Private sector investment in development: prospects and obstacles.

[摘要] This report is an exploratory discussion of the prospects for private sector investment indevelopment initiatives. Based on a set of structured and unstructured interviews, a press reviewand a survey of the relevant literature, the report paints to a growth in the areas of commonalitybetween the worlds of investment and development, in that there is increasing recogniticm of theneed to direct resources to South Africa's poor at the same time as market forces are starting toplay an enlarged role in development. The report argues however, that the social context in whichinvestors are 'embedded' is very different from that of development practitioners, leading to asituation in which development projects are seen as risky investments. The difficulty experiencedby private investors in understanding the world of development is identified by the report as thesingle largest obstacle to private sector investment in development. The report draws theconclusion that mediating institutions are required to structure relationships betweendevelopment agents and investors.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand