Case Study: Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) - Conducting Research and ECDC Board Strategy Workshop Facilitation
Mthente was commissioned by the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) to conduct research into the economic environment of the Eastern Cape and to facilitate the ECDC Board Strategy Workshop in May 2010. The ECDC is an Eastern Cape based developmental entity that offers services that include Development Investments, Investment Promotion, Trade Promotion, Organisational Function (Corporate Finance & Services) to mention but a few.
In meeting the objectives of this specific project, Mthente
researchers began by conducting an intensive desktop research phase in
order to profile the province’s economic environment based on its
economic performance over the last few years. During this phase, the
Mthente team made use of factually referenced publications and made use
of the information held by the various State Owned Enterprises (SEOs)
as well as the AsgiSA Eastern Cape and the Blue Crane Development
Agency.
As part of desktop research, Mthente researchers also assessed
the population dynamics of the Eastern Cape with a particular focus on
youth and employment, as well as identifying the economic development
strategies, objectives and challenges of the Eastern Cape by reviewing
the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Economic Development and
Environmental Affairs’ (DEDEA) policy papers, concept papers and
strategy documents. There was also be a review of the ECDC mandate
together with its concept papers for purposes of alignment with the
DEDEA and other Local Economic Development (LED) initiatives.
In addition to the desktop research and documentation review,
Mthente held stakeholder consultations with representatives from
the DEDEA, NGOs, relevant funding institutions, the Provincial Chamber
of Commerce and district and local municipalities. Upon completing the
research process, Mthente then facilitated an interactive strategy
workshop for the ECDC Board. Thereafter, recommendations from the
workshop were combined with the output from the other phases of the
project and were consolidated into one final report.











