Beyond Aid: Redefining Africa’s Development

Beyond Aid: Redefining Africa’s Development

From Into Africa by CSIS | Center for Strategic and International Studies

April 23, 2026 · 43 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the shift from donor-led relief to locally led development in Africa amidst funding cuts and crises.

The international development and humanitarian landscape in Africa is at an inflection point, driven by a convergence of severe funding cuts, escalated climate and conflict-related crisis, and a necessary, but challenging shift from donor-led relief to locally led, long-term development. The current aid architecture was built for a different era, and this moment of disruption presents an opportunity to reimagine a system that is more effective, sustainable, and built on local partnerships and resilience. Tjada D'Oyen McKenna, CEO of Mercy Corps, and Noam Unger, Vice-President of the Global Development department at CSIS, join Oge to assess the current state of the international development and humanitarian assistance landscape and explore what challenges and opportunities this moment presents for Africa’s future. Note: Into Africa will be taking a short break and will return in the next few months!

People in this episode

Host: Oge

Guests: Tjada D'Oyen McKenna, Noam Unger

Topics covered

  • international development
  • humanitarian assistance
  • local partnerships
  • sustainable development
  • funding cuts
  • climate crisis
  • conflict-related crisis

Keywords

  • Africa
  • development
  • humanitarian
  • funding cuts
  • climate crisis
  • local development
  • partnerships

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mercy Corps, CSIS

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