UNITAR-BADEA Online Course on Private Sector Development

 

Type:      Course

Location:   Web Based

Date:    20 Nov 2017 to 15 Dec 2017

Duration of event:  4 Weeks

Programme Area:  Public Finance and Trade

Specific Target Audience: No

Website: http://www.unitar.org/pft/

Price:No Fee

Event Focal Point Email: pft-elearning@unitar.org

Background

Note: Participants who successfully complete the course will have the possibility to be invited to attend future face-to-face Training-of-Trainers workshop or to take similar online courses (subject to availability of funding from partners/donors). If selected, your course participation will be subsidized by the Arab Bank for Economic Development of Africa (BADEA).

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The emergence of a vibrant private sector represents one of the most important steps towards economic growth and development. In developed economies, the private sector usually accounts for the bulk of the investment, jobs and wealth creation, which is why government encourages its development as much as possible.
To help African countries manage the development of their private sector, UNITAR offers this instructor-led online course under the Technical Assistance Programme on “Strengthening the Human Resources of Sub-Saharan African Countries for Private Sector Development” supported by the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA).
This course, which reflects some of the key recommendations gained from the Programme’s needs assessment phase, aims at enhancing the participants’ knowledge and understanding of private sector development in general, its preconditions, risks and challenges that might be faced by private sector actors in developing countries, and policy options for countries seeking to achieve higher levels of growth and stability.
The course will analyse, amongst other developing country or regional examples, the case study of Sub-Saharan African countries, examining various obstacles faced by private sector development in the region, the significance of private sector development within the region, the current business environment and the steps that can be taken by the policy makers to improve their business environment for private sector development, including financial services and human resources.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the course, the participants should be able to:

• Explain the importance of the private sector development in general and for Sub-Saharan region in particular;
• Identify the main challenges faced by developing countries in the private sector development with in-depth analysis of such challenges being faced by the Sub-Saharan region;
• Understand how the business environment can help strengthen the private sector and the steps that should be taken to provide a enabling business environment to accelarate private sector growth.
• Identify solutions that increase access to finance for the private sector.
• Understand the role of human capital in private sector development, challenges and trends faced by Sub-Saharan region in providing efficient human resource services and the needed policy reforms.
   

Content and Structure

This self-paced course will be delivered from November 20 to December 15, 2017. The course will be moderated asynchronously on a weekly basis and participants will be required to participate in the weekly on-line discussions. In addition, each module has interactive lessons that provide the core content around the topic for that module. The lessons have built-in quizzes that allow participants to assess their learning. Additional resources such as bibliographies, web links and optional readings are provided for participants who wish to deepen their knowledge of the course topic.
The course consists of the following modules:

• Module 1: Understanding the Private Sector

An Introduction to the basic aspects of the private sector, its history, its benefits, its relation to the public and the informal sector, its role in job creation, and the obstacles it faces.  This module will also discuss the case of Sub-Saharan region with respect to private sector development by examining how the private sector developed in the region in the past few decades compared to other regions, the significance of the private sector in making a positive contribution to growth within the region, and also various obstacles facing private sector development within the region.

• Module 2: Business Environment

This module explains what is the business environment, why it is important for development, and how countries can provide better services that help improve the business environment. The module will analyse the case of Sub-Saharan region as to what will it take to improve the business environment in the region to draw further benefits from the private sector and what role can policies play in the process of creating enabling business environment to accelerate private sector development.  

• Module 3: Business Finance

In many African countries even successful businesses struggle to obtain the funds they need to expand. This module discusses why access to finance is important for private sector development in general, and examines some of the options governments have for easing access to finance and how that could be applied within the Sub-Saharan region considering its domestic market and regulations.

• Module 4: Human Resources Development

This module examines how human capital affects the economic situation of countries, current challenges and trends for African countries in general and for the Sub-Saharan region in particular, and the policies to address them effectively.

Methodology

To reach the largest possible number of relevant officials and to maximize its impact this course will be delivered through the Internet. Using a state-of-the-art training architecture, UNITAR will combine self-learning with assessments, online discussions, and a case study exercise. The methodology - adapted specifically to professionals in full-time work – aims at training participants through various experiences: absorb (read); do (activity); interact (socialize); reflect (relate to one’s own reality). At the same time, to allow participants maximum flexibility of scheduling, the course will be conducted in an asynchronous manner. A senior expert with in-depth experience of private sector development in Africa will provide substantive feedback to participants and moderate the online discussions.

Targeted Audience

This course targets public sector officials in charge of managing private sector development in African countries that are eligible for assistance from BADEA (countries not members of the Arab League of States).

Additional Information

Recommended hardware and software requirements for taking the course:

• Platform: Windows XP sp3 and higher. MacOS X and higher
• Hardware: 2 GB of RAM and higher.
• Software: Text processing software and Adobe Acrobat Reader (downloadable for free at adobe.com).
• Browser: Internet Explorer 8 and higher; Mozilla Firefox 8 and higher.
• Note: JavaScript, pop-ups & cookies must be enabled.
• Internet connection: 128kbps and higher.