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M SUL O C E R F O
M U I D
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As a great supporter of Britain’s international development effort it gives me considerable pleasure to write a brief foreword to this impressive compendium of results achieved by just one organisation, Adam Smith International, one of the leading British firms in the field. This document shows how British technical assistance is contributing to positive change in some of the world’s most challenging environments. It is reducing aid dependency and encouraging self-sufficiency and prosperity; enabling developing countries to generate their own revenue, strive for better governance and transparency, provide decent education and ensure resilience against climate change.
Sir Malcolm Bruce MP Chair, International Development Committee
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Adam Smith International is an employeeowned British company headquartered in London, which specialises in the delivery of transformative change in challenging environments. We believe our focus on results and accountability for delivery is central to the success of our work. We are proud to highlight a selection of the results we helped deliver over the last year. This selection is by no means exhaustive but gives a good flavour of the considerable achievements of our various programmes. Working in locations that are often very challenging, our teams have been able to achieve very substantial impact. The results highlighted underline the ability of high quality technical assistance to achieve transformational change. While clearly not all interventions can be measured in monetary terms, those that can usually show extremely high return on investment (ROI), particularly when set against more static interventions. For example, in Nigeria we revolutionised the Federal Government’s management of
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its capital budget, saving £1.26 billion; money that can improve security and grow public services. We also delivered significant reform in the power sector, increasing the supply of electricity and saving consumers £1.1 billion. Not including the other achievements of the programme, adding the two figures shows an ROI of 167. We are particularly proud of our work in Nepal which has opened up the country’s huge hydropower resources after decades of foregone opportunity. This breakthrough – in a country notoriously resistant to change and reform – will bring in at least £11 billion of revenues. This income will make a big difference to Nepal’s ability to finance public services and represents a direct ROI of around 1000, a figure that discounts many other tangible benefits such as construction jobs, increased investment and economic growth that will result from the ending of Nepal’s own power shortages.
Other achievements are more difficult to quantify in terms of ROI, but are nevertheless still very important. For example, the success in expanding education access in the troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of northwest Pakistan is hugely important in giving children a future and also in addressing long-term underlying causes of insecurity and militancy. A 99% increase in the Government educational expenditure and a 26% increase in the number of children attending state schools have been achieved.
gaining very considerable earnings from recently discovered mineral resources. Our work in taking forward effective legislation to govern the sector will both enable the necessary investment to be attracted and protect the rights of local communities. Similarly our creation of a digital platform to record mining licences and exploration rights will increase transparency and inhibit corruption. With these structures in place, the likelihood that Kenyan citizens will benefit from their country’s mineral riches has been greatly increased.
In Somalia, we were the first to provide technical assistance in Kismayo; a previous al Shabaab stronghold. The regional government now has internationally certified financial systems allowing it to manage public resources: a first step in gaining public confidence critical for stability.
Compared to straightforward resource transfers where a pound of development assistance buys just a pound of services in developing countries, transformational technical assistance can achieve an impact many, many times its cost, helping to bring countries out of aid dependency and on a path to sustainable self-sufficiency and prosperity. The results we cite demonstrate the value of effective technical assistance in achieving such sustainable, transformative change.
In some cases the results involve putting in place the building blocks that will lead to much greater prosperity in the future. For example, Kenya has the prospect of
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ÂŁ11bn
revenue secured for the Government of Nepal
ÂŁ71.8m
additional income generated for 1.5 million low income farmers, homeowners and businesses in Nepal & Nigeria 6
660,123
children benefiting from access to and/or improved education in Kenya & Pakistan
1,364,927
Syrians benefiting from community-led public services
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ÂŁ11.3bn revenue secured; enough to educate 4.4m schoolchildren & upgrade 10,000km of rural roads each year
20,000 construction jobs secured
Ending of Nepal’s electricity shortage
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Nepal, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been unable to develop its comparative advantage in hydropower. Of its 80,000 megawatt (MW) hydropower potential, only 700 MW is in operation; electricity supplies are inadequate, unreliable and expensive. Power consumption is the lowest per capita in South Asia.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
Transforming Nepal’s economic prospects
Our UK Department for International Development (DFID) financed work has transformed Nepal’s economic prospects. It has already secured Nepal’s largest ever foreign investments: a £950 million private public partnership concession to develop the 900MW Upper Karnali hydropower project and the £740 million Arun 3 project. It is also on track to deliver a further two hydropower projects, which will together deliver £11.3 billion to Nepal, as well as boosting economic growth by ending Nepal’s electricity shortage and creating 20,000 construction jobs.
www.cignepal.org.np
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Despite the country’s vast wealth, over 100 million Nigerians live below the poverty line. Funded by DFID, we are enabling businesses to grow, whilst increasing revenue and reducing corruption.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
Land, investment & tax reform in Nigeria
We are protecting the rights of small and medium business and land owners. We have introduced easier and faster tax payment systems in 40 local governments and reduced the number of rates and levies; in Kano, levies have reduced from over 200 to less than 20. Another important success is decreasing the amount of time required to register a business from three months to three days, benefiting over 22,000 enterprises.
www.gemsnigeria.com
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Annual saving to consumers of ÂŁ1.1bn due to expansion of electricity supply
Government saving of ÂŁ1.2bn because of better management of capital budget
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Weak infrastructure is a major obstacle to growth in Nigeria. Funded by DFID, we have had great success in helping Nigeria improve its infrastructure across sectors ranging from power to urban environment.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
Improving infrastructure in Nigeria
Our work has revolutionised the Federal Government’s management of its capital budget, introducing project screening and selection tools which saved £1.2 billion last year alone; helped expand city bus services enabling them to carry 184,000 additional passengers per day; improved solid waste services for 184,000 people in northern Nigeria, and provided cleaner cooking energy for 63,000 people, 31,000 of whom are women and girls. Our support to the power sector has increased the electricity supply by 150% – saving Nigerians £1.1 billion – and created a framework that is now attracting major private investment that will expand generation capacity tenfold.
www.niafng.org
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Reduced export tax by ÂŁ333 per coffee container to boost trade & exports
Assisted small & medium scale cocoa exporters to secure credit allowing them to collect cocoa from 1,000 more farmers
Created nine savings groups for 60 traders and river transporters allowing them to expand their businesses
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The Democratic Republic of Congo has experienced a recent economic resurgence, but many will not benefit from economic growth: 87% live below the poverty line. Poor communities are normally excluded from markets, with limited access to the finance, quality equipment and the know-how essential for a profitable business. To address this challenge, we are delivering lasting improvements in market systems where low income communities can participate as consumers, entrepreneurs, farmers and workers. The programme improves market linkages, increases access to finance, promotes investment in good agricultural practices and enables a better business environment for low income communities.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
Establishing inclusive markets in DRC
www.elanrdc.com/elan2
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Our market development programme in Nepal aims to reduce poverty by increasing the incomes of farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs. The programme is improving the economic performance of rural sectors, which will lead to better market access and improved growth for poor and disadvantaged people by stimulating sustainable and inclusive change.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
Strengthening agricultural markets in Nepal
The programme works to identify and develop marketdriven solutions across rural agricultural sectors such as ginger, vegetables, dairy, fish and pig farming. It also strengthens markets that are important to rural development, such as mechanisation, media, input supplies and tourism.
www.samarth-nepal.com
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56,000 low income sunflower seed farmers able to buy improved seed & grow higher performing crops
14,000 low income farmers sold cotton seeds at higher prices in 2014
20,000 low income soybean farmers able to access inoculant to improve productivity
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In Malawi, cotton is the fourth largest agricultural export. Recognising the potential of its agricultural sector to reduce poverty, we are improving market systems leading to opportunities for better access and improved growth for poor and disadvantaged people.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
Increasing incomes in Malawi
Funded by DFID, we are working to increase the incomes of farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs in cotton, soybean, sunflower and groundnut production. We do this by working with the private sector to open up markets to low income farmers and improve knowledge of better farming practices.
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Š Anna-Paula Jonsson
n e r ild m s h c fro od 0 0 ing eth 0 , 15 efit ing m 1 er ben ach v O are d te e v o r p im
EDUCATION
Improving education in Kenya Whilst educational access and learning levels in Kenya are above average for Africa, there are still pockets, particularly in very rural areas, where children have very little access to education. We seek to address this gap. We are managing an ambitious and innovative DFID funded programme that is developing evidence- based and scalable solutions to improve education access and quality. It focuses on the arid and semi- arid lands of Kenya, including informal settlements in major urban areas. We are building classrooms and installing solar lighting, mobilising communities to improve school management and introducing girls’ summer camps, benefiting over 110,000 children. An additional 27,000 children living in informal settlements have also received funding to attend private schools.
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Over 28,000 government schools monitored every month, resulting in a 26% increase in student presence
406,712 girls receiving stipends to go to school
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Š Nadeem Khan
99% increase in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s education budget since project inception
EDUCATION
Reforming education in Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is one of Pakistan’s most important provinces: it borders with Afghanistan making it crucial for peace and stability. Yet, 70% of women and girls under 39 years are illiterate. We are providing technical assistance to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government to improve access to quality education. This involves strengthening public financial management and procurement systems, collecting regular, accurate data to effectively monitor and improve school performance, enhancing the institutional and human resource capacity of various departments and supporting teachers to improve classroom instruction and student learning. As a result, participation in education, particularly amongst girls has improved and an extra 6,000 teachers are now present in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa schools.
www.khyberpakhtunkhwa.gov.pk
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GOVERNANCE
Responsible mining in Afghanistan Afghanistan is sitting on mineral resources worth an estimated £600 billion. It also boasts one of the world’s largest unexplored copper and iron reserves. Tapping into Afghanistan’s vast extractives potential is a huge opportunity for economic self-sufficiency and employment generation, but legislation governing the minerals sector deterred investment. We supported the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum to draft a new minerals law, enacted in August 2014. The new legislation will encourage business and, most importantly, support the responsible development of the sector whilst managing environmental and social risks. It will see a shift towards improved sector governance and greater investor confidence.
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Supported a new Mining Bill, which was passed by the Kenyan National Assembly in 2014
Launched the first fully-digital, geographical survey which records mining licences & exploration rights in Kenya
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GOVERNANCE
Improving transparency in Kenya Kenya’s economy has historically been dependent on low-value exports, but the country has an abundance of largely untapped natural resources. Funded by DFID, we are supporting Kenya to realise its potential. Acting as the Ministry of Mining’s lead advisor, we supported the drafting of a new Mining Bill which was passed by the Kenyan National Assembly in 2014. The Mining Act will increase foreign investment in Kenya’s extractives sector, whilst protecting the rights of local communities. In 2015, we also supported the launch of a digital platform to increase transparency and reduce corruption in Kenya’s mining sector. The cadastre – a fully-digital, detailed geographical survey which accurately records mining licences and exploration rights – is one of the first of its kind in the world where investors can apply and pay for licences in just a few minutes, from anywhere in the world.
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GOVERNANCE
Reforming tax in Afghanistan
Funded by DFID, we are assisting the Afghanistan Revenue Department to become a modern and efficient revenue collection agency at the central and provincial level. We have supported a 50% increase in revenue collection across key provinces in the last three years, building on already huge revenue gains at the central level.
We are helping Afghanistan to increase domestic revenue collection within a changing economic context, supporting the new government to increase effectiveness of public services.
In just one year, over 12,000 additional taxpayers have also been registered as a result of formalised tax obligations for smaller taxpayers and the use of a geographic information system to map data. We are also improving tax policy and broadening the tax base through the introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) designed to increase revenues whilst minimising the impact on poorer households.
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GOVERNANCE
Uniting communities in Syria 200,000 people have died in Syria’s brutal civil conflict. Infrastructure collapsed, basic services disappeared and nine million people fled. Since November 2013, funded by the UK Conflict Pool and the European Union, we have been working across 18 communities to help emerging local governance structures deliver basic services such as health and education. The programme strips governance down to its most basic principle: rule-based resource allocation. It engages diverse civil society groups to work together for a common goal: improving public services. Each group becomes a ‘committee’ and is trained on budget prioritisation, project design and implementation, then allocated a block grant. Public service projects worth over £930,000 are already being implemented by committees. The cost of water in Darret Ezze has already been reduced for nearly half of its population. But we are not just delivering projects; we are stimulating the demand for good governance.
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Implemented the first public financial management system in Kismayo. Monthly revenue increased £34,000 in three months
Financed and supported the process that led to the formation of the Interim South West Administration – the newest interim state in Somalia
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© AU/UN IST
Supporting community led peacebuilding efforts; 222 local conflicts have been resolved
GOVERNANCE
Promoting stabilisation in Somalia Over the last 21 years, anarchy and chaos have defined Somalia. In 2012, Somalia’s first formal parliament was sworn in, offering hope for many Somalis. In the same year, the Somalia Stability Fund was conceived. The Stability Fund is a multi-donor fund to which the UK, European Union, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and the United Arab Emirates all contribute. We manage the Stability Fund to ensure money invested makes a meaningful contribution to improved local governance and conflict mitigation. We are supporting six regions in South-Central Somalia to form part of a Federal State and have trained 231 ‘Caretaker Administration’ officials who have been deployed to bring formal governance to areas recently recovered from al Shabaab.
www.stabilityfund.so
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Š Daniel van Moll
of 0% w 2 l o nd n a n on a o i e i t f t i d ula a sa ly d a op to p p n u A e p ss s r th acce wate e ble v a h relia
Much of Sierra Leone’s infrastructure and institutional capacity were destroyed during the civil war. Now the Ebola outbreak is having a devastating impact on recovery. Funded by DFID, we are providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation. We led the development of new water legislation to ensure environmental compliance, equitable distribution of resources and improved water access. An additional 20% of the population now have access to a safe and reliable water supply. Another success is a 125% increase in state water company revenue, reinvested into new wells, pipelines and boreholes.
WATER & SANITATION
Improving water services in Sierra Leone
We quickly adapted our support to respond to the Ebola outbreak by training over 1,900 government nurses and coordinating burial teams; as a result no government burial worker has contracted Ebola. We also facilitated the first ever mapping of 30,000 water sources, which has been critical in the Ebola response.
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Initiated works to ensure a stable water supply to 350,000 people
in the Makonde plateau, Tanzania.
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Š Laura Rizzotto
30 water management projects are benefiting from climate change assessment tools to ensure resilience against natural disasters
ENVIRONMENT
Climate resilience in southern Africa Over 90 million people share water from just 13 river basins in southern Africa. Over the last 15 years, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) developed plans to address regional water security challenges. However, progress stalled due to management and technical challenges. A ‘Climate Resilient Infrastructure Development Facility’ was created to catalyse action. By delivering infrastructure against SADC’s plans, we are demonstrating that action for Africa’s poorest is possible. We are improving water security and climate resilience for two million people, whilst demonstrating the value of cooperation on shared water resources.
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Adam Smith International is an award-winning professional services business that delivers real impact, value and lasting change through projects supporting economic growth and government reform internationally. Our reputation as a global leader has been built on the positive results that our projects have achieved in many of the world’s most challenging environments. For more than 20 years, we have worked with ministers, government officials and citizens to tackle some of the world’s most difficult challenges in the fields of economic growth, poverty alleviation, stabilisation and institutional strengthening. We have a track record of deploying rapidly and at scale to conflict affected countries. We are the preeminent global adviser to governments on extractive industries governance, amongst the largest UK providers of education advisory services in the developing world and have a diverse portfolio of security sector, justice reform infrastructure and climate change projects. We are also the number one UK provider of technical assistance on revenue administration and private sector development.
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We have teams responsible for African, Asian, Pacific and Middle Eastern geographies with offices throughout the world and are currently working in over 30 countries. Our experience and results have led us to become a trusted leader in bringing together the best minds to address some of the world’s most challenging issues. Our management has vast experience in delivering and managing a comprehensive range of sustainable and high impact programmes in some of the most complex environments. Our senior management includes: William Morrison – Managing Director Peter Young – Director of Strategy Layth Bunni – Chief Operating Officer Amitabh Shrivastava – Director of Economic Growth Andrew Kuhn – Director of Government Reform Jonathan Pell – Director, Asia Pacific
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