Private sector investment in development: prospects and obstacles.
Date
1994
Authors
Fraser, Fraser Dugan
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
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Abstract
This report is an exploratory discussion of the prospects for private sector investment in
development initiatives. Based on a set of structured and unstructured interviews, a press review
and a survey of the relevant literature, the report paints to a growth in the areas of commonality
between the worlds of investment and development, in that there is increasing recogniticm of the
need to direct resources to South Africa's poor at the same time as market forces are starting to
play an enlarged role in development. The report argues however, that the social context in which
investors are 'embedded' is very different from that of development practitioners, leading to a
situation in which development projects are seen as risky investments. The difficulty experienced
by private investors in understanding the world of development is identified by the report as the
single largest obstacle to private sector investment in development. The report draws the
conclusion that mediating institutions are required to structure relationships between
development agents and investors.
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Master of Arts
degree in the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Keywords
Investments -- South Africa., Reconstruction -- South Africa., South Africa -- Economic policy.