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"helping Small Business Owners Scale the Steps to Business Success"

"helping Small Business Owners Scale the Steps to Business Success"
Symbol of Hope for Small Businesses in East Africa

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Conference on Business Environment Reform and the Informal Economy, 12th – 15th April 2010, Cape Town, South Africa.

The Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) has just concluded a conference on business environment reform and the informal economy focusing on -“How Business Environment Reform Can Promote Formalization- Learning From Our Experiences”
The purpose of the conference was to focus on practice and programme interventions that improve the business environment in order to enhance the opportunities for informal enterprises. The conference sought to better understand the kinds of reforms that allow informal economy actors to access new markets and contribute to growth.
It provided the opportunity for a wide range of donors, development practitioners and programme partners to share and reflect on practical experiences and empirical evidence in business environment reforms that has led to increased transition from the informal economy to formality
On the sidelines of the conference, participants visited the Green Market Square, Grand Parade and the Mitchell’s Plain all based in Cape Town
It was generally agreed that Business Environment Reform (BER) that addresses informality contains the following elements:

 Ensuring informal actors have a stake in reform processes

 Differentiating reform process to address specific target groups and informality drivers

 Reducing the legal and regulatory burdens on informal actors, while ensuring that the legal and regulatory framework is equitable, transparent and enforceable

 Promoting greater accountability between the state and informal actors

 Looking, learning and building on what works best and monitoring changes in the informal economy

It also became evident that on its own, Business Environment Reform (BER) is an inadequate response to the challenges faced by informal actors. Many of the drivers of informality are beyond the reach of business environment interventions. Thus consideration should be given to programme interventions that compliment Business Environment Reform (BER). These may include the provision of education and health services, housing and infrastructure, and the creation of social safety nets. It should not be forgotten that economic growth that creates a greater demand for formal employment is a powerful force that pulls informal business people and workers into the formal economy and into more productive and decent employment

we look forward to sharing with you the final report of the conference outcomes.