FJP Development and Management Consultants

14/08/2026

Back in January, this article alerted us to the dangers of "Benjamin Button Elderly" personality-types who are prone to "trusting the devil" with disastrous consequences for all. I wish that I was wrong. I would like to say that it gets better from here onwards. It can. But only if enough of us lean forward and stop leaning backward. Reflect on the article again. 🙏

Back in January, this article alerted us to the dangers of "Benjamin Button Elderly" personality-types who are prone to "trusting the devil" with disastrous consequences for all. I wish that I was wrong. I would like to say that it gets better from here onwards. It can. But only if enough of us lean...

08/08/2026

Too Late or Just-In-Time? 😐: Accelerating investments for 2030 Sustainable Development Goals

[Service Category]: Market & Impact Research

[Client Type]: International Development Partner

[Service]: With less than ten years left, our client sought to attract national and global investments to help a country to achieve three women-centred Health sector targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030 i.e.

· Preventing Maternal Mortality (SDG 3.1),

· Improving Family Planning (SDG 3.7) &

· Eliminating Gender Based Violence (SDG 5)

We were hired to develop one of the early investment cases in the global portfolio.

[What we did]: We:

-Conducted situation analyses to establish the health outcomes, socio-economic, cultural and institutional context.

-Developed an investment risk framework assessing societal, political, implementation, and data-related risks.

-Evaluated risk mitigation options, enabling conditions, and critical factors affecting programme success.

-Generated multiple investment scenarios using evidence-based economic and financial modelling.

-Estimated intervention costs, projected development impacts, and analysed value-for-investment under alternative scenarios.

-Undertook funding gap and financing analyses to determine investment affordability and long-term sustainability.

-Advised on investment prioritisation, resource mobilisation, implementation planning, and policy decision-making.

[Foresight Created]: We:

· Demonstrated the immense power of evidence and risk-based decision and investment modelling.

· Advised against large-scale investments to counter Female Ge***al Cutting/Mutilation given identified major cultural risks to implementation. Proposed contingent small-scale investment experiments to identify effective risk mitigation measures before scale-up.

· Recommended targeted investments to deter Child Marriage – learning from community-driven successes in urban areas and extending those lessons to less progressive rural regions through experimentations in risk-mitigation

· Advised for improved investments in monitoring and evaluation to support learning from improvements observed in maternal mortality for which causal factors were not evident.

Our investment case approach was identified as a template for replication across our client’s global portfolio.

29/07/2026

When Xenophobia and Labour Markets Clash!
The ongoing migrant-phobia in South Africa has exposed policy failures that are having real effects on economic output. A minimum wage policy executed without addressing apartheid-era structural disabilities in the labour market has arguably been rendered unfit for purpose. This thorough analysis is an excellent case study for policy makers in an increasingly xenophobic world. What say you?🤫

When Xenophobia and Labour Markets Clash! The ongoing migrant-phobia in South Africa has exposed policy failures that are having real effects on economic output. A minimum wage policy executed without addressing apartheid-era structural disabilities in the labour market has arguably been rendered un...

25/07/2026

Serving Two Masters: Attaining Global Goals whilst under Pressure from National Priorities

[Service Category]: Capacity & Training

[Client Type]: International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO)

[Service]: Our client was the subsidiary of a global charity. It had a respected profile in the country for its Direct Implementation Activities (DIA) which delivered important infrastructural and human support needs during a period of conflict. However, the global parent had decided to withdraw from DIA and focus on advocacy for governance change, known as the Rights Based Approach (RBA).

FJP was asked to assess the subsidiary’s capacity to deliver on its national and international priorities including to:

To evaluate the competences needed for the global RBA strategy.

To assess actual competences available in the subsidiary.

To identify gaps between the required and the available competences.

To propose possible ways of closing the gaps.

To ascertain the negative and positive risks in technical and administrative matters.

[What we did]: Our team:

· Examined strategic objectives of DIA services, determined the necessary competences and the capacity gaps.

· Scrutinised long-term goals of the RBA services, working out the required staff capabilities and the skills gaps.

· Administered a questionnaire to all staff to understand their perspectives.

· Assessed the culture of the subsidiary by visiting all units across the country.

[Foresight Created]: National society still needed tangible services that help people rebuild their lives i.e. DIA services remained important. Competing NGOs aggressively poached its most valuable asset – its people – and regularly left it with the challenge of rebuilding an effective team. It had become reasonably proficient at managing DIA services. It would find it difficult to successfully deliver the advocacy and campaigning elements of the new global RBA approach. Further, a number of the key rights that were the subject of the RBA would meet significant resistance to change in the country context.

The country context may be different from other countries of the global parent. FJP advised a cautionary approach to the roll-out of the new global RBA in the country context. A monolithic strategy in a highly diverse world may prove to be a challenge and may pose a high risk of failure.

The global parent decided to press on with the change from DIA to RBA. Subsequently, in a number of regional countries it faced significant push back, including an aggressive response from one government that felt threatened by the RBA approach. The global parent learnt, a bit late, of the wisdom of FJP’s earlier advice which was based on the enigmatic Latin: Festina Lente – “Hasten Slowly”.

17/07/2026

Not to be taken lightly. when effectively combined with social and human capital, cultural capital can deliver hard to beat economic Competitiveness and prosperity. That is the basis of The 4Cs of Dr Omodele Jones : "Countries and Companies do not Compete, Cultures do!"

Yay or Nay?

Not to be taken lightly. when effectively combined with social and human capital, cultural capital can deliver hard to beat economic Competitiveness and prosperity. That is the basis of The 4Cs of Dr Omodele Jones : "Countries and Companies do not Compete, Cultures do!" Yay or Nay?

13/07/2026

Does a landmark UK court case indicate hope for the ordinary folks who lose from poor gold mining practices in Africa?

At a time when the international common good is under siege from selfish oligarchic interests, this is an important fightback worth noting. Gold mining has long had a poor environmental and social track record. As the wealthy and even African central banks rush to gold given the accelerating loss of...

13/07/2026

As African Individuals Conquer the World, when will cultures, countries and the continent catch up?🤔

As individuals, Africans have conquered the world. Now, we await the Collective Rising of cultures, countries and continent: a much more daunting hurdle...It will demand a great deal more...Yay or Nay?🤔

10/07/2026

Assessing Institutional and Functional Capacity to Deliver: The “Make or Break” Role of Leadership Culture as a Force-Multiplier

[Service Category]: Capacity Building & Training

[Client Type]: International Development Partner

[Service]: The institution was relatively young in a critical sector of national accountability. A key international partner retained us to assess their institutional and functional capacities as a basis for subsequent delivery of reinforcing support.

[What we did]: Our team reviewed global documents that set international performance standards and developed a related capacity assessment tool that included:

* Review of the institution's legal, policy, governance, and operational frameworks.

* Design and administration of quantitative-style cross-sectional research surveys for internal and external stakeholders.

* Facilitation of selected Key Informant Interviews and Focus Group Discussions

* Assessment of institutional governance, leadership, strategic management, operational systems, resource management and stakeholder engagement capacities.

* Conduct of institutional performance and perception gap analysis against internationally recognised standards for the sector.

* Evaluation of organisational outcomes, stakeholder confidence and institutional effectiveness.

* Development of evidence-based recommendations and a strategic institutional strengthening roadmap.

[Foresight Created]: The organisation had a strong legal mandate. But, in our experience, many ineffective entities do! What stood out was the quality of the competences and cultural values of its leadership team and the confidence that they inspired from all stakeholders.

Our work identified specific systems challenges, but with respected leadership, these were more amendable to resolution.

Indeed, before too long after our assessment, the organisation received the highest classification in the international sector for its goal effectiveness.

FJP was proud to be associated with this attainment.

03/07/2026

Social Safety Net or Job Killer: What is the Real Effect of Minimum Wage Policy?

[Service Category]: Systems & Strategy

[Client Type]: An Association of Private Sector Employers

[Service]: With growing public and political pressure, our client decided to invest in the design of a minimum wage (MW) policy and related maintenance processes for the private sector. MWs are controversial: some see them as providing an essential floor to the most vulnerable; others fear that they increase the cost of doing business and reduce employment. The answer lies in smart design that carefully weighs up the benefits and costs. Our client turned to FJP.

[What we did]: FJP advised on:

· Defining a MW
· How many different MW rates may be desirable
· Who should set the MW
· Who should be covered by MW policy
· Setting and adjusting MW levels
· Enforcing the MW
· Monitoring the effect of the MW
· The implications of our research on the Working Poor: by industry, occupation, educational attainment, Age group, residence and migration status.

[Foresight Created]: Identified Risks included:

· MWs should cover all employees and exclusions kept to a minimum
· National law should define employment, to prevent the “disguising” of an employment relationship by unscrupulous employers
· MWs should include domestic workers and, when set, avoid defacto gender discrimination
· States should monitor informal and agriculture sector employment and set attainable targets for formalisation so that MWs can eventually cover all employees
· MWs should be extended to employees in non-standard forms of employment such as fixed term or temporary workers
· Some countries exclude public-sector workers from MWs, leading to disguised under-employment and gross inefficiency of public services. Better that taxpayer-paid unemployment insurance is separately managed from counter-productive public employment.
· Regular monitoring of the effects of MWs should lead to design adjustments as necessary to ensure a net benefit to society and economy.

27/05/2026

A Bittersweet Eid - A tribute to "Uncle Saul"

We join our many Muslim clients across the continent in celebrating this Eid. However, this is a simultaneously sad time for our team at FJP. Last week, we unexpectedly lost our retired Chauffeur in The Gambia office, Mr Saul Jarju. Saul had served FJP for decades until his retirement to his ancestral village. We had developed a very close personal relationship.

Whilst observing Saul's approach to life, I learnt deep respect for the virtues of people who take their Islam seriously. I also discerned the secret to a happy and fulfilled life from him.

Saul was a thoroughly decent human being who lived the values of his faith through integrity, contentment and love for his neighbour. Envy and covetousness never crossed his well-policed boundaries. He celebrated the attainments of others and consequently led a happy and fulfilled personal life.

Yes, he had difficult challenges, as we all do. But he never allowed life's trials and tribulations to contaminate his soul and the practice of his faith. He remained steadfast to his call to be unwaveringly decent to all, irrespective of their faith - muslim or non-muslim. Social scientists have worked out that people like Saul are the building blocks of sustainably cohesive and happy societies.

So, this is my first Eid without Saul. A bittersweet moment. May his soul rest in the eternal peace of our Maker. 🙏

Omodele Jones