African aid effectiveness will face greater scrutiny

Significance

Many African leaders are fearful that aid budgets will soon fall due to some Western governments adopting more isolationist foreign policies. This would have a negative effect on the provision of public services across the continent, particularly aid-dependent states that lack valuable natural resources such as Malawi and Rwanda. Reduced aid provision will contribute to the mounting economic difficulties being experienced by many African economies and will particularly damage the non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector.

Impacts

• UK and US development agencies may be restructured with a greater emphasis on economic development and trade priorities.
• Authoritarian regimes will use counter-terrorism efforts to attract further Western funding.
• Leading NGOs will struggle to maintain previous revenue levels and may scale back operations, undermining the defence of human rights.