Audio By Vocalize
Listening to presentations at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) Conference on Transforming International Development Cooperation in Nairobi from 22-23 June 2026, led to various curious questions, comments, or debates from various speakers, panels and audience members.
The matter of how aid, or its associated development cooperation, tips over the structure of African markets was put forward in a somewhat clever but polite manner, which is very uncanny in these testy political times. While development cooperation is helpful, it still has shortfalls in not only offering efficient, credible, and measurable solutions, but also the agency needed in achieving outcomes that would lead to more enabling markets in Africa.
In examining the issue of markets, interests, and partnerships in a changing global order, it was interesting to hear how entrepreneurs thought the never-ending cycle of training initiatives has become an obsolete intervention when what they desperately need is access to credit.
Many commercial ventures are struggling to scale up to the point of market reliability. This is because development cooperation does not fully address the fundamental matters of rapid transformation needed to unlock the continent’s potential.
