Tabora and Mekelle Workshops Help Strengthen Capacity to Promote Private Sector Investment

MCI’s senior investment advisors, Joerg Simon and Karin Millett, traveled to Tabora, Tanzania, from January 17-21 to engage in a strategy discussion on private sector investment with key officials, including the Lord Mayor.  The outcome of the meeting was a clear endorsement of the MCI proposal to concentrate on supporting Tabora and the surrounding area in targeting investment in the sectors identified by the KPMG report as offering the greatest near-term potential for investment, which are honey and related byproducts, as well as edible oils, principally sunflower oil.  

Following the strategy meeting, the team conducted a two-day hands on workshop designed to strengthen the capacity of staff of the city and the Mbola Millennium Village to promote new productive private sector investment. The workshop focused on the ‘how to’ of conducting SWOT analyses at the sector level, understanding the drivers of investor decision making, as well as the tools and techniques of identifying potential investors and preparing sector profiles and opportunities to present to investors.

Dr. Millett and Mr. Simon then traveled to Mekelle, Ethiopia, to conduct a two-day hands-on workshop designed to strengthen the capacity of staff of the city investment office and selected staff from the regional Tigray Investment Office (TIO), based in Mekelle, to promote new productive private sector investment.

Building on the strategy meeting held in May 2011 with the Mayor of Mekelle and key department heads, where it was agreed that support from MCI would focus on some of the key sectors identified in the KPMG report, the MCI team used the example of the value chain for honey, beeswax, and related byproducts to demonstrate the methodology for conducting a SWOT analysis at the sector level, understanding the drivers of investor decision making, as well as the tools and techniques of identifying potential investors and preparing sector profiles and opportunities to present to investors.