Region – Page 13 – Building State Capability

Event: They Eat Our Sweat: Transport Labor, Corruption, and Survival in Urban Nigeria

Publication date December 1, 2023

Daniel Agbiboa and Salimah Samji presenting to audience

The informal transportation network, characteristic of many African cities, is notoriously dangerous. In Lagos, drivers are constantly threatened and forced to pay bribes; they suffer health problems like hypertension and partial blindness, and accidents are common. Fear is a form of governance. The police and the union extract money from transport drivers and share it…Continue Reading Event: They Eat Our Sweat: Transport Labor, Corruption, and Survival in Urban Nigeria

The developing world needs to get ‘shoveling’

Publication date November 30, 2023

Guest blog by Yaveneshaa Madurai, LEG’23 The Harvard Kennedy School Leading Economic Growth (LEG) programme challenged me in quite a different way, than I’m ‘used to’. As a Strategist, I’m used to delivering things that are ‘neatly processed’ – you choose your ‘weapon of choice’ (a previously developed strategy model by one of the ‘gurus’,…Continue Reading The developing world needs to get ‘shoveling’

Low Private Sector Investment in Liberia

Publication date November 22, 2023

Guest blog by Marcus B. Zarway, LEG’23 Through the course, I learned many things; especially things related to my past and present work, as well as totally new ideas. I have developed and implemented catalytic private sector (entrepreneurship) and other development projects successful, and now supporting government agencies in reforms for economic development, unknowingly applying…Continue Reading Low Private Sector Investment in Liberia

Growing through Understanding: Tackling Namibia’s Income Inequality Problem

Publication date November 20, 2023

Guest blog by Anna Niita Etuna Nahambelelwe Shatika, LEG’23 Embarking on the Harvard course on Leading Economic Growth has been a transformative 10-week journey. Throughout the course, I gained invaluable insights and knowledge that will shape my approach to addressing the growth challenges faced by Namibia. In this blog, I will share key ideas and…Continue Reading Growing through Understanding: Tackling Namibia’s Income Inequality Problem

Rapid Inflation and its Implication in the UAE

Publication date November 14, 2023

Guest blog by Tariq Alsuwaidi, LEG’23 The realization that addressing inflation is essential to achieving sustainable economic development is one of the most important things that may be gained from taking this course. For instance, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has suffered from the negative impacts of excessive inflation, such as a drop in buying…Continue Reading Rapid Inflation and its Implication in the UAE

New Podcast: Andrew Lawson Reflects on his Evaluation of PDIA in Africa

Publication date November 13, 2023

Matt Andrews presenting at CABRI with Andrew Lawson in the audience

We have released a new episode in our podcast series A Decade of Building State Capability. Our second episode of the series features Andrew Lawson who did an independent evaluation of PDIA during our work with CABRI in Africa in 2018, commissioned by the Gates Foundation. He published a related piece in the World Development Perspectives in September 2023….Continue Reading New Podcast: Andrew Lawson Reflects on his Evaluation of PDIA in Africa

New Podcast Series: A Decade of Building State Capability

Publication date October 31, 2023

This past year, Building State Capability (BSC) celebrated its 10-year anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, we are very excited to launch our new podcast series, A Decade of Building State Capability. This series will feature interviews with practitioners who reflect their engagement with Building State Capability over the past 10 years and their experience using…Continue Reading New Podcast Series: A Decade of Building State Capability

Lack of Infrastructure Funding for Communities in Wyoming

Publication date October 24, 2023

Guest blog by Kiley Ingersoll, LEG’23 Over the course, there are so many ideas and take aways I learned. However, one of the most valuable was the relationships I gained with not only my Wyoming Business Council team members who also took the course, but with my group members. As we were working in our…Continue Reading Lack of Infrastructure Funding for Communities in Wyoming

Insufficient Housing in Western Australia

Publication date October 19, 2023

Guest blog by Jason Whiteaker, LEG’23 I came into this program thinking about how the program would help me identify solutions to the growth challenges being faced by my region. Within the first two weeks my thinking had completely changed, moving away from the solution-based approach and very much focusing on identifying the problem /…Continue Reading Insufficient Housing in Western Australia

Reducing Income Inequality in South Africa

Publication date October 12, 2023

Aerial image of income disparity in South African neighborhoods

Guest blog by Sibusiso Thami Gambi, LEG’23 A key learning from the course is that, simply put: context matters. One cannot simply apply “best practices” blanketly. There is a ready example in South Africa’s public spending on education. The country’s spending (as a share of GDP) is higher than the OECD, but education outcomes have…Continue Reading Reducing Income Inequality in South Africa