South Africa—Maruleng and Bushbuckridge Economic Development Initiative (MABEDI)

This project in South Africa worked to reduce poverty through increased local investment and strong business partnerships between commercial investors and communities that historically had been excluded from the mainstream local economy. In 2001, the South African government identified 13 rural poverty “nodes,” areas where it wants to stimulate economic growth and employment opportunity. The district municipalities of Maruleng (Limpopo province) and Bushbuckridge (Mpumalanga province) are relatively densely populated areas where poverty coexists with great economic and tourism potential. They are both included in the government’s nodes.

Sample Activities

• Facilitate partnerships between communities and commercial enterprises around commercial land assets, and strengthen the institutional and organizational arrangements that underpin them.
• Facilitate business linkages between commercial enterprises in the main growth sectors and emerging businesses historically excluded from such opportunities.
• Help to overcome the weak capacity for planning, integration and management within and between different government bodies at provincial, district and local levels.

Select Results

• Established 16 partnerships to develop land.
• Secured $216 million in investment with the potential to benefit 3,300 families.
• Linked 176 small-scale farmers to markets and supported improvements to productivity.
• Created 5,000 employment opportunities.
• Produced three document sets that capture the Community Private Partnerships (CPP) principles.