Evaluation of a Local Economic Development Analysis Tool

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is mandated with making strategic investments in the world’s least developed countries and emerging economies. The UNCDF office in Tanzania is working to develop strategies to improve the economic impact of successful industries. In order for programs such as the Local Finance Initiative to support productive strategic investments, UNCDF needs a reliable economic and industry analysis tool. A previous Capstone team developed the LEDbox tool, which utilizes a series of economic indicators based on available decennial census data to help assess prospects and avenues for local economic development. UNCDF engaged this year’s Capstone team to determine the viability of the tool and to further refine it. The team assessed the tool’s ability to analyze how specific industries contribute to local economies and improve the local quality of life, and made recommendations for additional analysis.