Place Based Economic Development with Simon White

Sign in Subscribe

Simon White

Simon White

Simon White is a specialist in place-based economic development, private sector and business development and business environment reform.

Why Cape Verde is the best place to live in Africa

This post is a great celebration of success. This year’s winner of the Mo Ibrahim Prize has been awarded to Pedro Pires, former President of Cape Verde from 2001 to 2011. When asked, What lessons can other countries learn from Cape Verde’s success? The belief that it is

More developing countries participate in this year's Global Entrepreneurship Week

Good to see the list of developing countries participating in the annual Global Entrepreneurship Week growing. There are about 120 countries participating in 2011 (14-20 November). The Global Entrepreneurship Week is an initiative of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in the USA. It began in 2008 and has grown rapidly.

Start-up rates begin to show signs of slowdown in most OECD countries in 2011

The OCED has released new data that indicates start-up rates of new firms fell precipitously in all OECD countries where data is available. In subsequent quarters, start-up rates began picking up, toward pre-crisis levels, but in recent quarters this momentum stalled. With few exceptions, start-up rates are once again beginning

AMEX pledges US$100-million for digital start-ups -- in the US

This article by Roger Cheng (CNET News, November 8, 2011) reports on American Express’s announcement that it will invest $100 million in startups that are designed to address mobile and online payments, security, reward and loyalty programs, and other forms of digital commerce. Rather than launch its own major

MindLab –– a platform for co-creating better ideas.

Here’s a Danish initiative designed to promote innovation within government while breaking down government silos. MindLab is a cross-ministerial innovation unit which involves citizens and businesses in creating new solutions for society – “a neutral zone for inspiring creativity, innovation and collaboration”. MindLab works with civil servants of three Danish

Egypt's increasing informal economy

Ghada Barsoum, professor of public policy at the American University in Cairo (AUC) claims that the informal economy has become the “number one source of income in Egypt,” as a result of “the lack of opportunities in the formal economy.” Seventy-five percent of Egyptian youth, according to Barsoum, are working

ICTs as an Enabler for Private Sector Development

This October, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) its annual Information Economy report, which focused on the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in enabling private sector development: Information Economy Report 2011; ICTs as an Enabler for Private Sector Development (PSD). The report shows that the