On 5th December 2023, Development Reimagined launched a new dialogue series entitled Fast-tracking Decolonisation. The series will explore ways for development organisations to enhance their commitment to decolonisation, identifying crucial areas that can expedite transformation within the development landscape.
The new dialogue series builds on our previous conversations “Shifting Power in Global Health” hosted in 2021 in partnership with Wilton Park and the United Nation’s University.
The first dialogue, ‘Collaboration vs Competition- How can African organisations get the most out of local partnerships?’ explored how African led and/or African-owned organisations – from think tanks to Civil Society Organisations (CSO), private sector organisations (incl. consultancies) and even banks – can work together to build on shared strengths, avoid competition and best advance decolonisation in development, ultimately fast tracking progress on the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063 on the continent.
The dialogue reflected on the fact that there are a huge number of African organisations working towards localising development and fostering African leadership, but many are not always collaborating with eachother. Instead there has been a focus on localisation models – which prioritise international development agencies and donors working directly with local and grassroots organisations. While this is necessary, it is not sufficient, because the agency and African ownership this creates can be limited because of the 1:1 relationship it creates and the power of donors.
One of the key messages explored in the dialogue, therefore, was that partnership between African organisations can be useful and important, and, in turn that building up networks and creating strong ecosystems of African-led and African-owned organisations can play a significant role in bringing new African partnerships together. The dialogue explored some case studies, set out some practical steps on taking this forward, and also considered the crucial roles that African governments, and the private sector can play in supporting these collaborative efforts.
Interested to learn more? You can download the summary report/write-up (ENGLISH) here
If you would like to engage in further conversations on this, or be invited to our future dialogues in this series, please email us at clients@developmentreimagined.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
5th December 2023
