Key Points:

  • Making markets work for the poor (MMW4P) is not a radical new paradigm, but rather a new approach that builds on lessons learnt in practice in the development field.
  • It is not anti-state, nor does it advocate leaving the poor to their own devices.
  • Instead, it aims to promote interventions that will help the poor to help themselves, make existing markets work more inclusively of poor producers and con­sumers, and make the benefits of well-functioning markets more widely accessible.
  • This report explores the market-driven approach to development.
  • It builds on numerous specially commissioned case studies (tourism, farming, banking, radio, telephones and education) illustrating how markets are working for the poor in dif­ferent economic sectors in South Africa and elsewhere. And it identifies ways in which markets could be made to work better for poorer people.

Press release: Accelerating shared growth: Making markets work for the poor in South Africa

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