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This article is about institutional development around Investment Climate and the Business Environment [ICBE] in the establishment and growth of segments of the vital two social services ‐ private higher education [PHE] and private health, in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia in the post 1991 period. ICBE encompasses aspects of institutions as they relate specifically to the start up, growth, development and performance or otherwise of businesses and their capacity to drive the pace of economic and social progress.While the broad objective of the study has been to gauge progress in this arena and compare levels and directions of development, the specific objectives of the study was to develop parameters of performance indicators, gauge the on‐going process as perceived by the market participants, derive issues for further fine tunings of ICBE, policy and serve as a baseline for further study.To meet the objectives of shedding light on the on‐going ICBE process, apart from desk research, the Data Collection Team interviewed 424 respondents including the managers and staff of private higher education [PHE] and private health service providers, the direct beneficiaries of the social services [employers, current students, graduate alumni and patients], the indirect beneficiaries [staff and parents] and the regulatory authorities [education and health bureaus of the City Government of Addis Abeba].Partly as a result of improved ICBE, noticeable positive changes in governance, expansion in private higher education [PHE] and private health provision, efficiency gains, more effectiveness in the physical and social infrastructure are reported. Moreover, there are trends towards improved regional & gender equity, accountability in PHE and health delivery services, some levels of innovativeness and development and sustainability. Notwithstanding these, the absolute quality and standard of education and health provision leave a lot to be desired. The noticeable achievements have been attained with some challenges which need to be addressed in the forthcoming fine tuning of ICBE improvement policies and institutional engineering.Genuine and effective partnership between Government, the private sector and employers need to be remodeled with a certain level of autonomy for each. Government needs autonomy to ensure that its social goals are not entirely subsumed by the profit objectives of PHE and private health firms. The latter require autonomy to tailor their services in order to meet the specific demand of the market. The ultimate beneficiaries of the process, employers and students can enrich the institutional packaging through bringing in their up to date need in the state of the art and the content of education.Ethiopian Journal of Economics vol 20 (1) 2011 |
