ENHANCING IPAS WEBSITES AND MARKETING TOOLS ACCORDING TO GIPB REPORTS INTERVENTIONS IN SWAZILAND, SUDAN, ETHIOPIA AND KENYA

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1 ENHANCING IPAS WEBSITES AND MARKETING TOOLS ACCORDING TO GIPB REPORTS INTERVENTIONS IN SWAZILAND, SUDAN, ETHIOPIA AND KENYA Funded by the European Union.

2 The views expressed here can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union nor that of the ACP Secretariat.

3 02 Mrs Phumelele Dlamini - SIPA CEO IMPROVING BUSINESS ENABLING ENVIRONMENT Content management systems (CMS)-driven websites and Investor Tracking systems (ITS) have been designed and developed for Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) in four COMESA Member States: Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Swaziland. The main objective sought by the development and implementation of these new tools is to help the IPAs meet their investment attraction objectives and enable their countries to convey the presence of an improved business enabling environment manifesting itself in the form of a more transparent process for foreign investors to establish their businesses. >> Swaziland - SIPA CEO opening

4 03 Kenya - KIA website launch In 2009, COMESA RIA in cooperation with the Investment Climate Department of the World Bank Group, developed the Global Investment Promotion Benchmarking (GIPB): Eyes on COMESA report, which assessed COMESA Investment Promotion Agencies websites and their ability to manage and respond to investment inquiries. The COMESA Regional Investment Agency, following a request from some COMESA member state IPAs, called upon the ACP Business Climate Facility, (BizClim) to support the comprehensive development of websites and investor tracking systems (ITSs) along the lines of GIPB best practices, with the general objective of increasing FDI flows into these countries. This specific project is a continuation of this effort which has already benefitted 11 COMESA member countries to date. regional workshop held on the first week of November in Cairo, Egypt, that brought all beneficiary IPAs together in order to share experiences, disseminate results, and complement the national workshops with the goal of maximizing the successful implementation and sustainability of the project s deliverables. Sudan - NIA website launch 1) Meshack Wasiar - Investment Promotion Officer 2) Lucy Ojwang - Administrative Assistant 3) Ruphina Sakwa - Librarian 4) Susan Njoba - Manager, Business Development Investment promotion and IT experts have worked alongside the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), Kenya s KenInvest, Sudan s National Investment Authority (SNIA) and the Swaziland Investment Promotion Agency (SIPA) for several months, delivering technical capacity building, national workshops and in-house support towards the completion and implementation of the new marketing tools. Four separate national workshops held in Swaziland, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya in September and October 2014 led the way to reaffirm the importance of using, managing, maintaining and ensuring the sustainability of investment promotion agencies most indispensable tools to market their locations successfully: a website and an investor tracking system. The project culminated in a The project has delivered three new websites which have scored within best practice according to the GIPB methodology after reassessments upon project completion; a detailed road map for the redesign of KenInvest s website; and four investor tracking systems. The ITS, based on the vtiger on-line platform, provides many of the functions the World Bank Group recommends Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs). The tailoring of the database is well fit for IPAs said Armando Heilbron, Senior Private Sector Development Specialist of the World Bank Group s Trade and Competitiveness practice. In a recent mission to assist the Ethiopian government in improving among others, the investment facilitation services delivered by the different Ethiopian investment promotion agencies, Mr Heilbron added that during last week s mission, we found out that neither EIDZC nor EIC have any means of recording the many investors that they support. We recommended EIC directors to start using the developed vtiger ITS and have their staff upload all contacts into this platform. We would also like to have EIDZC and MoFA use it as well, so that all work on investor cases in a much more coordinated fashion. Thanks for this great work and for sharing the link. 1) William Tracy Mut - Team Leader, Senior Expert in investment promotion 2) Ambassador Ahmed Mahgoub Shawir - Secretary General of NIA 3) Mohammed Elmahi Elhadi - Director of Information and Studies Department NIA

5 04 THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTENT DRIVEN WEBSITES AND INVESTOR TRACKING SYSTEMS VTIGER CRM In order to successfully compete for foreign direct investment (FDI), countries and their investment promotion agencies (IPAs) need to do two basic things effectively: the first is to create a presence in the worldwide web which is easily accessible and responsive; and the second, provide good facilitation through the data provided on the websites and through receptive investor inquiry handling. These are the two key dimensions measured by the World Bank Group s Global Investment Promotion Best Practices (GIPB) which set the standards for efficient basic investment promotion and facilitation. Through good investor facilitation, IPAs can provide greater transparency of their location s business environment and therefore increase their country s potential to attract increased levels of FDI To ensure the success of these tools, investment promotion agency (IPA) staff and relevant stakeholders must work hand in hand through inter-institutional collaboration to maximize the benefits of the national investment promotion effort. Instituting systems to ensure the maintenance of the websites, the regular use of the investor tracking systems, and the management of the investor inquiry handling remain at the center of the IPA s priorities. inquiries and generate an ever increasing pipeline of quality investor leads. In this way, it is also critical that IPAs ensure that the tools are used regularly and updated so that investors can reap the benefits of working with a reliable partner who can provide the required assistance and add transparency to the business environment of the country. The attractiveness of a location is very dependent on image and the perception that is generated by this image. In this sense, it is important to understand that having the right marketing tools in place along with the adequate procedures and systems to maintain them is essentially what distinguishes one IPA from another; and consequently, the image provided by one location over another. The development of such tools has been at the heart of COMESA Regional Investment Agency s (RIA) efforts and objectives to assist its member IPAs to maximize the benefits of their promotional activities and foster increased inflows of foreign direct investment into the region. IPA websites are more than shop windows for investors during the early scoping phase of the site selection process; they are also the business card of the agency and a window to the country. Without concise, easy to find updated quality data, an IPA is sending a negative message and image of itself. Focusing on the development of a strong website and the successful implementation of marketing tools such an investor tracking system (ITS), IPAs can respond effectively and efficiently to investor VTIGER CRM for IPI

6 05 KENYA S KENINVEST KenInvest s website was reassessed using the GIPB methodology and found to be four score points shy of best practice. The project therefore focused on providing a roadmap on how to redesign its already very good website and focus its main efforts on delivering a strong investor tracking system. KenInvest has a clear understanding of the importance of its website as an essential tool to promote and attract investment. As such, this is reflected in content which is up to date, offers investors quality data and presents the country s various investment opportunities clearly. The national workshop focused on two areas of improvement: 1. the need for better organization of the data and; 2. improving the promotional effectiveness of the sectors of opportunity showcased. KenInvest staff participants took part in a series of exercises that allowed them to successfully identify data gaps and the importance of setting forth a convincing value proposition. As a KenInvest staff member put it: Indeed it s a pat on the back for all who attended, you could tell the potential in investor facilitation and promotion even for those who have not been doing it; they just need some capacity building. KenInvest s excellent IT staff worked tirelessly with the project implementation team to customize an open source CRM called VTiger, creating a simple but effective tool to track investor relationships. This became the inspiration for the model ITS which would be delivered to the rest of the beneficiary IPAs of the project. KenInvest began in-house training for its staff immediately after the national workshop with proper management buy-in resulting in what has now become an essential tool within the agency. KenInvest s Managing Director, Dr. Moses Ikiara said that I am pleased that we have made so much progress. As far as KenInvest is concerned, you don t have to worry about management buy-in; Sudan; it is already there. So long as the product NIA website launch adds value; we will be promoting it aggressively.

7 06 SUDAN S NATIONAL INVESTMENT AUTHORITY The Sudan National Investment Authority (SNIA) In fact, Mr. Motaz Musa, officer in the External was eager to participate in the project as it has Relations Department of the SNIA said: been setting the foundations for the new agency over the last year. The SNIA had inherited a webpage from the Ministry of Investment which was created in 2006 and was never again updated. The content of the website was very much focused on providing investors with a detailed list of establishment procedures and lacked any This is nothing like we have done before; this was hard but I now understand that investors must see the value to investing in Sudan. relevant data for investors considering Sudan as an investment destination. The development and presentation of the ITS posed initially a challenge as the SNIA staff had The project provided an excellent opportunity never been exposed to the need of a formal for the staff of the SNIA to get better acquainted tracking tool to record their interactions with with their promotional function. The collaborative investors given their prior more regulatory approach guiding the development of the functions of guiding investors with their new website and the ITS became an important establishment procedures and requests for exercise for SNIA staff to understand among investment incentives. Nevertheless, Mrs. Hanan others what kind of resources need to be in place Mosnad, Director of External Relations for the to maintain the systems being developed. The SNIA said: this (system) will allow us to better capacity building component of the project was understand our investors needs from the very particularly effective in bringing forth new ideas start, from the inquiry stage. and a new way of approaching the importance of the website as a key promotional tool rather As a result of this project, the Secretary General than just a source to orient investors as to their of the SNIA, Mr. Ahmed Shawer declared that: procedural obligations when investing in Sudan. the Sudan;new website and ITS will no doubt help us NIAattract website launch to more investment. We are very grateful to COMESA RIA and BizClim for this project and the new marketing tools.

8 07 SWAZILAND INVESTMENT PROMOTION AUTHORITY (SIPA) Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority The mandate of the Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority (SIPA) was recently expanded to include trade promotion in addition to its already mandated role of investment promotion. The added responsibilities represent an important challenge to SIPA who has been working hard to become more successful in delivering both functions more effectively. In this sense, the development of a new website and of an investor tracking system (ITS) to manage relationships with investors more efficiently have been, therefore, very timely. SIPA staff has been very proactive in the development of the website. The strong collaborative approach of the project in developing the content for the website in particular has allowed the staff to focus its efforts in producing convincing value propositions supported with adequate data to have Swaziland figure more prominently in the agenda of investors during the long listing phase of the site selection process. In this sense, the capacity building component of the project has been essential in assisting SIPA staff to maximize the results of their efforts in the development of the website. The technical support from the Bizclim through COMESA-RIA for the development of our website has been a remarkable exercise. Evidently, the capacity building initiative through hosting a national workshop imparted the necessary skills to my team to ensure that we remain with cutting edge information regarding online investment promotion, commented Mrs. Phumelele Dlamini, CEO of SIPA. The project also allowed for SIPA to explore ways on how to best improve their handling of investor inquiries. The investor tracking system was without a doubt a tool greatly valued by the Authority as the ITS will provide SIPA with greater resourcefulness in offering improved investor facilitation services. Of paramount importance was the versatility of the workshop in equipping our team to handle inquiries in an effective manner and subsequent provision of service to investors. The Investor Tracking System will be an excellent tool to provide a customer centric- Sudan; NIA website launch service to our investors, Mrs. Dlamini added.

9 08 ETHIOPIAN INVESTMENT COMMISSION The Government of Ethiopia recently restructured the Ethiopian Investment Agency into the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), bestowing it with expanded powers and direct report to Ethiopia s Prime Minister. With BizClim s support and additional assistance from Ethiopia s Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), EIC was committed to developing one of the strongest websites of the Sub-Saharan Africa region. EIC staff worked closely with the project expert team to build the website content and develop clearly the most important sectors of opportunity in Ethiopia. The staff came to understand the importance of how to best structure the different investment opportunities and how already established investors testimonials provide the most alluring promotional arguments to potential investors. The national workshop was an excellent opportunity to review the site selection process from the investor s perspective and gain a better grasp of developing internal processes, procedures and tools such as ITS to deliver investor facilitation services more effectively. In fact, the ITS developed by the project has been reviewed by the World Bank Group s Trade & Competitiveness practice and has advised the EIC and other stakeholders to implement the use of the system in views of commencing the World Bank s new project assisting Ethiopia in increasing FDI flows into the country. EIC s commitment to the successful implementation of this project was further strengthened by the organisation s objective of presenting the newly developed website to Ethiopia s most important stakeholders. EIC secured the attendance of over 100 representatives from Ministries, Embassies, international organizations and the private sector. EIC s Director General, Fitsum Arega, said that I am very happy with the work that has been done on the website by BizClim, which was undertaken by experts in the most professional manner. Above all, I was impressed with the workshop set up by BizClim to educate us on how a worldclass IPA functions. I look forward to working with Sudan; NIA website launch BizClim again in the future.

10 09 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS The capacity-building workshops proved to be central to enhancing IPAs understanding of how the tools developed by the project will affect their day-to-day operations and their overall effectiveness and efficiency at promoting for foreign direct investment. The regional workshop held in Cairo towards the end of the project proved to be critical as it was geared toward ensuring the long term sustainability of the deliverables of this project. The Regional Workshop provided an opportunity to review the key messages delivered during the National Workshops and then focused at great length at the actual implementation of the deliverables and how to plan in order to maximize their results. While IPAs understood well the value of the website before the workshops, they all seemed to overlook the importance of constructing and editing the content for the intended audience: investors. The common tendency for the agencies was to focus on the provision of information and trying to maximize the amount of data made available through the sites. The national and regional workshops became an excellent opportunity to review the site selection process from the perspective of investors and consequently encourage the use of language and targeted marketing pitches that would suit their intended audience. The national dimension of the workshops helped IPAs enliven relationships with some stakeholders and raise the organizations profiles. Interinstitutional collaboration in the investment promotion effort is often challenged by a lack of understanding of each institution s role in the overall promotional process. The national workshops provided an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the importance of the website in particular and how this is not a shop window of the IPA but one for the country as a whole. Stakeholders are also featured on the IPA websites as they are key information providers to investors and to the IPA as the coordinators of the national investment promotion effort. Stakeholders were appreciative of having been invited to participate at the workshops. The ITS represented an innovative solution that not just allowed the IPAs to follow their interactions with investors but most importantly, gauge the performance of their activities. Two out of the four IPAs had obtained very high scores for their websites in the last GIPB survey of 2012 and yet the reassessments of these websites at the start of the project demonstrated that these scores had not been sustainable for three out of the four beneficiary IPAs. Consequently, this project and its capacity building component could not have happened at a better time. The adequate maintenance of the website is the most important lesson of all because it reflects directly on the IPAs capacity and organization. The Enhancing IPAs websites and marketing tools according to GIPB reports Interventions in Swaziland, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya, has delivered three brand new websites all within best practice standards as per the GIPB methodology; a detailed roadmap for the redesign of KenInvest s website which should catapult it into the best IPA website in Africa and a new ITS for each IPA, that implemented adequately, will raise all IPAs investor inquiry handling capacity and scores in future GIPB surveys. Ethiopia - EIC website launch 1) Valeria Di Fiori - Online Marketing Expert 2) Fitsum Arega - Director General, EIC 3) Yohannes Tilahun - Senior Director - PPP, Ethiopia s ATA

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