How does private sector development support structural transformation and enhance sustainable development outcomes? This might range from wealth and investment creation to employment-led growth. Private sector development might also drive innovation and technological development to building essential infrastructure. Furthermore, business and enterprise can also support entrepreneurship, help improve the quality of work and provide much needed increases in labour productivity.

How can sustainable business support, strengthen and champion its impact on women’s resilience and wellbeing? In addition, how might governments, in partnership with civil society, provide support to facilitate and influence the development impact of business on women? By examining the transformative effect of business on women’s lives, livelihoods and wellbeing, the event series aims to explore a number of key themes including:

• Female entrepreneurship, employment and agricultural development: Promoting food and nutritional security by improving support to women producers.

• Bridging the gap between science, technology and innovation for development transformation in Africa: Tackling development dilemmas in agriculture (e.g. food and livestock security) and the environment (e.g. biodiversity and forestry). What works, what doesn’t and how can success be appropriately scaled-up and replicated?

• Women and environmental resource management: Adapting to a changing environment and balancing conservation and consumption in an age of scarcity and uncertainty.

The event series is scheduled to take place 2014-16. Following the roundtable discussion series, the FPC will produce a report (to be launched in 2016/17) which will build on the discussions and insights exchanged during the course of the event series. The report will capture the salient issues discussed and key findings identified. This event forms part of a wider Foreign Policy Centre series entitled: Africa Rising? Building Africa’s Productive Capacity for Inclusive Growth. Additional project supporters include Barclays and CDC Group.

How does private sector development support structural transformation and enhance sustainable development outcomes? This might range from wealth and investment creation to employment-led growth. Private sector development might also drive innovation and technological development to building essential infrastructure. Furthermore, business and enterprise can also support entrepreneurship, help improve the quality of work and provide much needed increases in labour productivity.

How can sustainable business support, strengthen and champion its impact on women’s resilience and wellbeing? In addition, how might governments, in partnership with civil society, provide support to facilitate and influence the development impact of business on women? By examining the transformative effect of business on women’s lives, livelihoods and wellbeing, the event series aims to explore a number of key themes including:

• Female entrepreneurship, employment and agricultural development: Promoting food and nutritional security by improving support to women producers.

• Bridging the gap between science, technology and innovation for development transformation in Africa: Tackling development dilemmas in agriculture (e.g. food and livestock security) and the environment (e.g. biodiversity and forestry). What works, what doesn’t and how can success be appropriately scaled-up and replicated?

• Women and environmental resource management: Adapting to a changing environment and balancing conservation and consumption in an age of scarcity and uncertainty.

The event series is scheduled to take place across in 2014/15. Following the roundtable discussion series, the FPC will produce a report (to be launched in 2015/16) which will build on the discussions and insights exchanged during the course of the event series. The report will capture the salient issues discussed and key findings identified. This event forms part of a wider Foreign Policy Centre series entitled: Africa Rising? Building Africa’s Productive Capacity for Inclusive Growth. Additional project supporters include Barclays and CDC Group.

How does private sector development support structural transformation and enhance sustainable development outcomes? This might range from wealth and investment creation to employment-led growth. Private sector development might also drive innovation and technological development to building essential infrastructure. Furthermore, business and enterprise can also support entrepreneurship, help improve the quality of work and provide much needed increases in labour productivity.

How can sustainable business support, strengthen and champion its impact on women’s resilience and wellbeing? In addition, how might governments, in partnership with civil society, provide support to facilitate and influence the development impact of business on women? By examining the transformative effect of business on women’s lives, livelihoods and wellbeing, the event series aims to explore a number of key themes including:

• Female entrepreneurship, employment and agricultural development: Promoting food and nutritional security by improving support to women producers.

• Bridging the gap between science, technology and innovation for development transformation in Africa: Tackling development dilemmas in agriculture (e.g. food and livestock security) and the environment (e.g. biodiversity and forestry). What works, what doesn’t and how can success be appropriately scaled-up and replicated?

• Women and environmental resource management: Adapting to a changing environment and balancing conservation and consumption in an age of scarcity and uncertainty.

The event series is scheduled to take place across in 2014/15. Following the roundtable discussion series, the FPC will produce a report (to be launched in 2015/16) which will build on the discussions and insights exchanged during the course of the event series. The report will capture the salient issues discussed and key findings identified. This event forms part of a wider Foreign Policy Centre series entitled: Africa Rising? Building Africa’s Productive Capacity for Inclusive Growth. Additional project supporters include Barclays and CDC Group.

In this FPC Briefing Research Associate Andrew Southam examines the nationality protection used by a number of countries to prohibit the extradition of alleged criminals to face trial. This contrasts with the practice of a number of countries including the US and UK that do not refuse to return their own citizens to face trial, provided due process has been followed and proper safeguards are in place. This briefing sets out the situation and calls for steps towards removing the nationality bar from extradition practices. Southam argues that such a bar is against the modern trend to streamline extradition procedures, is an unnecessary protection given other safeguards, and is contrary to wider international initiatives to combat crime. The briefing makes suggestions about how this can be achieved and explores the benefits and disadvantages of alternatives, including local prosecutions.

Through a series of three roundtable discussions and the publication of a report supported by Barclays, the Foreign Policy Centre seeks to explore how greater financial inclusion has the potential to help drive the development of new businesses and new jobs, thereby igniting development transformation across Africa.

Promising African economic outlook 2013 and addressing the financial inclusion-job creation challenge
The global financial crisis has led to an economic age of austerity, mounting uncertainty and rising inequality. Yet, according to the 2013 African Economic Outlook, both 2013 and 2014 promise to illustrate Africa’s ability to withstand domestic, regional and international volatility. The continent is projected to grow by 4.8% this year and growth rates are expected to increase further to 5.3% in 2014. Nonetheless, this impressive economic growth and its accompanying resilience have made little impact on soaring unemployment levels, endemic underemployment and escalating income inequality . According to the World Bank’s 2013 World Development Report, 10 million new workers enter the labour market in Sub-Saharan Africa each year . Predictions from the report suggest that by 2035, Africa will collectively boast the world’s largest labour force, exceeding the size of the work force in China and that of India. This increasing demand for employment will be accompanied by rising income levels. Between 2010 and 2020, 40% of the world’s poorest people will experience an almost two-fold increase in their purchasing power. Incomes for this demographic are set to rise from approximately USD $3 billion to USD $5.8 billion . The burning question is therefore, how to accelerate the creation of decent employment for all, particularly young people. In addition, how might improved access to inclusive financial services across a wide range of client groups – with rising disposable incomes – impact on employment expansion? More significantly, can universal financial inclusion be achieved at an affordable cost and will it be economically viable for the private sector to deliver?

An enabling policy environment for financial inclusion
Alongside a growing economic and social demand for employment-led growth, financial inclusion is also being championed as a critical global public policy priority to help reduce global inequality and poverty. Promoting universal access to financial services and products has enjoyed rising prominence, ranging from recommendations in shaping the post-2015 UN Millennium Development Goals to the G20’s reassertion of the centrality of financial inclusion in its development agenda. In addition, only recently, the World Bank President called for collective action to achieve universal financial access by 2020.

Mapping the links between financial inclusion and expanding employment
As attempts are made to stimulate the world economy and rebalance economic growth, never before has the need to forge a new global consensus on how to accelerate productive employment creation been such a pressing economic and development priority. Understanding the impact that full financial inclusion plays in accelerating job creation is critical for improving the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable people globally. Arguably, a striking example of the importance of this is that 97% of manufacturing jobs across Ethiopia are in microenterprises. In addition, economies such as Rwanda and Ethiopia have experienced impressive reductions in poverty rates due to modernisation in the agricultural sector. Yet, building such productive capacity is often constrained by a lack of access to finance, financial capability, appropriate skills and training and access to markets, as well as an absence of an enabling business environment, unresponsive infrastructure and a lack of supportive regulation. Under such circumstances, the potential to create employment is increasingly limited .

When financial inclusion may not be a sufficient condition for job creation and growth
Financial inclusion is by no means a magic bullet. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that not all small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may have equal potential for generating jobs and growth. The job creation impact and growth potential of SMEs is determined by a number of factors. Those small business owners who set up enterprises, not through choice, but because they are unable to secure other employment, often develop enterprises which remain small and are concentrated in only a very small number of industries, are focused mainly on sustaining their own livelihoods, are concentrated on the need to manage risks (as opposed to taking risks) and, arguably, have limited future prospects. In contrast, young businesses that are established by those with the energy, drive and capacity to innovate, take risks, build peer networks and identify talent with complementary skills are those more likely to drive economic growth and employment . Taking this into account, how can providers of financial services and products, in partnership with policymakers and policy advocates, ensure that interventions are appropriately targeted to support dynamic enterprise that generates a multiplier effect on wider economic development?

Through a series of three roundtable discussions and the publication of a report supported by Barclays, the Foreign Policy Centre seeks to explore how greater financial inclusion has the potential to help drive the development of new businesses and new jobs, thereby igniting development transformation across Africa.

Promising African economic outlook 2013 and addressing the financial inclusion-job creation challenge
The global financial crisis has led to an economic age of austerity, mounting uncertainty and rising inequality. Yet, according to the 2013 African Economic Outlook, both 2013 and 2014 promise to illustrate Africa’s ability to withstand domestic, regional and international volatility. The continent is projected to grow by 4.8% this year and growth rates are expected to increase further to 5.3% in 2014. Nonetheless, this impressive economic growth and its accompanying resilience have made little impact on soaring unemployment levels, endemic underemployment and escalating income inequality . According to the World Bank’s 2013 World Development Report, 10 million new workers enter the labour market in Sub-Saharan Africa each year . Predictions from the report suggest that by 2035, Africa will collectively boast the world’s largest labour force, exceeding the size of the work force in China and that of India. This increasing demand for employment will be accompanied by rising income levels. Between 2010 and 2020, 40% of the world’s poorest people will experience an almost two-fold increase in their purchasing power. Incomes for this demographic are set to rise from approximately USD $3 billion to USD $5.8 billion . The burning question is therefore, how to accelerate the creation of decent employment for all, particularly young people. In addition, how might improved access to inclusive financial services across a wide range of client groups – with rising disposable incomes – impact on employment expansion? More significantly, can universal financial inclusion be achieved at an affordable cost and will it be economically viable for the private sector to deliver?

An enabling policy environment for financial inclusion
Alongside a growing economic and social demand for employment-led growth, financial inclusion is also being championed as a critical global public policy priority to help reduce global inequality and poverty. Promoting universal access to financial services and products has enjoyed rising prominence, ranging from recommendations in shaping the post-2015 UN Millennium Development Goals to the G20’s reassertion of the centrality of financial inclusion in its development agenda. In addition, only recently, the World Bank President called for collective action to achieve universal financial access by 2020.

Mapping the links between financial inclusion and expanding employment
As attempts are made to stimulate the world economy and rebalance economic growth, never before has the need to forge a new global consensus on how to accelerate productive employment creation been such a pressing economic and development priority. Understanding the impact that full financial inclusion plays in accelerating job creation is critical for improving the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable people globally. Arguably, a striking example of the importance of this is that 97% of manufacturing jobs across Ethiopia are in microenterprises. In addition, economies such as Rwanda and Ethiopia have experienced impressive reductions in poverty rates due to modernisation in the agricultural sector. Yet, building such productive capacity is often constrained by a lack of access to finance, financial capability, appropriate skills and training and access to markets, as well as an absence of an enabling business environment, unresponsive infrastructure and a lack of supportive regulation. Under such circumstances, the potential to create employment is increasingly limited .

When financial inclusion may not be a sufficient condition for job creation and growth
Financial inclusion is by no means a magic bullet. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that not all small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may have equal potential for generating jobs and growth. The job creation impact and growth potential of SMEs is determined by a number of factors. Those small business owners who set up enterprises, not through choice, but because they are unable to secure other employment, often develop enterprises which remain small and are concentrated in only a very small number of industries, are focused mainly on sustaining their own livelihoods, are concentrated on the need to manage risks (as opposed to taking risks) and, arguably, have limited future prospects. In contrast, young businesses that are established by those with the energy, drive and capacity to innovate, take risks, build peer networks and identify talent with complementary skills are those more likely to drive economic growth and employment . Taking this into account, how can providers of financial services and products, in partnership with policymakers and policy advocates, ensure that interventions are appropriately targeted to support dynamic enterprise that generates a multiplier effect on wider economic development?

Through a series of three roundtable discussions and the publication of a report supported by Barclays, the Foreign Policy Centre seeks to explore how greater financial inclusion has the potential to help drive the development of new businesses and new jobs, thereby igniting development transformation across Africa.

Promising African economic outlook 2013 and addressing the financial inclusion-job creation challenge
The global financial crisis has led to an economic age of austerity, mounting uncertainty and rising inequality. Yet, according to the 2013 African Economic Outlook, both 2013 and 2014 promise to illustrate Africa’s ability to withstand domestic, regional and international volatility. The continent is projected to grow by 4.8% this year and growth rates are expected to increase further to 5.3% in 2014. Nonetheless, this impressive economic growth and its accompanying resilience have made little impact on soaring unemployment levels, endemic underemployment and escalating income inequality . According to the World Bank’s 2013 World Development Report, 10 million new workers enter the labour market in Sub-Saharan Africa each year . Predictions from the report suggest that by 2035, Africa will collectively boast the world’s largest labour force, exceeding the size of the work force in China and that of India. This increasing demand for employment will be accompanied by rising income levels. Between 2010 and 2020, 40% of the world’s poorest people will experience an almost two-fold increase in their purchasing power. Incomes for this demographic are set to rise from approximately USD $3 billion to USD $5.8 billion . The burning question is therefore, how to accelerate the creation of decent employment for all, particularly young people. In addition, how might improved access to inclusive financial services across a wide range of client groups – with rising disposable incomes – impact on employment expansion? More significantly, can universal financial inclusion be achieved at an affordable cost and will it be economically viable for the private sector to deliver?

An enabling policy environment for financial inclusion
Alongside a growing economic and social demand for employment-led growth, financial inclusion is also being championed as a critical global public policy priority to help reduce global inequality and poverty. Promoting universal access to financial services and products has enjoyed rising prominence, ranging from recommendations in shaping the post-2015 UN Millennium Development Goals to the G20’s reassertion of the centrality of financial inclusion in its development agenda. In addition, only recently, the World Bank President called for collective action to achieve universal financial access by 2020.

Mapping the links between financial inclusion and expanding employment
As attempts are made to stimulate the world economy and rebalance economic growth, never before has the need to forge a new global consensus on how to accelerate productive employment creation been such a pressing economic and development priority. Understanding the impact that full financial inclusion plays in accelerating job creation is critical for improving the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable people globally. Arguably, a striking example of the importance of this is that 97% of manufacturing jobs across Ethiopia are in microenterprises. In addition, economies such as Rwanda and Ethiopia have experienced impressive reductions in poverty rates due to modernisation in the agricultural sector. Yet, building such productive capacity is often constrained by a lack of access to finance, financial capability, appropriate skills and training and access to markets, as well as an absence of an enabling business environment, unresponsive infrastructure and a lack of supportive regulation. Under such circumstances, the potential to create employment is increasingly limited .

When financial inclusion may not be a sufficient condition for job creation and growth
Financial inclusion is by no means a magic bullet. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that not all small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may have equal potential for generating jobs and growth. The job creation impact and growth potential of SMEs is determined by a number of factors. Those small business owners who set up enterprises, not through choice, but because they are unable to secure other employment, often develop enterprises which remain small and are concentrated in only a very small number of industries, are focused mainly on sustaining their own livelihoods, are concentrated on the need to manage risks (as opposed to taking risks) and, arguably, have limited future prospects. In contrast, young businesses that are established by those with the energy, drive and capacity to innovate, take risks, build peer networks and identify talent with complementary skills are those more likely to drive economic growth and employment . Taking this into account, how can providers of financial services and products, in partnership with policymakers and policy advocates, ensure that interventions are appropriately targeted to support dynamic enterprise that generates a multiplier effect on wider economic development?

In this new FPC Briefing by Senior Research Associate Jacqueline Hale examines the EU’s record on promoting human rights, democracy, the rule of law and international justice through its external actions following the launch of its global human rights policy in 2012. Following the failures of the Arab Spring, a troubled neighbourhood policy, deepening tensions with Russia, a ‘migration crisis’, rising xenophobia and efforts to undermine human rights by member states’ governments ranging from Hungary to the UK Hale explores the more challenging context into which the EU’s human rights policy has been revised in 2015. She argues that despite its roots as a peace project and community of rules and norms, in practice the EU has consistently underperformed on human rights, and its own values project is frequently undermined amid growing internal and external challenges. The briefing examines whether the EU will be able to learn the lessons of past failures, and address the growing gap between rousing words on paper and lack of political will to act on the rhetoric. It examines the 2015-19 human rights action plan in light of the EU’s mixed record so far and argues that this time round, the EU has every interest in producing a human rights policy with teeth.

In this new FPC Briefing Dr Lee Jones argues that instead of simply asking whether sanctions work, the international community should first ask: ‘how are they supposed to effect the change we seek, and do they actually “work” this way in practice?’ This research looks into how ‘economic pain’ translates – or fails to translate – into ‘political gain’ in target states. The starting point for Jones is that political outcomes in target states are predominantly determined by struggles between ruling and opposition coalitions of social and political forces. Sanctions ‘work’ by manipulating the political economy of targets, with consequences for the composition of forces contesting state power, plus their resources, alliances and strategies. Where sanctions can compel ruling and opposition coalitions to adopt strategic responses that meet the goals of those imposing sanctions, they may be ‘successful’. However, this is generally possible only where opposition groups are already powerful and well organised. In contexts where oppositions are weak and fragmented, sanctions tend to entrench their exclusion from power, even if they also manage to weaken ruling coalitions. Since this is often the case in states where sanctions are used, sanctions are often ineffective. The briefing gives some suggestions for policymakers that include the need for careful planning, including plausibly specifying the mechanisms by which they expect sanctions to operate. If the mechanisms cannot be identified, Dr Jones argues sanctions should not be imposed.