Development Partnerships with the Private Sector
To achieve its objectives, development cooperation needs private-sector involvement. Public effort alone is not enough to realise the Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015. From environmental protection to education and health, from agriculture and food security to water and energy supply, many central activity areas of development policy converge with private sector business operations. This is why private and public partners alike benefit from co-designing economic, political, legal and social frameworks in developing and emerging countries.
Development partnerships that the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) initiates with the private sector, also known as ‘Public Private Partnerships’ (PPP), support the partners’ interest and harness their individual strengths. PPP-projects combine the respective strengths of public and private partners. They are planned, financed and implemented jointly. Private companies make use of contacts, experience and global networks of development cooperation to safeguard their local investments, participate in developing and emerging markets and set up structures providing long-term viability. Development cooperation benefits from private sector involvement in partner countries, which helps to achieve development-policy objectives on a sustainable and cost-effective basis. This durably improves people’s living conditions in developing and emerging countries and at the same time enhances the economic, ecological and social framework for economic activity.
The GTZ PPP Modules
GTZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) offers different modules of PPP for development partnerships with the private sector:
1. PPP Ideas competitions for German and European Companies: Creating transparency
Transparent competitions give all companies equal opportunities for participation. In terms of contents, the competitions unite two complementary aspects. On the one hand, they address important development-policy problems by focusing on sector-specific themes. On the other, innovation competitions make it possible to pick up fresh ideas from the business sector and to put them into practice within PPP. The themes change every year and are selected in coordination with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Agribusiness, and Biodiversity, Water, and Innovative approaches are the themes for the GTZ 2010 developpp ideas competitions. (http://www.developpp.de/en/current_PPP_ideas_competitions.html)
2. Strategic alliances: One step further
Strategic alliances are formed with German and European companies to initiate projects with a particular broad spectrum of impacts. Generally, their scope is transnational, their focus is relevant to an entire sector and they bring together global players from trade and industry, governments and NGO’s and other national and international organisations.
3. PPP with GTZ in Bilateral Development Programmes
Besides the develoPPP.de program that directs funds to ideas competition and strategic alliance, PPP are possible within programs of the bilateral, international cooperation carried out by GTZ. These projects are not financed from specialized funds for develoPPP.de, but from resources made available by the Federal Republic to partner countries as part of its bilateral cooperation. Here, options are numerous an d diverse, but depend on the specific agreements between Germany and the partner country in question. For interested companies it is worthwhile to check opportunities in individual countries For further information about GTZ programs, please visit http://www.gtz.de
4. PPP Africa Facility: Sustainable development through cooperation with Africa-based companies
The Public Private Partnership Africa Facility is a financing instrument for the promotion of development partnerships with Africa-based companies. GTZ engages in PPP with local companies, their associations, national authorities and other social institutions within the focal areas of bilateral Technical Cooperation. Thus, it involves the private sector in the development process.
GTZ’s Development Partnerships in South Africa
Ever since the PPP programme has kicked-off, GTZ has formed about 30 partnerships with private firms and associations in South Africa. The following serve as an example:
1. The Mercedes-Benz South Africa HIV/AIDS Workplace Programme
In the framework of a partnership with GTZ, Mercedes-Benz South Africa developed a progressive and dynamic HIV/AIDS strategy. This resulted in the implementation of a needs-based HIV/AIDS Workplace Programme, focusing on the prevention of new infections amongst employees, dependents and their communities. Moreover comprehensive treatment, care and support were ensured, and a platform for meaningful community involvement was provided.
2. BMW – Employee Financial Wellness
The issue of over-indebtedness and supporting employee financial wellness have been addressed in a partnership with BMW. The holistic intervention encompassed ‘preventative’ and ‘remedial’ approaches. Moreover, the Financial Wellness Forum (FWF) was launched to revisit the employers’ responsibilities related to the financial wellbeing of their personnel, to reduce over-indebtedness in society, and to serve as a learning platform for corporate responsibility.
3. Wastewater Management for Supply Chains of Woolworths
In the framework of a cross-sector partnership with a retailer company, the adverse environmental impacts of wastewater from the large supply chain is rectified. The numerous suppliers are active in agricultural production, food storage and packaging, agro processing, and clothes manufacturing. These industries were identified to have effluents with harmful consequences for the surrounding environment. An extensive programme for cleaner production measures is being implemented. Waste-water audits, pollution prevention and control programmes, training of staff, and the development of a comprehensive manual are among the activities.
4. First Rand Bank low income household energy project.
GTZ has partnered with both First Rand Bank and Carbon Programmes to assess the social, environmental and financial benefits of utilising household energy efficient technologies for low income houses. First Rand Bank and Carbon Programmes are investing in the technology while GTZ is contributing to the design and implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation, the documentation of the lessons learned as well as the technical inputs for relevant policy dialogues. By illustrating the social and environmental benefits, customer acceptance and financial savings, First Rand Bank will be able to make the financial case for adopting these interventions for low income houses.
For further information on GTZ PPP including the different PPP modules and the specific PPP criteria, please refer to http://www.gtz.de/en/leistungsangebote/2362.htm or contact Gavin Watson at gavin.watson@gtz.de or ppp-buero@gtz.de.
DED’s Public Private Development Partnerships
DED’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) program seeks to support initiatives of local private companies that contribute to the social and ecological well-being of their communities, whilst creating lasting competitive advantages for themselves. DED has two options for support:
Option 1: DED advises and co-funds development projects for up to one year.
Option 2: DED places a specialist with a company for a period of at least two years, to assist with technical support and project planning for CSR initiatives.
For both options the company makes a substantial contribution of at least 50% torwards the project costs and is fully responsible for project implementation. In Mpumalanga DED works in partnership with the Siyaphambili Development Trust (SPDT). Together they have created a funding scheme for the implementation of public private development partnerships in the province. The following serve as examples:
1. loveLife fights against new HIV infections
loveLife, DED and Barloworld have formed a partnership to support loveLife’s youth development programme ‘Connected!’. The programme is a direct response to the fact that HIV infection spikes among school leavers. Many young people put themselves at risk not because they don’t know how to protect themselves, but because they have very little reason to protect themselves. Over the next five years, Connected! will support 5,000 young leaders drawn from marginalised communities across South Africa to develop their skills. By harnessing and educating youth, Connected! will guide them to look for, and create opportunities and inspire a positive attitude that will reduce risky behaviour.
2. Business Linkage Center (BLC) to assist local economic development
Columbus Steel and DED co-fund the development of the Business Linkage Centre (BLC) in Middleburg. The objective of the BLC is to promote economic and social development by enhancing local productive capacity and the efficiency of the domestic enterprise sector. It does this through creating and deepening fair and sustainable business linkages between large companies and/or public sector and local small, medium and macro sized enterprises (SMMEs). Operationally the BLC is supported by the Middelburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Steve Tshwete Local Municipality and GTZ.
For more information contact: pr-zaf@ded.de or refer to http://www.ded.co.za.
Further Cooperation Mechanisms with the Private Sector
The Centre for Cooperation with the Private Sector (CCPS) is based in Pretoria and works with a focus on the whole sub-Saharan Africa. This project is implemented by GTZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is supported by DED, which collaborates through the assigning of experts.
CCPS aspires to integrate global, normative principles of Corporate Responsibility (CR) and Corporate Citizenship (CC) in the decision-making processes and core business of the private sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Through socially and environmentally considerate business behaviour, the overall living environment in communities and the working conditions of employees shall be improved and the sustainability of businesses ensured.
In this context, CCPS supports companies, government, NGOs and academia to actively engage in cross-sector partnerships and commonly achieve impact on development through collective action. CCPS’s contribution thereby covers technical and financial support, the realisation of learning forums and policy dialogues. It develops and provides case studies (CCPS Document Centre), organises consultative meetings and seminars, supports awareness creation and organisational development. CCPS collaborates strongly with local networks of the Global Compact as well as other voluntary CR-initiatives of the private sector.
There are no pre-determined topics; CCPS works in all fields relevant to CR and CC and the specific topic is subject to discussion with the partner(s). Current themes include: collective action against corruption; business and human rights; responsible leadership; personal financial wellness; responsible business investment in post-conflict zones; business and water sustainability and food security. For more information please contact:
Doris Popp, CCPS, Tel.: +27 (0) 12 423 6339, Cell: +27 (0) 82 903 1313 Fax: +27 (0) 12 423 6383, E-mail: doris.popp@gtz.de, Homepage: http://www.gtzccps.org.
