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Local Procurement: An effective way for mining companies to contribute to economic and social development
17 Mar 2014 | Building Markets
One of the most effective means that mining companies can utilize to spread the economic benefits of mining activity is to increase the amount of local goods and services they...
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Tips for International Job-Hunters
02 Apr 2013 | Building Markets
Melissa Mullan has some tips for job-seekers in international development....
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Local Perspectives: Children on Education
13 Apr 2012 | Afghanistan
Meet entrepreneurs, helped by PDM-Helmand, who are building the Helmandi marketplace! This is the last part of the series....
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Growing Local Business
10 Apr 2012 | Afghanistan
Meet entrepreneurs, helped by PDM-Helmand, who are building the Helmandi marketplace! This is part four of the series....
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The Helmand National Investors Association: Strength in Numbers
29 Mar 2012 | Afghanistan
Helmand is still one of the most difficult operating environments in Afghanistan. Despite the security challenges, local entrepreneurs in the country’s largest province disp...
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Quietude in Qabul
09 Feb 2011 | Afghanistan
We think about and write about development on this blog, but not every inspiration has to be from another development worker or writer or thinker. We can keep a certain perspe...
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Current Contracting Loses the COIN Fight
01 Aug 2010 | Afghanistan
One of the brilliant effects of Afghan First, maybe the reason that I believe that it will lead to a stable and secure Afghanistan faster than any other economic policy, is th...
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Making Liberian banks work for SMEs (and vice versa)
29 Apr 2013 | Building Markets
Our Liberia 3FP team is working with Liberian banks to design a pre-financing credit product to help address some of the needs and challenges of both Liberian SMEs and banks....
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The Need for More Local Procurement in Haiti
18 Mar 2013 | Building Markets
A cross-post from CDG about the need for more and better local procurement in Haiti, complete with mentions of Yours Truly and recommendations for how to make that happen!...
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Local Perspectives: A Day in the Park
12 Apr 2012 | Afghanistan
Meet entrepreneurs, helped by PDM-Helmand, who are building the Helmandi marketplace! This is part six of the series....
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From Mines to Markets
09 Apr 2012 | Afghanistan
Meet entrepreneurs helped by the PDM-Helmand project. Part three in the series....
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Young Entrepreneurs Making Waves in Africa: A chat with Now AfriCAN
02 Nov 2011 | Building Markets
Laura Seay speaks with Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda, co-founder of Now AfriCAN, an organization working to empower and train young African entrepreneurs. ...
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Revolution Unending...
06 Feb 2011 | Afghanistan
There is an indigenous movement brewing in Kabul. It's not the neo-Taliban or foreign fighters, nevertheless it is revolutionary. Unlike Tunisia or Cairo, its agents of change...
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COIN Contracting Pt 2: Tactical Patience Matters
19 Jul 2010 | Afghanistan
As promised, I’m going to focus on “pace of operations,” “operational necessity,” and local procurement for part two in this series. To wit: current demands on Afgh...
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Liberia Progressing Forward
10 Apr 2013 | Building Markets
Stephen Lee shares his insights on progress in Liberia....
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Guest post from the IFC's Roland Michelitsch: Creating more and better jobs
14 Mar 2013 | Building Markets
The IFC's Roland Michelitsch explains the IFC's recent jobs study and why creating more and better jobs is the surest way to help millions of people out of poverty....
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A Juicy Tale
11 Apr 2012 | Afghanistan
Meet entrepreneurs, helped by PDM-Helmand, who are building the Helmandi marketplace! This is part five of the series....
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Helmandi Business Resilience
30 Mar 2012 | Afghanistan
Helmand is still one of the most difficult operating environments in Afghanistan. Despite the security challenges, local entrepreneurs in the country’s largest province disp...
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Happy Women’s Day from Afghanistan
08 Mar 2011 | Afghanistan
Today marks the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day -- which, incidentally, used to be called International Working Women’s Day -- with this year's theme being:...
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We're Back! With Highlights from SIGAR.
02 Feb 2011 | Afghanistan
PDT’s Afghanistan team is back on the blog train, folks, and we've got a lot of posts coming your way this month. First, we'll save you the trouble of reading all 160+ pages...
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Rethinking Contracting as the Front Lines of COIN, Pt 1
22 Jun 2010 | Afghanistan
Many international organizations (IOs) are making good-faith efforts at local procurement, without PDT involvement. They do the best they can to collect and store company inf...
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