USAID Administrator sees public-private partnership success in West Africa
By Julianna White
 Administrator Fore speaks with Albert Biga of Intel after the panel discussion at the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra.
Fore traveled to Senegal and Ghana in early September, where the Trade Hub’s economic development and public-private partnership efforts have had important impacts.
In Senegal, Administrator Fore toured Setexpharm, a Trade Hub-assisted specialty food company. She was accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Senegal Marcia Bernicat, USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator Franklin Moore, USAID-Senegal Mission Director Kevin Mullally, Representative of the Senegalese Fish Industry Joachin Diatta, the Trade Hub’s Makhtar Thiam and Tim Stein, and multiple other public and private sector representatives.
After touring the factory and sampling products, the group discussed challenges that Senegalese companies face in exporting to the U.S.
“Labeling was a big obstacle for us,” said Sekou Diallo, Setexpharm’s proprietor, noting that he had learned a lot over the last year. “We were aided by a Trade Hub and USDA sponsored packaging workshop that provided training on how to package and label our products for the U.S. market, which we used at this year’s Fancy Food Show.”
 Administrator Fore, with pink stoll, at Setexpharm in Senegal.
In Ghana, Administrator Fore attended the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness to address how donors can achieve the best outcomes through development assistance. Administrator Fore hosted “Partnering with the private sector for development,” a U.S. Government side event at the meeting that featured a panel of representatives from Intel, Greylock Capital Management, Olam and the African Cashew Alliance.
“Much has changed on the development landscape since 2005 as the private sector and other non-state actors have emerged as major contributors to reducing poverty world wide,” Administrator Fore told an assembly of over 150 people from over a dozen nations. “Partnering with the private sector -- including corporations and foundations -- is now the main thrust at USAID and has transformed our agency.”
Since 2001, USAID has built more than 680 public-private alliances with over 1,700 individual partners to contribute more than $9 billion of combined public-private resources.
The Trade Hub invited panel members who spoke directly about the alliance-building approach and private sector impacts on development.
Albert Biga of Intel, the world’s largest maker of computer chips, discussed Intel’s World Ahead Program. The program is the basis for a USAID-Intel partnership aiming to break the digital divide between developing and developed countries. The Trade Hub is coordinating a collaboration of USAID and Intel to demonstrate the effectiveness of high speed broadband Internet connections in Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal.
 From left, Albert Biga, Corey Modeste of Greylock Capital Management, Ranveer Chauhan of Olam, and Carlos Costa of the African Cashew Alliance joined Administrator Fore to discuss the private sector's contributions to development at the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness.
Corey Modeste of Greylock Capital spoke about the opportunity created for his company and for Africa by partnering with the U.S. government’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation to improve management and share information. Greylock soon will launch its Africa Opportunity Fund with a target of $300 million.
“Many African economies are now in the early stages of what promises to be a growth cycle,” he explained. “Our partnership funds aim to help develop the corporate sector, which will lead to more foreign direct investment.”
Such foreign direct investment often leads directly to improved standards of living, Ranveer Chauvan of Olam International said. With a picture of a cashew processing factory in rural Cote d’Ivoire in the background, Chauvan made a clear case for private sector partnerships.
“Olam is paying $150,000 each month into that community,” he said. “We are not giving it away. People are working and earning money.
“They are spending the money on themselves and their families, creating more jobs in the community. It’s making a difference.”
Olam is part of the African Cashew Alliance, a public-private partnership formed with USAID’s assistance in 2005 to promote the African cashew industry. The Alliance is hosting its third annual conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this month.
“There is a lot of potential,” the Alliance’s president, Carlos Costa, told the audience. “If we could process the current crops in Africa, we can create 1,000 new business, 250,000 new jobs, and add $150 million in value to Africa per year.”
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