria to engage in dialogue and advocacy so that they could seek to influence reforms of public policy and improvements in the enabling environment as well as supporting researh institutions and government departments and agencies. It was managed by ASI. I undertook several assignments, including:

• Writing an awareness raising booklet for the first step of the five step approach to advocacy, identifying issues, and subsequently facilitating a series of training programmes
• Writing an awareness raising booklet on the fifth step of the five step approach, monitoring and follow up
• Working with the Nigerian Employers' Consultative Association (NECA) and with the Organised Private Sector (OPS), which comprises five of the key business associations, to promote collaboration in dialogue and advocacy

Supporting ENABLE in the preparation and undertaking of Business Leaders' Perception surveys in 2009 and 2010 intended to indicate the business environment factors causing particular problems for business

International trade and regulatory reform, Zimbabwe (2014-2015)

IGA has undertaken several assignments in Zimbabwe for the International Trade Centre including working with the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, the Business Council of Zimbabwe, the Women's Alliance of Business Associations in Zimbabwe and cross-border traders. Support typically embraced training and mentoring in support of the preparation of policy position statements but also included research to understand better the cosntraints facing international traders.