In recent weeks, development conversations have circled around the ripple effects of shifting global priorities, especially the retreat of U.S. multilateral commitments and Germany’s emerging leadership role. At the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, the announcement of a new North-South Commission signals Berlin’s intent to reinvigorate multilateral cooperation. For African stakeholders, this moment presents a timely opportunity, not simply to adjust to a new order but to help shape it.
“Today, development platforms are rightly making more space for African voices. But space alone is not power; the next evolution is from inclusion to influence.”
The most pressing question is not about where funding will come from. It is about what kind of development partnership we want and what kind we need.
For too long, development assistance has followed a familiar rhythm; donors define priorities, channel funding through intermediaries, and measure results based on predefined metrics. Although this model has supported significant progress in many areas, it has also, unintentionally, created systems that depend on external inputs to function. The result is often progress that is valuable but not always lasting.
As multilateral actors now work to reconfigure priorities and bridge funding gaps, the challenge, and the opportunity, is not just about replacing donors. It is about replacing paradigms. We have a chance to move from a model of co-dependence to one of co-creation, from transactional aid to reciprocal partnership, with shared vision, ownership, and investment.
What the moment demands
The African continent does not need more “support” in the traditional sense. What it needs is alignment of capital with context, of urgency with opportunity, and of resources with strategies that are already underway.
Development actors, especially those entering this new phase of leadership, have an opportunity to lead not with louder promises but with smarter practice. The goal is not to replace one set of commitments with another but to build systems that can stand on their own because they are designed, resourced, and governed in ways that reflect reality on the ground.
Take healthcare as one example. In South Africa, the abrupt withdrawal of PEPFAR support exposed how quickly gains can be undone when systems are too externally dependent. Clinics shuttered, jobs disappeared, and medication access was disrupted. This wasn’t only a funding issue; it was a design issue. Resilience, by definition, must be locally anchored.
What’s working, and what can scale
The good news is that there are encouraging signs of evolution. Spain’s international development agency, AECID, has repositioned itself as a connector of ecosystems, bringing together governments, private sector actors, and local innovators to jointly solve problems. This is not branding. It’s structural progress.
At eHealth Africa, we’ve taken a similar approach. Rather than assume solutions, we co-create them with public health institutions, frontline workers, and communities. When we launched PlanFeld, a digital planning tool for immunisation teams, its success wasn’t based on cutting-edge technology. It worked because it was simple, practical, multilingual, and designed with the rhythm of its users in mind.
Innovation, after all, is not about sophistication. It’s about fit. And fit requires listening, testing, and adapting long before scale.
From inclusion to influence
Today, development platforms are rightly making more space for African voices. But space alone is not power; the next evolution is from inclusion to influence.
This means creating the conditions for African governments and institutions to truly lead the agenda, rather than continually responding to it. It means revisiting procurement and compliance systems that, while well-intentioned, often exclude the very local organisations that deliver the most meaningful grassroots impact, simply because they don’t have the expensive reporting infrastructure. And it means embedding African research institutions into programme design and evaluation from the start, not as a courtesy or a checkbox, but as core knowledge partners shaping direction and outcomes.
True partnership recognises that the closest proximity to impact often lies with local actors, not headquarters.
Practical recommendations for development practitioners
For global development actors, particularly those redefining their roles in this new era, this is a moment to not just reaffirm commitments but reimagine methods. Here are five actionable ways to do so:
Fund ecosystems, not silos: Support coalitions of African-led organisations working toward shared goals. Prioritise joint outcomes, not fragmented efforts.
Invest in language access: More than half of African women do not speak English as a first language. Build platforms in Hausa, Swahili, Amharic, and other local languages. Accessibility is not a technical feature; it’s an equity imperative.
Design for flexibility: Move from rigid grant cycles to portfolio models that allow adaptation. Flexibility is not a risk; it’s a strategy for resilience.
Think beyond roads and ports: Invest in digital public goods, data systems, health logistics platforms, and quality assurance labs. These are the invisible scaffolds of sovereignty.
See local organisations as co-investors: Ask not just what they need, but what they offer, networks, trust, context, and staying power. Development is not a transaction; it’s a partnership of equals.
A more balanced future
If multilateralism is to succeed in this new era, it must not only be revived; it must be rebalanced.
Africa is not simply a recipient of generosity. It is a co-architect of global security, climate stability, and economic innovation. The future of development rests not on a foundation of goodwill but on mutual accountability, practical trust, and shared ambition.
This is a defining moment. The opportunity is here, not only to rebuild what was but to reimagine what could be.
Let us choose partnership not out of habit, but out of belief that by working together, with respect and clarity, we can build systems that are not only sustainable, but truly sovereign.
Ota Akhigbe is the Director of Partnerships and Programmes at eHealth Africa. She writes at the intersection of health, equity, and systems innovation. Her weekly BusinessDay column explores practical paths for inclusive development and structural transformation in Africa.
