New study

Assessment of the Key Bottlenecks for Private Sector Investments in the Northern Province

This publication ‘Assessment of the Key Bottlenecks for Private Sector Investments in the Northern Province’ is the result of the assessment carried out under the Local Empowerment through Economic Development and Reconciliation" - LEED+ project of the globally flagged Jobs for Peace and Resilience (JPR) programme. The study was commissioned by the ILO in order to identify key barriers for private sector investments to the Northern Province, with the plan of advocating for addressing these barriers for bringing in more investments to the area and generate decent jobs in both formal and informal sectors.

This study was commissioned under the LEED plus project of the ILO in order to assess key bottlenecks for private sector investments in the Northern Province in the agriculture and fisheries sectors, through the lens of the six value chains which the project supports. Accordingly, EY identified and consulted key stakeholders representing both the demand and supply sides of the value chains. They provided key insights into the prevailing challenges and obstacles in the Northern Province, facilitating the researchers in forming their views.

According to the findings, the main bottleneck to private sector investment in the Northern Province was the difficulty of obtaining suitable land to commence business operations. This was common across both agriculture and fisheries sectors and was due to multiple reasons including competing claims of ownership over land, secondary occupation of land, scarcity of suitable land, complicated approval processes in acquiring land and the undue influence exerted by local politicians and community leaders when obtaining land.