CEO’s FORUM: Lessons from Far East

The CEOs Forum for SADC DFIs was held in the picturesque tourist town of Kasane in Northern Botswana, on the border with Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe. 

The Forum focused on the theme ‘Development Finance – Lessons from Asia in which speakers elucidated the role that Development Finance Institutions had played in the development processes of some of the Asian countries, the experiences of networking amongst Asian DFIs and the support extended to the Asian DFIs by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The workshop was opened on behalf of the Botswana DFIs by Mr Reginald Motswaiso, the Chief Executive Officer of the Botswana Housing Corporation, who urged assembled CEOs to draw lessons from the experiences of successful industrial economies like Japan, which had used its development finance policy and institutions to catalyse its development processes.

Mr Stuart Kufeni, the CEO of the DFRC presented the first in which he outlined his experiences of a study tour that JICA had sponsored to Japan and The Philippines. He recognised the role of PPPs and capital markets, and the high level of participation of banks and the private sector, in infrastructure development, and the significance of a good policy and regulatory environment. He also pointed out that networking amongst the DFIs was vital in promoting regional cooperation, and advocacy of best practices amongst the DFIs. He urged greater engagement with the Association of Development Finance Institutions in Asia and the Pacific to promote information sharing and building capacity.

The Secretary General of ADFIAP, Mr Octavio Peralta, made a presentation in which he outlined the role of AFIAP as a capacity builder, resource provider, advocate and innovator to the DFIs in the region. He also reported that over the years the ADFIAP had diversified its income streams through training, consultancy, grants and subscription to ensure sustainability.

The Economic and industrial experiences of Japan, especially