DCED Global Seminar: Systemic approaches for sustainable growth, employment and resilience
Nairobi, 1 – 3 October 2024
Organised in collaboration with Gatsby Africa and the International Labour Organization
The DCED, together with the BEAM Exchange – its knowledge platform on market systems development (MSD), has been running regular highly-regarded global seminars about private-sector development (PSD) since 2000 – including in Nairobi (2018), Lusaka (2016) and Bangkok (2014, 2012 and earlier). We return now after a six year break with a new format and fresh ambition to Nairobi, 1-3 October 2024; attendees have now been emailed a link to our digital platform where they may see the full agenda. There is no fee for participating in the DCED Global Seminar 2024. Participants will be responsible for their own travel, accommodation and subsistence.
Please note that, due to high demand for places, applications to participate in the Seminar are now closed. Registrations for side events on 30 September and 4 October, however, are still open! See details below, and register individually with the organisers.
Sessions:
The 2024 Global Seminar will focus on using systemic approaches for growth, employment and resilience. Sessions will prioritise practical lessons emerging from PSD field experience, evidence of what is working well, along with analysis of the pitfalls.
The Seminar’s sessions will be organised broadly around the six strands below; please see our provisional agenda for more information on individual sessions within each strand. In addition, the content of many sessions will feature two important cross-cutting themes: the challenges of measuring results (MEL) and promoting gender equality, diversity and inclusion.
- Language matters! Talking meaningfully about systemic approaches
- with Kristin O’Planick (USAID), Rory Tews, James Gichuhi (Gatsby Africa), Kristina Mastroianni (NIRAS), Dhita Lasarati (ILO), John Rachkara (Mercy Corps), Mike Albu (DCED Secretariat)
- Assessing system change: what counts?
- with Rens Twijnstra (NL MOFA), Aly Miehlbradt, (Miehlbradt Consultants Ltd.), Ben Fowler (Marketshare Associates)
- Learning from experience: principles of good PSD practice
- with Peter Roggekamp (Gatsby Africa)
- Are we ambitious enough? Being transformative rather than incremental
- with James Foster (Gatsby Africa), Christoph Zipfel (GIZ), Ben Foster (Marketshare Associates), Chema Triki (Growth Teams)
- Systemic approaches for trade-related outcomes
- with Donna Loveridge, Dun Grover (ACDI/VOCA), Helen Bradbury (Mercy Corps), Paulo Rodriguez (Helvetas), Carmen Jaquez (Mercy Corps)
- Better prioritising support for high potential sectors / industries
- with Peggy Mativo (Gatsby Africa)
- Charting the landscape: systemic approaches to employment
- with Merten Sievers (ILO), Justin van Rhyn, Gun Eriksson Skoog (Sida)
- Reaching scale in job creation: convenient theory and inconvenient practice
- with Justin van Rhyn, Muaz Jalil, Mike Klassen (DCED Secretariat)
- Setting targets and ambitions for realistic employment programme design
- with Matt Ripley (Impact Frontiers), Vasundhra Thakur (54 Collective), Mahlet Seifu Woldeabraham (Mercy Corps), Nicola Fackel (Sida)
- Green jobs and the just transition: applying a systems lens
- with Steve Hartrich (ILO), Jack Steege (Gatsby Africa), Mahlet Seifu Woldeabraham (Mercy Corps), Freddy Koch (Swisscontact)
- Innovative pathways for systemic SME financing
- with Freddy Bob-Jones (Aceli Africa), Audrey Desiderato (Mirova SunFunder), Drew von Glahn (Collaborative for Frontier Finance), Rory Tews, Krisztina Tora (GSG Impact)
- Unlocking synergies between PSD and development finance
- with Alex Kucharski (BII), Hannes Bahrenburg (British Investment Partnership), Anouk Verheijen (FMO)
- Financial inclusion of small and women-led enterprises
- with Andia Chakava (2X Global), Naomi Ndele (Kenya Commercial Bank), Virginia Wairimu (Balloon Ventures)
- Let’s talk business: how to mobilise commercial finance to scale impact
- with Giorgi Lekiashvili (Swisscontact), Steve Morris (NIRAS), Adiya Ode (Palladium Group), Debora Randall (Swisscontact)
- Navigating green private sector development: donor priorities, implementer realities
- with Melina Heinrich-Fernandes (DCED Secretariat)
- Greening the MSD approach in agriculture
- with Clara García Parra (The Canopy Lab), Amanda Jerneck (ILO), John Rachkara (Mercy Corps), Luana Ayala (ILO), Frédérique Weyer (SDC), Thabani Moyo (NIRAS)
- Green jobs and the just transition: applying a systems lens
- with Steve Hartrich (ILO), Jack Steege (Gatsby Africa), Mahlet Seifu Woldeabraham (Mercy Corps), Freddy Koch (Swisscontact)
- Measuring green: what does this mean?
- with Adam Kessler (DevLearn), Helen Bradbury (Mercy Corps), Aly Miehlbradt (Miehlbradt Consulting Ltd.), Phitcha Wanitphon, Muamer Nikšić (Helvetas), Harrison Wambua (NIRAS)
- Old problems, new tricks: designing PSD programmes in fragile contexts
- with Karri Goeldner Byrne, Gun Eriksson Skoog (Sida), Stephan Jean Pierre (CRS), Emmanuel Otim (Mercy Corps)
- Achieving meaningful impact in fragile contexts
- with Sasha Muench (Markets in Crises Community), Nadja Nutz (ILO), John Rachkara (Mercy Corps), Paul Joicey (DAI)
- Building bridges: the importance of donor-implementer relationships for systemic approaches to PSD
- with Kristin O’Planick (USAID), Elisabet Montgomery (Sida), Helen Bradbury (Mercy Corps), Anirban Bhowmik (Swisscontact)
- Interpreting the rules: making space for adaptive management
- with Ryan Bourque (DAI), Mark Sevier (ACDI/VOCA), Gwendolyn Tweed (DAI)
- Donor policies that affect systemic practice
- with Marleen van Ruijven (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Bram Elmer van Opijnen (Netherlands Embassy in Ghana), Keith Dokho (USAID), Andrew McCown (USAID)
- Investing in emerging leaders on MSD/PSD programmes
- with Holly Krueger (The Canopy lab), Ailsa Buckley (Swisscontact), Alison Hemberger (Mercy Corps), Hayden Aaronson (ACDI/VOCA)
Side events
Please note that these are not organised by the DCED. Registering for the Seminar does not guarantee you a place at the side events; registering for the side events similarly does not guarantee you access to the Seminar.
Monday 30 September 2024:
- One-Day Workshop on Results Measurement Best Practices according to the DCED Standard, by Miehlbradt Consulting Limited (MCL). This comprehensive workshop will discuss the fundamentals of good results measurement and why an effective results measurement system is crucial for managing systemic programmes, as well as practical applications of the key elements of the DCED Standard. Aly Miehlbradt and Phitcha Wanitphon are the facilitators. See the flyer for more information or contact MCL at holm@miehlbradt.com.
- One-Day Workshop on How to be Good Funder of a Market System Development Programme (only for DCED member agencies) by Agora Global, in collaboration with Sida and the DCED. This will cover the basic concepts; designing programmes, selecting implementers, managing and measuring results. Dr Ben Taylor and Zannatul Ferdous are the facilitators. For more information contact Dr Ben Taylor at btaylor@agoraglobal.org.
Wednesday 2 October 2024:
- Building Bridges: Donor and DFI Collaboration Event by British International Investment (BII) and FMO, 19:00 – 21:00. This event will bring together senior leaders from Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), donor agencies, and key stakeholders to showcase successful strategies for fostering effective DFI-donor collaboration. They will highlight lessons from an upcoming research report and from live initiatives such as ARIA and Invest for Impact Nepal, providing practical insights into how collaboration can unlock impactful investments in frontier markets. The evening will include a short presentation followed by a networking session. RSVP directly with BII.
Friday 4 October 2024:
- One-Day Workshop on Assessing System Changes, by Miehlbradt Consulting Limited (MCL). This dynamic workshop is inspired by ‘A Pragmatic Approach to Assessing System Change’. It will cover the practical methodologies for assessing system changes as well as actionable insights and tools for effective implementation. Aly Miehlbradt and Phitcha Wanitphon are the facilitators. See the flyer for more information, or contact MCL at holm@miehlbradt.com.
- Half-day Workshop on Market System Development in Forced Displacement Settings: Can the Private Sector Create Sustainable Economic Opportunities for Refugee and Host Communities?, co-hosted by DAI and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The discussion will draw on practical experiences in implementing the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) – funded Strengthening Host and Refugee Populations in Ethiopia (SHARPE) programme and ILO experience of private sector and market systems development across multiple refugee hosting countries in Asia and Africa. See the flyer for more information and register with elise_rohan@dai.com.
- Gatsby Africa Open House (8am – 1pm) by Gatsby Africa at their Merchant Square offices on Riverside Drive, Nairobi. The sessions will provide an opportunity for Seminar delegates to interact with Gatsby Africa’s work with insights from staff working on Aquaculture, Livestock, Water, Forestry and Textiles & Apparel programmes. Delegates can explore innovative interventions, exchange ideas on the practicalities of running PSD programmes in East Africa and learn about the challenges and successes that donor-implementors experience. For more information contact Karen Kimami at karen.kimami@gatsbyafrica.org.uk
- Innovative Solutions Workshop: Unlocking Capital for African SMEs and Growth Businesses, with the Collaborative for Frontier Finance. With the appropriate support of donor agencies, development finance institutions, African pension funds, government agencies and foundations, small business growth funds are positioned to channel $4.5 billion in new impact capital for African/MENA’s SMEs. This one-day workshop and networking opportunity will explore innovative financing models that are being used to bolster such local fund managers. Building upon examples, participants will co-create approaches that leverage their own organization’s resources and capabilities to drive capital mobilization at scale. See the flyer for more information and register by emailing lisa@frontierfinance.org.