Every day, businesses around the world help to deliver sustainable development. Through companies’ trade and investment, job creation, and innovation, societies benefit from stronger economic growth and higher living standards. There is enormous potential to facilitate and scale-up this positive impact in the post-2015 development agenda.

However, the challenge facing many developing markets is that the risks facing businesses often outweigh the expected returns.

For instance, while the increased demand generated by growing markets provides many opportunities for businesses, the sheer rapidity of developing countries’ population growth calls for creating tens of millions of jobs every year. Consider for example that Nigeria is expected to become the world’s third most populous country by 2050, overtaking the United States. If jobs cannot be created quickly enough, countries run the risk of chronic youth unemployment and informality.

Other challenges facing businesses include political instability, policy uncertainty, corruption, and burdensome regulation, among others. Some companies can navigate these risks, but many – especially small private enterprises – cannot.

Making progress on all of these fronts will be essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and will require significant policy reform to improve the business climate and support investor confidence. In doing so, the international development community should ensure that developing countries can make use of international instruments, tools, and good practices, when implementing macroeconomic and structural policies for growth and development. The Policy Framework for Investment (PFI) is a case-and-point of an instrument that should be promoted internationally. Platforms such as the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) should strengthen focus on sharing knowledge and building public-private dialogue to improve the enabling environment at the country level for businesses to invest and support growth.

In summary, business has an essential role to play in the post-2015 agenda, but political leadership is central to shaping the environment in which businesses can operate. Cooperation between different actors and at all levels – national, regional and global – is therefore needed to mitigate risks and unleash the full business potential in developing markets.



Thomas de Man is Chair of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC)