This is an internal status report to ESMAP and Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) which summarizes their ongoing work under a joint energy study entitled INGENS - Income Generation through Energy and. Complementary Services. INGENS has proposed (and started to test) a pragmatic, low-cost approach to improve impact evaluation for future electrification programs: a simple Add-on Electricity Impact Evaluation Instrument (AddIE) for the specific case of firm level productivity which shall be applicable to a broad range of electrification programs (EP), and cost well under US$100k per EP. This tool allows EP managers to move from simple monitoring and reporting of numerical targets achieved to evaluation of the (pro-poor) impact achieved among an important segment of the target group. Five countries were studied: Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, and South Africa. This report discusses the overall results of the studies and lessons learned. Finally, it presents next steps and a funding request. There are five annexes at the end of the report...

This annual report of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) summarizes the innovation and leadership roles in the private sector during fiscal year 2012. The IFC invested a record $20.4 billion in 103 developing countries, reflecting a doubling of annual commitments over the last five years. Those investments included nearly $5 billion mobilized from other investors, and an investment for Sub-Saharan Africa totaling $2.7 billion, nearly twice as much as five years ago. The advisory services program expenditures grew to $197 million, up more than 50 percent over the last five years. Advisory services also helped 33 client governments introduce 56 investment-climate reforms that will improve access to basic services for more than 16 million people. IFC investment clients helped support 2.5 million jobs in 2011 and made 23 million loans totaling more than $200 billion to micro, small, and medium enterprises. Net income before grants to the International Development Association (IDA) totaled $1.66 billion. The IFC has invested more than $23 billion in IDA countries...

This annual report of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) summarizes the innovation and leadership roles in the private sector during fiscal year 2012. The IFC invested a record $20.4 billion in 103 developing countries, reflecting a doubling of annual commitments over the last five years. Those investments included nearly $5 billion mobilized from other investors, and an investment for Sub-Saharan Africa totaling $2.7 billion, nearly twice as much as five years ago. The advisory services program expenditures grew to $197 million, up more than 50 percent over the last five years. Advisory services also helped 33 client governments introduce 56 investment-climate reforms that will improve access to basic services for more than 16 million people. IFC investment clients helped support 2.5 million jobs in 2011 and made 23 million loans totaling more than $200 billion to micro, small, and medium enterprises. Net income before grants to the International Development Association (IDA) totaled $1.66 billion. The IFC has invested more than $23 billion in IDA countries...

This technical note the Malawi 2007 Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) reviews the current challenges of increasing access to financial services in Malawi. After a cursory assessment of the state of the financial sector in chapter one, it summarizes the key challenges of rural financial sector development (chapter two); then discusses the opportunities that branchless banking technology offers (chapter three), the options for strengthening the financial infrastructure (chapter four) and the role of government in increasing access (chapter five). It concludes with recommendations on how authorities may seek to realize these opportunities (chapter six).

This annual report of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) summarizes the innovation and leadership roles in the private sector during fiscal year 2012. The IFC invested a record $20.4 billion in 103 developing countries, reflecting a doubling of annual commitments over the last five years. Those investments included nearly $5 billion mobilized from other investors, and an investment for Sub-Saharan Africa totaling $2.7 billion, nearly twice as much as five years ago. The advisory services program expenditures grew to $197 million, up more than 50 percent over the last five years. Advisory services also helped 33 client governments introduce 56 investment-climate reforms that will improve access to basic services for more than 16 million people. IFC investment clients helped support 2.5 million jobs in 2011 and made 23 million loans totaling more than $200 billion to micro, small, and medium enterprises. Net income before grants to the International Development Association (IDA) totaled $1.66 billion. The IFC has invested more than $23 billion in IDA countries, nearly $6 billion of it in fiscal year 2012 alone.

This evaluation assesses the impact of International Finance Corporation's (IFC's) Business License Simplification Project in the municipality of Lima, Peru. It reviews two previous evaluations sponsored by IFC and adds new evidence. Under the project, IFC's Foreign Investment Advisory Services (FIAS) worked with the municipality of Lima to reform the administrative process for obtaining a business license in Cercado de Lima, one of 44 districts that comprise metropolitan Lima. According to the municipality, 64 percent of the businesses in this district lacked a business license in 2005, and most of them were microenterprises. The project was implemented from January 2005 to March 2007. The present evaluation conducted an independent review of both previous studies, collected additional data, verified the previous findings, and placed the findings in the context of related studies and evaluations. The goal was to take stock of the results, collect and use other evidence, and draw lessons for future IFC and World Bank operations. This chapter describes and compares the divergent evidence on which procedures were simplified by the license reform and by how much. A second chapter reviews existing evaluations and previous relevant findings from other countries; a third replicates and extends the regression evidence on the impact of license reform on critical business outcomes...

The report is structured as follows. Section one examines the contribution of the rural economy to the national economy, the structure of the farm and non-farm sectors and their relative importance. Section two describes policies and constraints affecting the wider rural economy including, reforms in macro-economic management, recent external influences and financial services before discussing those which relate specifically to agriculture including, agricultural trade policy, land reform, agricultural machinery services , irrigation and drainage, seeds, sanitary and phytosanitary control and veterinary services, marketing and advisory services. Section three assesses the outcomes of these policies on the structure and performance of the rural economy. Section four describes the extent to which policy makers should prioritize the farm and non-farm sectors in rural areas and then presents recommendations for reform. While it is recognized that rural infrastructure (roads, potable water, and energy) and rural social services have a major impact on the rural economy...

Agricultural advisory (extension) services are a vital element of the array of market and non-market entities and agents that provide critical flows of information that can improve farmers' and other rural peoples' welfare. After a period of neglect, agricultural advisory services have returned strongly to the international development agenda. Apart from their conventional function of providing knowledge for improved agricultural productivity, agricultural advisory services are expected to fulfill a variety of new functions, such as linking smallholder farmers to high-value and export markets, promoting environmentally sustainable production techniques, and coping with the effects of HIV/AIDS and other health challenges that affect agriculture.

The use of impact evaluations (IEs) to assess the causal impacts of development projects has expanded rapidly. Along with major innovations in statistical methods and econometrics, the recent impetus in IE has its roots in the debate about whether development programs achieve their objectives of reducing poverty and increasing economic growth. The renewed focus on results and the increasing calls for sound evidence on effectiveness have led to expectations that IE may help build the knowledge base of what does and does not work in development and where resources may be best allocated. Between 2004 and 2008, the number of Bank Group supported evaluations increased sevenfold. This increase is partly attributable to major IE initiatives at the World Bank, including the Development Impact Evaluation Initiative (DIME), the Africa Impact Evaluation Initiative, the Spanish Trust Fund for Impact Evaluation (SIEF), and efforts by the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Advisory Services Results Measurement Unit (RMU). This sizable investment in IEs...

In 2008, Uzbekistan significantly improved its rank in the doing business 'getting credit" indicator, moving up 38 positions from the previous year, and by July a draft law titled, 'On Sharing Credit Information," which meets best international standards, was developed by a six-member working group, including International Finance Corporation (IFC) staff and two regulators from the Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU). Pending the draft law's passage by the Parliament of Uzbekistan, this major achievement will significantly improve the still-developing regulatory environment in this sphere. These results were achieved thanks to a common approach and efforts of two IFC advisory services projects: the Uzbekistan Business Enabling Environment Project (UzBEE) and the Azerbaijan Central Asia Leasing Facility (ACALF) Project. In this smart lesson, the authors describe experience in carrying out joint activities between two different IFC projects and the lessons learned for how to assure successful cross-project collaboration by building an enthusiastic team and assigning clear objectives to individuals.

Independent Evaluation Group's (IEG's) country impact review (the report) examines if, from July 1998 through December 2007, International Finance Corporation (IFC): (i) successfully defined a relevant and appropriate strategy for helping Nigeria tackle its most pressing needs; (ii) provided investment and advisory services that were reflective of IFC's strategy; and (iii) achieved positive development results. IFC's strategies in Nigeria reflected the characteristics of IFC's process for development of country strategies jointly with the World Bank. These characteristics include: (i) poor integration with IFC's main strategy and budget process; (ii) loosely formulated country objectives and priorities in terms of sectors and products; and (iii) little or no resource allocation. As a result, IFC's strategies for Nigeria have not fulfilled their purpose of setting priorities, defining targets, and securing the human, organizational, and other resources required.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Africa have been hailed as the engine of economic growth. They are at the heart of developing countries' entrepreneurship, the source of most new employment and productive investment, and the basis for growth and poverty reduction. Despite the economic potential of SMEs, they face severe constraints related to access to resources, finance, and services, as well as procedural barriers all of which limit their potential to invest, innovate, and improve productivity and sustainability. To address these constraints, International Finance Corporation (IFC) developed the SME Solutions Centre (SSC) Pilot Program in Kenya. The SSC value proposition centers on four key pillars: access to finance, access to advisory services/technical assistance (now SME management solutions), access to reliable market information, and support for an enhanced business enabling environment. This smart lesson details the lessons learned from the SSC's experience with the access to finance pillar.

This report is a result of the mission of the World Bank to the Czech Republic during November 17 to 27, 2008 for providing advisory service to the Government of the Czech Republic for the design and development of a modern, integrated revenue authority. Earlier, between February and April 2008, a World Bank mission had reviewed the draft merger plan prepared by the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic in January 2008 and examined the key issues for the merger of tax and customs administrations and the integration of the collection, enforcement and audit functions of social contributions. The preliminary findings of the World Bank are contained in the 'report on an integrated revenue administration' in two volumes which was disseminated in June 2008. This mission in November 2008 is the first in a series of missions over the next eighteen months for providing the advisory services as requested to the Government of the Czech Republic. During this first mission, the Bank has worked with the Czech counterparts to develop for the new Jednotni Inkasni Misto (JIM): (i) an integrated vision and key concepts (ii) major objectives and key elements of reform; (iii) a comprehensive strategy for reform of the organizational structure...

More than 200 million people in the developing world were out of work this year. Over 1 billion are hungry, while millions more are confronting the threat that climate change poses. The United Nations estimates that 884 million people don't have safe drinking water and more than 2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation. The population of the developing world will expand by a third over the next four decades, growth that will strain already weak infrastructure. In this environment, International Finance Corporation (IFC) is innovating to create opportunity where it's needed most. IFC committed a record $18 billion in fiscal year 2010, $12.7 billion of which was for own account. We invested in 528 projects, an 18 percent increase from FY09. Advisory Services portfolio comprised 736 active projects valued at more than $850 million, with annual expenditures totaling $268 million. Countries served by the International Development Association, or IDA, accounted for nearly half our investments 255 projects totaling $4.9 billion and more than 60 percent of Advisory Services expenditures. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 19 percent of our investment commitments and 25 percent of Advisory Services expenditures. The invested a record $1.64 billion in clean energy...

Independent evaluation of International Finance Corporations (IFC's) development results 2009 takes stock of the development performance of IFC's investment operations, and examines, for the first time, the development effectiveness of its Advisory Services (AS), thus offering the first holistic review of IFC's development results. On Investment Services (IS), the report finds that 72 percent of operations reaching early operating maturity between 2006 and 2008 met or exceeded their financial, economic, environmental, and social benchmarks, and made contributions to private sector development beyond just the project. This is a significant improvement over the 63 percent achieved between 2005 and 2007. Meanwhile, 70 percent of AS operations reviewed between 2006 and 2008 achieved high development effectiveness ratings. But these development results do not yet reflect the sharp deterioration in global economic conditions, which has just now begun to affect the economic environment in most developing countries. Experience suggests there are considerable risks to development results but crises can also offer new opportunities that need to be grasped. Projects approved in the years prior to a crisis were about 15 percent less likely to achieve good results than otherwise. In the wake of past crises...

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) annual report continues an approach pioneered last year, combining information on the investments and advisory services, sustainability, development effectiveness, and donor partnerships. The report covers fiscal 2008 (July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008) and discusses the year's new business as well as the performance and development results of the portfolio. In FY08, new investments totaled $16.2 billion, rising 34 percent from the previous year. The IFC seeks to enhance the accountability and to articulate the vision, core corporate values, purpose, and the way the IFC works for a wide range of stakeholders: client companies, governments, partners, local communities affected by the activities, advocacy organizations, investors, and the staff.

Established in August 2000 by Premier Ralph Klein, the Advisory Council on Health was mandated to provide strategic advice to the Premier on the preservation and future enhancement of quality health services for Albertans and on the continuing sustainability of the publicly funded health system.; Paper copy - CA2 AL HW700 2001F66 Stauffer Library - Documents

Este ensayo centra su contenido en dos temas preponderantes y a primera vista bastante distantes el uno del otro, de un lado se encuentra el uso de la estrategia militar denominada poder blando utilizada por un sinnúmero de países para influir en las decisiones de otros Estados y obtener los resultados que se desean en beneficio propio. Por otra parte se aborda el tema del comercio de servicios en especial lo relacionado con las exportaciones de servicios comerciales. Ambos temas se abordan desde una perspectiva global, luego regional para finalmente llevarlos al contexto colombiano y al final demostrar que pueden llegar a complementarse para alcanzar un mayor impacto en el crecimiento y desarrollo de un país. A lo largo del texto se pretende demostrar como mediante el empleo del poder blando un país podría influir en su entorno regional mediante la exportación de servicios de asesoría desde el sector defensa. Al final de documento se puede concluir que Colombia a pesar de haber tenido en los últimos años un crecimiento económico significativo continua siendo un país con una preponderancia menor en el escenario regional, por lo tanto debe recurrir a los diferentes tipos de poder blando para influir en Latinoamérica y El Caribe.; This paper focuses on two overriding themes content and a first view quite distant from each other; on one side is the use of military strategy called soft power used by a number of countries to influence the decisions of other states and to get outcomes desired. Moreover it addresses the issue of trade in services particularly related to exports of commercial services. Both themes are addressed from a global perspective...

Currently there are two prevailing strands of thought related to government online advisory services. One school considers the empowerment effect of online advisory systems on citizens and claims that such systems, when appropriately designed, can lead to

This thesis examines the international growth and diversification of real estate advisory services in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan from over a 30-year period, 1960-1990. These four countries were selected because they were the most active in cross-border direct investment during this period, and intricate economic interdependencies among them prompted the greatest advancements in innovative real estate advisory services. Economic and cultural differences and similarities among the four focal countries and their respective service professions provide the bases for evaluating the primary hypothesis: the internationalization of real estate advisory services were most efficiently and effectively achieved by firms that first built solid reputations in their home nations, and subsequently expanded into multiregional organizations by responding to the cross-border investment activities of existing and prospective multinational clients. If leading firms in the focal countries expanded in domestic markets to capitalize on the national economy's maturing real estate markets, then moved into foreign markets to capitalize on rising cross-border investment flows over the 1960-1990 period, the primary thesis raises a question about the relative significance of cross-border real estate investment to national economic conditions...