West Bank and Gaza - First Innovative Private Sector Development Project

Overview & Synopsis

Ratings of the Innovative Private Sector Development for West Bank and Gaza were as follows: Outcome was satisfactory; Bank performance was highly satisfactory; M&E quality was substantial. Key lessons and recommendations include prioritizing investments in human capital and digital skills aligned to private sector demand, as demonstrated by the GGateway outsourcing hub’s market-driven training and train-and-hire model, which proved resilient and yielded strong employment outcomes even under volatility. Crowd in private capital by using catalytic and co-investment grants to de-risk early-stage ventures, strengthen investment readiness, and connect startups to regional investors and networks; when credible opportunities and de-risking mechanisms exist, investors engage, including first-time angels. In fragile and conflict-affected contexts, pair firm-level financing and support with sustained, hands-on technical assistance across the full reform cycle—maintain continuous expert engagement, mobilize specialized skills quickly, anticipate political volatility, and extend support beyond primary laws to secondary instruments, templates, standard operating procedures, and institutional workflows to ensure on-the-ground implementation. Pursue comprehensive legal reform with perseverance, risk tolerance, and strong management backing to overcome vested interests and political shifts; escalate early when needed, secure stable financing through post-adoption phases, and maintain high-level policy dialogue to safeguard reform objectives over time, as evidenced by the overhaul of the Companies Law. Implement digital public services such as the Automated Business Registry System using an agile approach focused on a minimum viable product, risk-based electronic signatures, iterative prototyping, and remote collaboration (including reverse missions) to sustain momentum under access constraints; address data quality, consolidation, and migration challenges early, as they become binding during digitization and determine scalability beyond pilot phases.