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CPI in the news Article October 16th, 2019
Cities • Innovation

Public-Private Collaboration Vital to Catalyze Investment in Africa

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 10/16/2019

 

Public-Private Collaboration Vital to Catalyze Investment in Africa

Leaders Discuss Rwanda's Example and How the Public Sector Can Pave the Way for Private Investment Across Africa

 

New York, October 16, 2019- In conjunction with the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly, the Centre for Public Impact and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) convened a roundtable discussion on new models to accelerate investment in Africa. The event featured remarks by Clare Akamanzi, a cabinet member and the CEO of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), and Jay Ireland, the former president & CEO of GE Africa, and attracted leaders in private equity, social entrepreneurship, and philanthropy.

The discussion featured reflections on Rwanda's ambitious goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2035 and its partnership with BCG to catalyze the creation of good, sustainable jobs.

“To meet their goals, it was clear Rwanda needed to step up private-sector-led growth,” says Shalini Unnikrishnan, a BCG partner and a key member of the team working with the Rwanda government. “We established joint BCG-RDB teams to rethink how to attract private investments in Rwanda and brought in agile approaches and principles to rapidly test ideas with an investor-centric lens.”

This effort led to a number of solutions codesigned with the government, including the Investment Accelerator. The Investment Accelerator empowers the Rwandan government to drive investment to entrepreneurs working in priority sectors while providing an agile, fast, and responsive experience to investors.

Dan Vogel, the North America director at the Centre for Public Impact, sees promise in this approach to drive growth across Africa. “Rwanda exemplifies the tremendous potential of public-private collaboration. The government opened itself to innovation and, in doing so, prepared the country for private investment and delivered real value to its citizens,” says Dan. “During our roundtable discussion, diverse stakeholders were excited about the approach and its potential to accelerate investment across the entire region.”

“Rwanda is open for business,” says Clare Akamanzi. “It was great to meet with investors and companies who see the potential of the private sector to contribute to Africa's development.”

 

For media enquiries:

Elysa Neumann, Centre for Public Impact

+1 202-630-3383

elysa@centreforpublicimpact.org

 

Eric Gregoire, Boston Consulting Group

+1 617-671-5625

Gregoire.Eric@bcg.com

 

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About Centre for Public Impact

The Centre for Public Impact is a not-for-profit founded by Boston Consulting Group. Believing that governments can and want to do better for people, we work side-by-side with governments—and all those who help them—to reimagine government, and turn ideas into action, to bring about better outcomes for everyone. We champion public servants and other changemakers who are leading this charge and develop the tools and resources they need, like our Public Impact Fundamentals, so we can build the future of government together.

 

About Boston Consulting Group

Boston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we help clients with total transformation—inspiring complex change, enabling organizations to grow, building competitive advantage, and driving bottom-line impact.

To succeed, organizations must blend digital and human capabilities. Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives to spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting along with technology and design, corporate and digital ventures—and business purpose. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, generating results that allow our clients to thrive.

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