Millennium Cities Initiatve MCI's website
The Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) advises, through research and policy analysis, a number of mid-sized cities across sub-Saharan Africa, located near Millennium Villages, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The cities are: Akure, Nigeria; Bamako - Segou, Mali; Blantyre, Malawi; Kisumu, Kenya; Kumasi, Ghana; Louga, Senegal; and Mekelle, Ethiopia.
The MCI is a set of activities initiated by the Millennium Project, which was commissioned by the former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to recommend operational strategies to achieve the Millennium Development Goals agreed upon by the world leaders at the 2000 UN Summit. It is presently being implemented by the MDG Support Team in the Poverty Group of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) . The Millennium Villages Project is working in ten sub-Saharan countries at the community level, to advise them on implementing an integrated set of rural interventions aimed at helping sub-subsistence farming communities to achieve the MDGs.
The MCI is initially focusing on advising the cities in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), with a view to creating employment, stimulating domestic enterprise development and fostering sustainable economic growth. FDI is one component of the integrated City Development Strategies that will be developed by each municipality in close consultation with the MCI. Conceptually, the Initiative is based on the recognition that development, and especially reaching the MDGs, requires not only a national and rural development strategy but also an urban development strategy.
The Millennium Cities Initiative will also produce a handbook that can be used by other cities to help them develop their own strategies to reach the MDGs. It draws upon, and strengthens, the MDG work already underway in these countries by adding a focused urban-based component.
The Millennium Cities Initiative is an effort undertaken by The Earth Institute at Columbia University. The Initiative cooperates with the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment and the the MDG Support Team in the Poverty Group of the UNDP. It operates with the strong support of the Governments of Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal, as well as the municipal governments of Mekelle, Ethiopia; Kumasi, Ghana; Kisumu, Kenya; Blantyre, Malawi; Bamako and Segou, Mali; Akure, Nigeria and Louga, Senegal. The Initiative also works with UN-HABITAT, the UN Environment Programme, Agenda 21, and UNIDO. At Columbia University, the MCI is supported by the School of International and Public Affairs and the Mailman School of Public Health. It is led by Dr. Jeffrey D. Sachs. Its Co-Directors are Dr. Susan M. Blaustein and Dr. Karl P. Sauvant.
In addition, key parters and sponsors include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; KPMG; the Governments of Finland and Israel; Physicians for Peace; Douglas Durst; and the law firms Carter, Ledyard & Milburn LLP; Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, DLA Piper and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP.
For more information about MCI, please see the MCI website or contact Joerg Simon, Senior Investment Advisor, MCI (e-mail address: jks2149@Columbia.edu), or Paulo Cunha, Project Coordinator, MCI (phone: +646-884-7422; e-mail address: pmc2105@columbia.edu).
download pdf of MCI overview in Chinese
download pdf of MCI project description en Français
Team
Dr. Jeffrey D. Sachs - Director, The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Dr. Susan M. Blaustein - Co-Director, Millennium Cities Initiative
Dr. Karl P. Sauvant - Co-Director, Millennium Cities Initiative
Joerg Simon - Senior Investment Advisor, Millennium Cities Initiative
Paulo Cunha - Project Coordinator, Millennium Cities Initiative
Moumie Maoulidi - Social Sector Research Manager, Millennium Cities Initiatve
John McArthur - CEO and Executive Director, Millennium Promise
See the Organogram.
December 9-10, 2008, London
The Millennium Cities Investment Day, which took place in London on December 9-10, 2008, was a call to action for business executives and members of various diaspora communities throughout the United Kingdom.
Mayors, ministers, governors, and representatives from six Millennium Cities -- Akure, Nigeria; Blantyre, Malawi; Kaduna, Nigeria; Kisumu, Kenya; Kumasi, Ghana and Mekelle, Ethiopia -- convened to declare their cities “open for business” to dozens of potential investors. The event was organized by the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI), led by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, jointly with KPMG International, DLA Piper and the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment (VCC). The final program can be accessed here.
On the evening of December 9th, KPMG hosted a special reception for over 130 investors and delegates from the six Millennium Cities. London Investment Day on December 10th was attended by over 70 business representatives from the UK and delegates from the six Millennium Cities. The event was opened by Nigel Knowles, Joint CEO, DLA Piper and featured speeches by Lord Michael Hastings, Global Head of Citizenship and Diversity at KPMG International and Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institue. Kandeh K. Yumkella, the Director-General of UNIDO, was the keynote speaker at lunch on December 10th.
The special event benefited from the participation of the Governor of the State of Ondo, (Nigeria), Olesugun Agagu; the Governor of the State of Kaduna (Nigeria), Mohamed Namadi Sambo; the President of the State of Tigray (Ethiopia), Tsegay Berhe; the Mayor of Kisumu (Kenya), Samuel Okello; the Mayor of Mekelle (Ethiopia), Feseha Zerihun; as well as the Kenyan Minister of Planning, Wylciff Ambetsa Oparanya and the Malawian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Francis Moto.
The events showcased commercially viable investment opportunities in the participating cities identified by the MCI, KPMG and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the delegations from the Millennium Cities had a chance to meet interested potential investors in separate meeting rooms after the main event. Presentations made by the various delegations can be found here:
• “Investment Opportunities in Blantyre;” by Suzana Mjuweni, Manager at Malawi Investment Promotion Agency;
• “Attracting Investment into the Millennium City of Kaduna, Nigeria, part 1, part 2, part 3;” by Baba Jibrin Adamu, Special Advisor on ICT to the Governor of Kaduna State;
• “Investment in Kisumu – Opportunities and Challenges,” by Wycliff Ambetsa Oparanya, Minister of Planning for Kenya;
• “Kisumu: The Investment Location,” by Samuel Okello, Mayor of Kisumu;
• “Kisumu – Mayfair Holdings,” by Munira Gilani, Director of Mayfair Holdings;
• “Investing in Kumasi,” Abenaa Akuamoa-Boateng, MCI Project Manager in Kumasi;
• “Investing in Akure, Ondo State,” by Olusegun Agagu, Governor of Ondo State;
• “Millennium Promise – Millennium City: A Pathway to Sustainable Development,” by Rustom Masalawala, Director of Business Development at Millennium Promise.
Several other materials were made available at the conference including:
• “Investment Opportunities for Development,” a UNIDO report on investment opportunities in four Millennium Cities: Akure, Blantyre, Kisumu, and Kumasi.
• “Ondo State, Nigeria: Market feasibility study for sustainable development,” a KPMG report.
For more information on the event or MCI's investment-related activities more generally, please visit the MCI website here or the VCC website at www.vcc.columbia.edu. For queries please contact Karl P. Sauvant (tel. +1-212-854-0689; karlsauvant@gmail.com) or Joerg Simon (tel. +49-711-604294; jks2149@columbia.edu).
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Millennium Cities Initiatve Short-Listed for the African Investor Investment Awards
The Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) at The Earth Institute at Columbia University was been shortlisted for the 2008 African Investor Investment Awards in the category of "Best Initiative in Support of MDGs.”
The annual awards are dedicated to recognizing and rewarding the achievements of the private sector across a wide range of disciplines and are internationally know for their “pioneering and unique pan-African investment focus.”
The awards are the longest running and most established international investment awards in Africa. Previous winners have included Standard Bank, BHP Billiton, Nedbank, Shell, Microsoft, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and Zenith Bank, among others.
Commenting on this year’s nominees, Dr. Bamanga Tukur, Chairman of the Africa Investor Group, said, “it is clear that all of the constituents of the 2008 shortlist are the drivers behind Africa's current record growth and will be the ones to watch in 2009." The awards ceremony took place in Durban, South Africa on October 27th.
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Kumasi Investment Day New York, September 29, 2008
The Mayor of Kumasi, Ghana, Mme. Patricia Appiagyei, declared her city “open for business” to a packed room of potential investors during Kumasi Investment Day North America. The event took place at Columbia University on September 29, 2008, and was organized by The Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) in collaboration with the Kumasi Development Foundation (KDF), Asanteman Council of North America (ACONA), Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Corporte Council on Africa (CCA) and Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment (VCC). It was co-sponsored by the law firm Alston & Bird.
Several high-level government and business representatives from Ghana were among the participants. The keynote address at the event was given by Professor Jeffery D. Sachs. “Ghana has every reason to succeed in attracting investment,” stated Professor Sachs during his address. “It has great leadership under President John Kufuor, a stable democracy, very fertile land where everything will grow, a great cultural heritage, and recent improvements in infrastructure. I am confident investment in Ghana will take-off,” said Sachs. Millennium Promise Executive Director John McArthur also spoke about opportunities in Ghana.
Investors learned about a number of commercially viable investment opportunities identified by the MCI and its partners. The opportunities included cocoa and cocoa processing, mining, tourism, construction, light manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. KPMG Netherlands presented some specific investment opportunities, including a 4 or 5 star hotel with 160 rooms, a 3,000 m² shopping mall, a fruit juice processing plant with an annual capacity of 3 million liters, and a pharmaceutical plant with an annual production capacity of 2 billion tablets and capsules. Other interesting investment projects presented included a student housing at Kwame Nkrumah University in Kumasi and a palm oil processing plant. KPMG analyzed the commercial viability of producing bamboo bicycles in a report is found here. The report is No. 04/2008 in the MCI and VCC Working Papers Series on Investment in the Millennium Cities.
Please see here for a final program. For Alston & Bird's press release on the event, please see here.
download pdf of Invest in Ghana: Focus Kumasi
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Kisumu Investment Day and Capacity- Building Workshop
MCI, together with the Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest), organized a Kisumu Investment Day and Capacity-Building Workshop on July 8-10, 2008 in Kisumu, Kenya. Mr. Robert Onyango, Regional Manager, KPMG Kenya, used the occasion to launch the KPMG report Kisumu: Potential Opportunities for Investors.
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Shea Butter Investment Forum
MCI held a Shea Butter Investment Forum in Bamako, Mali on June 26, 2008. See the program here.