Reducing the development gap

• Strategies to reduce the global development gap

  • Investment
  • Tourism
  • Aid
  • Debt Relief
  • Microfinance Loans
  • Intermediate Technology
  • Industrial Development
  • Fair Trade
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

  Large companies investing in LICs and NEEs to create jobs, opportunities, infrastructure and expertise
• FDI example


  • Royal Dutch Shell employs more than 4,500 people in Nigeria - 95% of whom are Nigerian
• Tourism


  LICs and NEEs using their unique natural resources such as climates, landscapes and wildlife to develop a thriving tourism industry, creating investment and jobs for local people
• Tourism example

  • Tourism accounts for 24% of Jamaica's gross domestic product (GDP) and over 7% of its total employment
• Aid


  Money or resources given by one country to another, often used to fund development projects such as building schools or providing clean water
• Aid example

  • The UK Government spends 0.7% of its national income on overseas development projects including those in Sierra Leone and Syria
• Debt Relief

  Lowering the interest rates or cancelling the debt owed by struggling LICs or NEEs, enabling them to concentrate on development and economic growth
• Debt Relief example

  • The World Bank has approved $76 billion in debt-reduction packages for 36 countries, including the cancellation of the Republic of Congo's $1.9 billion debt in 2010
• Microfinance Loans

  Loans provided to people in LICs who otherwise may not be able to get a loan, often used to set up or invest in and grow businesses
• Microfinance Loans example

  • The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh has provided loans to over 9 million people-97% of whom are women
• Intermediate Technology

  Simple, affordable tools and machinery suitable for LICs and NEEs, unlike high-tech alternatives which are expensive and difficult to use and maintain
• Intermediate Technology example

  • Solar box cookers in rural parts of India and Kenya produce clean and sustainable energy for domestic cooking
• Industrial Development

  LICs and NEEs investing in their primary industries and increasing manufacturing, increasing productivity and generating more wealth for the economy, improving their gross national income (GNI)
• Industrial Development example

  • In Mozambique, just six years of industrial growth (2002-2008) reduced the proportion of people living in poverty by 15%
• Fair Trade

  Ensuring farmers in LICs and NEEs get a fair price for their produce, improving trade terms and working conditions
• Fair Trade example

  • More than 85% of the bananas produced in the Windward Islands are fair trade. Fair trade in Columbia has increased household income for banana farmers by an average 34%. Also, 98% of farmers said this has improved their quality of life