Capital Locast

About Capital Locast

The United Nations Capital Development Fund is a Centre of Excellence and Innovative Fund for Local Government Finance and Local Economic Development Finance. UNCDF and United Cities and Local Governments have joined in a coalition for a global financial ecosystem that works for cities and local governments. The climate emergency is real. The scale of the plastics problem is only just starting to be understood. Inequality and migration are increasing. Urbanization is unstoppable. The world’s response to these development challenges is Agenda 2030 and the 2015 Paris Agreement. But the development finance architecture is missing something. Local Governments are indispensable agents in solving these problems. Whilst national governments, civil society, and the private sector can achieve a lot, without a revolution in local government finance it will be impossible to build a sustainable liveable world. Our mission is to build the bridge to that future by leading the redesign of local government finance as an accelerator of global development. Capital LoCAST will be talking local, globally. In the first season of Capital LoCAST, experts and thought leaders will set out the economic analysis and the policy agenda for a financial ecosystem that works for cities and local governments.

Publisher

UN Capital Development Fund

Category

business · business · government

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

24 Feb 2020

Latest episode

8 Feb 2021

Latest episodes

18 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Feb 2021

   Capital LoCAST S2 Episode 7

   Before his election as Mayor of Porto Novo, In 2019, following the constitutional revision, he joined the party UNION PROGRESSISTE as a founding member. He is also a member of the campaign leadership of the 19th district in charge of external relations and spokesperson. He is notably the UP coordinator of the 5th district of Porto-Novo. Municipal Councillor of the city of Porto-Novo elected on the Union fait la Nation list, he was the rapporteur of the finance commission of the Porto-Novo town hall (third mandate).He holds a Master in Audit and Corporate Finance at IIM University and a DESS in Finance and Management Control at the University of Abomey Calavi. Porto-Novo Porto-Novo, city and capital of Benin (https://www.britannica.com/place/Benin). It lies on the Gulf of Guinea (https://www.britannica.com/place/Gulf-of-Guinea) in western Africa (https://www.britannica.com/place/Africa).The city is the administrative capital of the government of Benin. Government buildings include the national archives and the library. Porto-Novo is connected by road and rail to the country’s main industrial centre at Cotonou (https://www.britannica.com/place/Cotonou) and by road to Lagos (https://www.britannica.com/place/Lagos-Nigeria), Nigeria (https://www.britannica.com/place/Nigeria). It has been somewhat bypassed for commercial and industrial development since the building of a railway to the interior and the improvement of deepwater harbour facilities in Cotonou. Numerous African artisans and guilds are in the city.

2. 

   1 Feb 2021

   Capital LoCAST S2 Episode 6

   Mauricio Vila Dosal is the governor-elect of Yucatan. He ran as the PAN-MC coalition candidate. He served as mayor of Mérida from 2015 to January 2018, when he stepped down to enter the gubernatorial race. He has a law degree from the Universidad Marista de Mérida, an MBA from the University of Phoenix and a master’s degree in political management and strategic governance from George Washington University. Yucatán The State of Yucatán It is located in the southeast of the Mexican Republic, in the northern part of the Yucatán peninsula. It is bordered to the north and west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the southeast by the state of Quintana Roo, and to the southwest by the state of Campeche. Most of its territory is a plain, made up mostly of limestone rock. Its territorial extension is 39,524 km 2 . It is made up of 106 municipalities, and its capital is Mérida.

3. 

   1 Jan 2021

   Capital LoCAST S2 Episode 5

   Member of Parliament for Malaga (UCD), between 1977 and 1982, and Senator for Malaga (PP), between 2011 and 2014. Francisco de la Torre was President of the Provincial Council of Malaga and Minister of Economy, Finance and Tourism of the first Pre-Autonomous Board of Andalusia. In 2020, he was appointed to the advisory board of Unitar, the United Nations Agency for Training and Research. This body ensures that the quality standards adopted in accordance with UNITAR’s mandate and UN guidelines are respected and well integrated into all activities of both the agency and the CIFAL Global Network. He holds a Degree in Sociology from the Pontifical University of Salamanca; Specialist in Regional Development from Rennes, France; and Doctorate in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Madrid. Malaga Málaga is capital of the province in the region of Andalusia. The city is Located on the south of Spain and just over 100 km from Africa, its township occupies 395 km ² and is located in the center of a bay surrounded by mountains and crossed by two rivers, the Guadalhorce and the Guadalmedina that flow into the Mediterranean. With 565,000 inhabitants, Málaga is the sixth largest city in Spain, second in Andalusia and also the most densely populated urban area of 160 km from the Costa del Sol. Its catchment area covers 12 other municipalities totaling more than 850,000 inhabitants.

4. 

   1 Dec 2020

   Capital LoCAST S2 Episode 4

   Mr. José Maria Amado da Fonseca is Mayor of the District of Água Grande, whose capital São Tomé is also the national capital. He was State Secretary for Infrastructure and Environment of the 15th Government of São Tomé; Administrative and Financial Director of the EMAE –Water and Electricity Company; Administrative and Financial Manager of the Supermaritime company. Mr. José Maria Amado da Fonseca holds a master’s degree in financial management and corporate audit from the Polytechnic University of Madrid – CEPADE (Spain), and a degree in business and IT management from IUCAI. Sao Tome-District of Água Grande São Tomé is the capital (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_city) and largest city of the Central African (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Africa) island country of São Tomé and Príncipe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Tom%C3%A9_and_Pr%C3%ADncipe). Its name is Portuguese (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_language) for “Saint Thomas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_(Apostle))“. Founded in the 15th century (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_century), is one of Africa’s oldest colonial cities.

5. 

   1 Nov 2020

   Capital LoCAST S2 Episode 3

   Mr. Osei Assibey Antwi, Mayor of the City of Kumasi, is a prominent entrepreneur, a professional Administrator with more than 20 years of senior management experience, an accomplished politician and an experienced international business leader with numerous business interests in various sectors of the Ghanaian economy He was one of the leading figures in the Ashanti Region’s political leadership during the 2nd and 3rd term of the fourth republic under President John Agyekum Kuffuor. He served as Deputy Regional Minister of the Region. Kumasi Kumasi, population 2.5 million, is the capital of the Ashanti region, a formerly independent kingdom pre-dates the formation of Ghana by 100 years. The city has a rich cultural heritage that is particularly evident in smaller surrounding towns. Trade, textiles, farming and mining are leading industries in Kumasi. It is among the largest (https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FList_of_cities_in_Ghana%23Top_ten_largest_metropolitan_areas&data=02%7C01%7Camadou.sy%40uncdf.org%7C6c4edba8f7114a55d7ae08d81e37f3b2%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637292572949293504&sdata=PkE0gxqVzHDsTfNobmS0%2BDITw1hL45RIBsOKyEP3SzE%3D&reserved=0) metropolitan areas (https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMetropolitan_area&data=02%7C01%7Camadou.sy%40uncdf.org%7C6c4edba8f7114a55d7ae08d81e37f3b2%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637292572949303495&sdata=2ka3PGqwvB7YVawdK9pDJqeTtI1gleyfXO%2FwHDE2XCY%3D&reserved=0) in Ghana (https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FGhana&data=02%7C01%7Camadou.sy%40uncdf.org%7C6c4edba8f7114a55d7ae08d81e37f3b2%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637292572949303495&sdata=ggZruxUALKn16NySXrTWL5IizRyWwp4hzk8ECamplbI%3D&reserved=0).

6. 

   1 Oct 2020

   Capital LoCAST S2 Episode 2

   Yvonne Aki Sawyer is a finance professional with over 25 years of experience in strategic planning, risk management and project management in the public and private sectors. Yvonne is passionate about the development of Sierra Leone. She is a Chartered Accountant and holds an MSc in Politics of the World Economy (London School of Economics) and a BSc Hons in Economics (Fourah Bay College). She is married with two children. Yvonne was elected Mayor of Freetown on 7th March 2018 with a commitment to transform the city and improve the lives of Freetonians. Freetown: Freetown is Sierra Leone’s capital city and the seat of government. It is the largest city in Sierra Leone and the engine of Sierra Leones economy, creating 30% of the country’s GDP despite housing only 15% of its population, and occupying less than 0.5% of the national land mass. With over one million residents, and a growth rate of 4.2% per annum, Freetown’s population is expected to double by 2028

7. 

   1 Sept 2020

   Capital LoCAST S2 Episode 1

   In this Episode Mohammed Sifiani is speaking about the impact of COVID-19 on the City of Chefchaouen in Morrocco. The pandemic strongly impacted the economy of the city which had to find creative ways to generate income. Chefchaouen vision is to achieve the status of sustainable and Ecological city by 2030.

8. 

   27 Apr 2020

   Capital Locast - Episode 10

   Emilia Saiz – Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments – World Secretariat. UCLG is the world’s leading local government body and its members represent over 200,000 local governments worldwide. Emilia is a leading global advocate for the role of cities in development and has been instrumental in raising the profile of UCLG, bringing cities and local governments to the table at events that were previously the domain of central governments, the private sector and civil society only. One example is the United Nations itself where UCLG puts Local Governments on the platform. UNCDF has joined with UCLG to create the coalition for a global financial ecosystem that works for cities and local governments. To close the first season of Capital LoCAST, we discuss the next steps for our coalition.

9. 

   20 Apr 2020

   Capital Locast - Episode 9

   Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi – Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments – Africa. The future is already here – the scale and speed of African urbanization is striking. It is a phenomenon taking place so fast that conceptions of rural Africa are already outdated. How will Africa finance the jobs, mass public transportation, clean energy, drinking water, affordable housing, parks and public utilities for a beautiful urban future? And how will Africa do this in the face of the climate emergency? This is THE issue for African development right now – yet attention is not yet being paid to it and development finance is full of old-fashioned ideas of what Africa is all about. How can we make local government finance the channel for African development finance? Jean Pierre discusses these challenges with us.

10. 

    13 Apr 2020

    Capital Locast - Episode 8

    Brock Carlton – Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Brock believes that “Cities and towns build nations; they just need the power.” Under Brock’s leadership the FCM has become a major factor in Canada’s development path - from strategic partnerships with central government to establishing a role for Canadian municipalities in overseas development. Brock joins us to share the story of how the FCM has evolved to play such a major role, how it unites the interests of large cities such as Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal with those small rural towns and how it has contributed to the unity of a country as diverse as Canada. Brock also details how Canada is pioneering the role of municipalities as international development actors.

11. 

    8 Apr 2020

    Why Local Government Finance is Essential to the COVID-19 Response

    Local governments have been on the frontlines when it comes to the COVID-19 response, in large part because of their competencies--citizen engagement, management of public space and service delivery. But for local governments in the world's least developed countries, their ability to execute an effective response is undermined by a lack of funding, considering many local governments lack the authority to tax or access capital markets. What measures can local governments deploy to address these finance challenges, which can be deployed in days or weeks instead of months? We spoke with two thought leaders and practice leaders--David Jackson and Tehmina Akhtar, Director and Deputy Director of UNCDF's Local Development Finance Practice--to get their insights and recommendations for how local governments can address these finance challenges to support and strengthen their COVID-19 responses. These recommendations are also included in a (https://www.uncdf.org/article/5477/guidance-note-covid19-local-governments)publication UNCDF has released this wee (https://www.uncdf.org/article/5477/guidance-note-covid19-local-governments)k (https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.uncdf.org%2Farticle%2F5477%2Fguidance-note-covid19-local-governments&data=02%7C01%7Cfernando.zarauz%40uncdf.org%7C81fc324de07f45680bc008d7db465458%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637218967429416821&sdata=0YrlWAxVZtixGtxkqwC2fsB8P2hjD%2FU1TFaPChU9Edc%3D&reserved=0). This is a special co-podcast of Capital Musings and Capital Locast.

12. 

    6 Apr 2020

    Capital Locast - Episode 7

    Honourable Lamin B. Dibba is the Minister of Environment, Climate change & Natural Resources for the Gambia since January 2017. The Minister oversees the line Departments of Forestry, Parks & Wildlife Management and the National Environment Agency. Hon. Dibba was previously the National Advisor to the SOS Children’s Village for the Gambia and the Executive Director of the Gambia Women’s Finance Association (GAWFA). He was also former Executive Director of NGO Affairs Agency under the Ministry of Local Government & Regional Administration. Gambia has recognized that fiscal transfers from central to local government can significantly accelerate Gambia’s adaptation to climate change and boost the resilience of its local economies. Gambia also recognizes the relevance of local government finance for transboundary river basin management for addressing the challenge of rapid urbanization. Gambia has joined the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility, a 15-country initiative, managed by its members, that channels climate finance to local governments through fiscal transfer mechanisms. Minister Dibba explains how local governments are driving Gambia’s resilience.

13. 

    31 Mar 2020

    Capital Locast - Episode 6

    Jesper Steffensen – Senior Partner of DEGE Consult and a leading expert on fiscal transfers from central to local governments and author of the Performance Based Grants, Best Practice and International Experience, 2010, with involvement in LG finance reforms in more than 45 countries around the World. Jesper outlines how all countries, from the wealthy to the poorest, operate some form of fiscal transfer of government revenue to local authorities. This is necessary for a functioning state system and for efficient, resilient local economies. It is a form of sharing the national wealth to citizens across the whole territory that generates the wealth in the first place and means to ensure an equitable development. Yet too often intergovernmental fiscal transfers are viewed negatively or designed & implemented sub-optimally. Jesper explains how embracing transfers to local governments can accelerate national development objectives, especially when linked with performance improvements and climate change funding. Jesper also argues that although focusing on improvements in local governments own revenues, especially for sustainability and accountability reasons is important, this should not be used as an excuse to reduce or ignore transfers, which serve numerous development objectives.

14. 

    23 Mar 2020

    Capital Locast - Episode 5

    Francis Zinsou – Former Permanent Representative of Benin to the United Nations and former negotiator on behalf of the (then) 49 Least Developed Countries at the 2015 Financing for Development conference which produced the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) – the current global agenda for development finance which includes an enhanced recognition of the private sector as a development actor – alongside public funding of Overseas Development Assistance. Ambassador Zinsou explains how local governments were excluded from early drafts of the AAAA, which only referenced a role for central government, civil society and the private sector. Benin’s advocacy led to the inclusion of “article 34”, recognizing the role of local government finance, despite indifference from some national governments.

15. 

    16 Mar 2020

    Capital Locast - Episode 4

    Rajivan Krishnaswamy – Former CEO of the Tamil Nadu Urban Development Fund in India and former Senior Urban Finance Specialist at the World Bank. Rajivan tells us that the form of the financing shapes the form of the city and stresses the importance of building capital markets and fiscal systems that provide a blend of financing. A full mix of financial options is necessary to produce resilient and inclusive urban futures. Rajivan outlines how intergovernmental fiscal transfers and own revenues are equally important to private sector funding. Importantly, Rajivan distinguishes between the types of private funding and their pros and cons for different urban development objectives.

16. 

    9 Mar 2020

    Capital Locast - Episode 3

    John Tomaney – Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College of London, co-author of Local and Regional Development, 2017 – a global authority on the subject. Professor Tomaney has provided expert evidence to OECD on regional development strategies and advised governments in the global north and global south. Professor Tomaney explains that whilst everything happens somewhere, not everything impacts positively on local development. Local economic development means more than investing in a local area, it means purposeful investment in local societies. We discuss how economic theory is often spatially blind and ignores the geographical or territorial dimension, finally Professor Tomaney provides examples of good and bad practices in managing transitions to sustainable local economies.

17. 

    2 Mar 2020

    Capital Locast - Episode 2

    Gillian Tett – US Managing Editor and member of Editorial Board at the Financial Times, author of Fool's Gold: How Unrestrained Greed Corrupted a Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed a Catastrophe, 2009 about the highly leveraged financial instruments traded prior to 2008. Gillian analyses the anthropology of decision making and stresses the importance of avoiding group think in business and in economics. Gillian’s recent book is The Silo Effect: The Peril of Expertise and the Promise of Breaking Down Barriers, 2015. We talk to Gillian about why, despite their potential to accelerate development, local governments are often ignored by global and national decision makers when formulating economic development policy.

18. 

    24 Feb 2020

    Capital Locast - Episode 1

    Raghuram Rajan – former Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and currently Professor of Finance at University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Professor Rajan is author of The Third Pillar: How the State and Markets are leaving Communities Behind, 2019. He was one of the few leading economists to forecast the 2008 financial crisis. We talk to Professor Rajan about the crucial role of local governments in national development and how capital markets can open up to local government finance. We touch upon national markets and also the international financial architecture and how it can be made more friendly to local government finance. Producers: Nan Zhang, Fernando Zarauz, Carlos Macias

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