Mercy Corps Liberia, under its project title, “Promoting Sustainable Partnerships for Economic Transformation” (PROSPECTS), has hosted a one-day Private Sector-Led Partnership Driven Localization event in Monrovia.
The event brought together key private, public, and development sector stakeholders to explore innovative partnerships that strengthen local market systems and create sustainable economic opportunities in Liberia.
The organizers (Mercy Corps) Allowed invitees who were mostly private-sector actors and development partners to share expertise, experience, and insights on leveraging private-sector partnerships for sustainable local development. The one-day interactive event is part of the “PROSPECTS IV” strategy that focuses on private sector engagement and localized development.
The PROSPECTS IV program aims to directly benefit 16,400 young people through improved employment opportunities and private-sector partnerships that drive local economic growth.
Funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), PROSPECTS IV is a 45-month program designed to address market constraints and create sustainable solutions that have impacts on the local economy, youth, and the underprivileged population.
The program also applies the Market System Development (MSD) approach to facilitate systemic change. The program was built on previous Government of Sweden investments through PROSPECTS I – III but it has moved away from a direct delivery model to place systems change at the hearts of the programme.
The guiding approach being used to implement is through the application of Mercy Corps’ global approach called Market Systems Development for Employment (MSD4E), which has rollout systems change approaches to youth employment programming and is in full alignment with traditional MSD principles.
Understanding the structural and systemic challenges that young people face in securing employment and addressing some of those challenges are the core of the programme’s success.
PROSPECTS IV is being implemented in defined urban and peri-urban areas – Montserrado, Nimba, Grand Bassa, Bong, Margibi, and Bomi Counties.
Counting in year three of the program, PROSPECTS IV has worked with key market actors within diverse sectors to achieve the program’s target result. Some key partners are Jungle Water Group of Investments, SHED Farm, Dukuly Farm, Smart Liberia, iCampus, Kawadah Farm, A-Z Corporations, and others.
The program works with these private sector actors to do things differently and change how a supporting function or rule works to have a positive and sustained impact on the flow of localized trading systems.
Through learning and market analysis the programming understands jobs require a careful understanding of how labor markets work. The programme does not just help unemployed people get jobs but improves the quality of existing underemployed microentrepreneurs and wage employees.
In remarks made at the event, Rabi Sani, Country Director of Mercy Corps Liberia said, the Organization is focused on other areas aside from training. “We do not just focus on training – if there are too few jobs, we work on building labor demand.”
Another key element is Seeking high-potential employment pathways: Rather than working across all pathways, the program focuses on those with big impact potential. Sometimes sectors, in other places scale comes from looking across sectors – often it is a combination.
For his part, Mr. Kerstin Jonsson Cisse, Swedish Embassy Representative at the event highlighted the importance of private-sector partnership and the value SIDA attaches to the private sector in its development agenda.
He also disclosed plans by the Swedish Embassy to input from stakeholders on the development of SIDA’s new development strategy that is to kick off in 2025.
