Topic: Development Agencies
Introduction
The South African Constitution and various pieces of local government legislation give municipalities a mandate to act as a catalyst for sustainable economic development. One of the important vehicles to assist in the delivery of these objectives are Economic Development Agencies. These are established to drive economic growth initiatives in defined geographical space such as Provinces, Districts and Local Municipality areas. The IDC has a dedicated unit that support municipalities with financial resources and technical expertise.
Definition
Economic Development Agencies can be defined as independent organizations, shaped by public and private institutions, with the aim of implementing strategies of shared territorial development, with particular emphasis on
Key Issues
- Local government tends to focus on the delivery of basic services with the result that LED is the worst performing indicator of development a municipal level.
- The local level is crucial to economic development as this is where the projects take place and the impacts are most profoundly demonstrated. However, the reality is that capacity is limited in the local government sphere.
- One response to the need to enhance the development of local and regional economies is to establish a focussed delivery mechanism that bridges the gap between the private and (local) public sector. Economic development agencies are one such mechanism.
Critical Success Factors
- The presence of "real" economic opportunities
- Partnership, commitment amongst stakeholders that influence economic development
- A committed and visionary leadership
- An entrepreneurial approach but with maintenance of public interest
- The support and participation of the community as well as
- The mobilisation and valorisation/leveraging of resources available in the area
- AND: Focusing on a geographic area or a sector.
