Firms urged to join drive for growth in developing world

BRITISH companies can help end aid dependency in the developing world by investing in poor countries and creating jobs for their people, International Development Secretary Justine Greening said yesterday.

Ms Greening announced a £51m investment in expert advice to help countries like Burma, Malawi, Liberia and Nigeria grow their economies, as well as action to help them develop their tax bases and make it easier for British companies to  invest.

Warning that a failure to get involved economically with the world’s poorest companies could leave the field open for firms from other countries with lower standards of governance, Ms Greening said: “My objective for developing countries is an end to aid dependency through jobs.”

Her comments came as top British firms, and football’s Premier League, united to call on Prime Minister David Cameron to keep his commitment to devote 0.7 per cent of national income to international aid.

The Prime Minister is under pressure to row back from the spending pledge as departmental budgets face fresh cuts, but business leaders insisted sticking to the funding target would be a “smart investment”.

Ahead of next week’s Budget, companies including BP, GlaxoSmithKline, Morrisons, Dixons and Ikea put their names to an open letter, published in the Financial Times, insisting it is in Britain’s interest to meet its aid pledge. The letter stated: “We believe this is not only the right thing to do, but is a smart investment. We believe it is both humanitarian and in the interests of the country for you to do this and the case for continuing well-targeted aid is beyond doubt.”

Speaking to an audience of business leaders and development specialists at the London Stock Exchange, Ms Greening said her department would like to see more businesses join the drive  for growth in the developing world.

“We can’t just see business as a risk to developing countries,” said Ms Greening.

“We must also see it as an opportunity. I want DFID (Department for International Development) to help build up strong and investable business environments.

“That means helping countries build their own tax base, squeezing out corruption and providing the technical advice that means when economic growth does  happen, countries are well placed to reap and then reinvest the gains.”