ICR Stories

With approximately 223 million people, Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and has the largest economy, with its entrepreneurs and their enterprises the engine of the economy. They account for roughly 96% of all businesses (most of which are micro, small and medium enterprises, also known as MSMEs) and 33% are owned by […]

One of Africa’s leading economic blocs is enhancing dialogue between the public and private sectors to foster sustainable development, regional integration and an improved business climate. The adoption of a new public-private dialogue strategy by the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) will, backers say, position the private sector as a key development partner […]

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Africa’s second largest country with a population of 109m, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) play a pivotal role in the economy. They comprise up to 90% of all businesses, account for 70% of jobs and drive innovation through creative solutions to local challenges. Yet as in most […]

The ICR Facility is supporting its partners to increase women’s participation in public-private dialogues. Our new ICReport How to make the Business Environment work for Women’s Economic Empowerment builds on an earlier publication Promoting Women’s Organisations into Public-Private Dialogues in order to Foster Women’s Economic Empowerment in ACP Countries and demonstrates how the recommendations made can […]

The ICR Facility is supporting its partners to increase women’s participation in the labour force. Our new ICReport How to make the Business Environment work for Women’s Economic Empowerment builds on an earlier publication Business Environment Reforms to Promote Equal Opportunities for Women in the Labour Market and demonstrates how the recommendations made can be implemented […]

The ICR Facility is supporting its partners to increase women’s economic empowerment (WEE) by facilitating their access to finance. Our new ICReport How to make the Business Environment work for Women’s Economic Empowerment builds on an earlier publication Trends in Gender Finance in African Caribbean and Pacific Development Finance Institutions and demonstrates how the recommendations made […]

The ICR Facility is supporting its partners to increase women’s economic empowerment. But it is not always easy to get interest in this topic. It is often still seen as a lower priority for a country’s economic development and it is complex to tackle. Our new ICReport How to make the Business Environment work for […]

The Covid-19 pandemic laid bare economic vulnerabilities around the world, and in Eswatini and the Seychelles it highlighted the risks of overdependence on a few sectors to generate growth. More than that, it brought home the imperative of building diverse economies that help reduce inequalities, enhance environmental sustainability and create better employment opportunities for women […]

Travel isn’t always simple in central Africa – even between the 11 countries connected as part of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).   “Sometimes to travel to another country, you have to take a plane to another part of Africa – even to Europe – to come back to central Africa,” says […]

When more women participate in the economy, the whole society benefits. This is because, as indicated in a recent ICReport,  women’s economic empowerment leads to better businesses, better investments, better jobs and better family well-being. The ICR Facility, a project with the aim of improving the business environment in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries […]

For Tricia Emberson, necessity was the mother of invention. Her family-owned Reload Bar and brewing business in Nuku’alofa, the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga, was reeling from the twin impacts of Covid-19 and the volcanic eruption and tsunami of January 2022. Her search for new sources of income led her to experiment with a […]

Kaduna State is leading the design and implementation of an innovative policy strategy that can contribute to the Nigeria Agenda 2050 objectives of reducing poverty and inequality and enabling a diversified private sector led economy. This policy will enable a conducive business environment to foster the development of Inclusive Business models. Inclusive Businesses (IBs) are […]