To make ODA fit for the future, focus on currency risk
By Harald Hirschhofer and Ugo Panizza
At COP29 in November, negotiators agreed to triple annual financing for developing countries from USD 100 billion to USD 300 billion by 2035. The challenge is that even if this ambitious target is met— a big “if” given the declining political commitment to official development assistance (ODA)—it will still fall short of the resources needed to scale up climate and SDG financing while ensuring debt sustainability.
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To fix Africa’s debt crisis, reform credit ratings
By Daniel Cash, Associate Professor at Aston University and Senior Fellow at the UN University Centre for Policy Research
Africa is in a debt crisis. On the continent, interest payments on debt have risen by 132% over the past decade. Thirty-two African countries now commit more to servicing debt than they do investing in healthcare, and 25 spend more on debt than education. In September, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned about the potential of social unrest across Africa due to lack of access to effective debt relief. Past debt crises in Africa have been met with internationally co-ordinated responses, but this time, similar efforts have failed.
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Can a focus on scaling help transform development co-operation?
By Benjamin Kumpf, Head of the OECD Innovation for Development facility
As we are all too aware, the world is off track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Progress will require major changes in policy, regulation, infrastructure, procurement, and planning, as well as social and behavioural shifts. And it will require a major increase in financing: the UN’s Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2024 puts the SDG investment and financing gaps at between USD 2.5 trillion and USD 4 trillion annually.
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Understanding fragility: Why should the EU care?
As the new Commission takes office this December, the European Union (EU) is embarking on a drive to rethink its approach to development co-operation. What will this mean for countries exposed to high fragility? Continue reading Understanding fragility: Why should the EU care?
Financing the Fight Against Desertification
Desertification, land degradation and droughts (DLDD) often go overlooked compared to other global crises linked to climate change or biodiversity loss, yet they devastate ecosystems, livelihoods and food security for billions worldwide. As policymakers gather in Riyadh from 2 to 11 December 2024 for the sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), this is an important opportunity to raise ambitions, scale up resources and strengthen global co-operation to tackle these challenges. Continue reading Financing the Fight Against Desertification
Reforming multilateral development co-operation in a changing world
How can we build a more effective multilateral development system to tackle global challenges? This question was central to the OECD Multilateral Development Finance Week (23-29 September 2024), which brought together experts from 14 different countries to discuss how multilateral organisations can adapt to new mandates and the changes in global development finance approaches. Continue reading Reforming multilateral development co-operation in a changing world
Africa’s Oil Shock: Are the Bretton Woods Institutions ready?
By Cleo Rose-Innes, Independent Advisor and Analyst
Reaching net-zero fossil fuel emissions by 2050 appears increasingly achievable. Investments in clean energy continue to grow, and the International Energy Agency and others predict that fossil fuel consumption will be in permanent decline within the next five years.
While this is good news for the planet and all those coping with climate change, it will reshape many economies, especially large African countries dependent on fossil fuels for fiscal and export revenue.
Is Africa’s digital revolution leaving women behind?
By Efe Ukala, Founder of ImpactHER
As Africa stands on the cusp of a digital revolution, a stark reality emerges: women and girls are being left behind. As the sun rises over Mbiri, Nigeria, Nkem is already awake in her family’s modest home on the outskirts of town. Nkem, 22, is preparing for her weekly ritual – a 90-minute walk to the city centre where she can access the Internet at a local café because she lacks a laptop, and her phone is not Internet-enabled. This journey, costing her nearly a day’s wages for just two hours online, exemplifies the digital divide facing millions of African women.
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Exploring Masculinities: Are Outdated Norms Holding Us Back?
By Estelle Loiseau and Carolin Beck, Policy analysts, OECD Development Centre.
What does it mean to be a “real” man? This complex question opens up a conversation about masculinities: those shared beliefs about how men – and women – should behave, often deeply ingrained within societies. These notions vary over time, place, and cultures, and can either support gender equality or uphold patriarchal norms that limit women’s rights and opportunities and restrict the potential of men and women alike.
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What’s Ailing Start-up Tech Firms in Africa?
By Anzetse Were, Senior Economist and Green Finance Advisor at FSD Kenya
Recently headlines in Africa have been filled with African tech companies announcing that they are closing, filing for bankruptcy, entering into administration, implementing massive lay-offs and/or substantially cutting back their operations. Most of these companies were once regarded as a new dawn of entrepreneurship from the continent and examples of African companies that would not only become leaders in Africa, but also global leaders providing innovation solutions to global challenges.
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