Economic Development

Our Economic Development practice works with clients to expand economic opportunities for all and bring sustainable, scalable solutions to the poor. Drawing on resources from across our global offices, we bring a range of functional and industry expertise to bear—from finance and agribusiness to strategy, operations and organization.

In the past five years, we have worked with clients from the public, private, and social sectors on nearly 450 engagements in more than 70 countries on five continents.

We help clients address a range of complex challenges:

Economic Development Strategy
We help clients develop sustainable economic growth strategies that enable critical sectors to catalyze and accelerate GDP growth, trade, investments, and employment. We support comprehensive, countrywide strategies to improve productivity, assist in the creation and expansion of sectors, and generate urban and rural economic renewal. We have deep experience working in low and middle-income countries, across a range of economic-development challenges and sectors with the goal of sustained economic growth and protection of natural resources.

Rural Development and Infrastructure
We help clients design rural-development programs that improve agricultural productivity, access to markets, provision of infrastructure, and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.  We leverage our expertise in agri-business, infrastructure, supply chain management, and large-scale transformation to create sustainable business and operating models that attract private, public, and social investment for sustainable economic development.
 
Opportunity Creation and Financial Inclusion 
We work with clients to develop and implement strategies to increase the expected incomes of poor and underprivileged people, making them more upwardly mobile. We help to design strategies and alternative service models that promote access to a complete suite of financial products, make household incomes less volatile, strengthen individuals’ capacities and workforce skills, and promote small and medium enterprise (SME) growth.

Disaster Relief and Reconstruction
We help clients design rapid-response programs that strategically deploy and allocate resources in the aftermath of complex emergencies. We have experience working with clients to support both postconflict and postdisaster development plans, including strategic coordination of agencies operating in the field, rapid job creation to support security and humanitarian operations, and the establishment of funding mechanisms to manage the procurement and disbursement of aid.

Read our knowledge highlights.