
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 challenges and opportunities in redefining Africa's development 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
Guests: Tjada McKenna, Noam Unger
Topics covered
- international development
- humanitarian assistance
- Africa
- local partnerships
- sustainability
Keywords
- funding cuts
- climate crisis
- conflict
- donor-led relief
- long-term development
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Beyond Aid: Redefining Africa’s Development
Places: Africa
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- In the Shadows of the Iran War: The Horn of Africa · March 26, 2026 · 29 min
- Pulse Check: The New U.S-Africa Health Deals · March 12, 2026 · 50 min
- Nigeria: Religion, Power, and Peacebuilding · February 27, 2026 · 57 min
- Sudan: Navigating the World’s Largest Humanitarian Crisis · February 12, 2026 · 39 min
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