Calls for Africa to strengthen its economic self-reliance and develop using its own capital intensified at the African Development Bank (AfDB) annual meetings in Abidjan, where more than 6000 delegates assembled for five days of meetings and discussions on Africa’s development landscape. Africa is grappling with a significant development funding squeeze amid drastic cuts to foreign aid by western nations.
On top of dismantling USAID and freezing billions of dollars in foreign aid, Washington is reconsidering a $555m development finance commitment to the AfDB. European nations have also slashed overseas development assistance budgets in recent months, adding to the financial strain facing African countries that heavily rely on foreign aid to fund government programmes in education, healthcare and infrastructure.
No free lunch
The question of how Africa can navigate this challenging funding environment hung heavy in the air during the course of the annual meetings. Leaders and experts who spoke stressed that the time was nigh for Africa to shift its attention to domestic and alternative sources of capital. Africa, they argued, must harness its own capital – natural, human, and financial – to drive a new era of economic self-reliance.
