Mauro DaCunha, the chief executive officer of Brazil's AMEC (Capital Market Investors Association), discusses the importance of democratization of capital in Brazil.
DaCunha credits CIPE's partnership with Brazil with increasing public awareness of capital markets and its correlation with economic growth. The development of capital markets in Brazil would positively influence the country's economy by creating job growth, opportunities for investment and a culture of equity investment.
DaCunha also talks about how corruption and distrust of businesses are hindering the development of capital markets, while providing insight on what needs to take place to counteract corruption.
Majdi Hassen, Executive Director of Tunisian think tank Institut arabe des chefs d’entreprises (IACE) talks with CIPE’s Anna Kompanek about the economic reform initiatives his organization is undertaking in Tunisia. IACE is an independent, non-profit think tank based in Tunis. Since Tunisia’s revolution, Hassen has overseen IACE’s growth into a “think-and-do” tank that plays a vital role in convening diverse political and civic actors to discuss urgent economic problems.
Hassen has developed a series of IACE programs designed to bring leadership skills and civic awareness to young entrepreneurs, policymakers, and stakeholders in Tunisia. He has also been instrumental in organizing IACE’s Enterprise Days, Tunisia’s biggest economic forum, which gathers over 1000 national and international policymakers, business leaders, and experts to discuss critical private sector issues.
Kompanek and Hassen discuss a major public-private dialogue effort – the National Business Agenda – that has brought together voices in the business community to provide the government with constructive recommendations for economic reform. They also discuss a hotline that has been set up in Tunisia to help local businesses deal with red tape and bureaucratic hurdles.
Randa Al-Zoghbi, CIPE’s Program Director in Egypt, discussed the release of their new app, Tamweely.
The app is designed to connect financiers to small businesses and entrepreneurs in Egypt seeking start-up funding, as well as to provide business education tools and information about the institutional and legal environment for entrepreneurs and startups. Al-Zoghbi also discusses the economic situation in Egypt and the many challenges facing the business community there, and where she sees the app going in the future.
Two CIPE-supported entrepreneurship club graduates in Uganda discuss how the skills they learned through the club have helped them to be successful. The conversation covers how the guests took what they learned in the club to start their own businesses and tackle the challenges they have faced along the way. Muwanguzi talks about how his work as a youth advocate helps Ugandan youth to develop the skills to be successful in life and business. Magoola describes how he established his real estate marketing agency. They also discuss the high number of informal businesses in Uganda and the role of entrepreneurship training in helping aspiring entrepreneurs learn how to establish sustainable businesses in the formal economy.