The context for traditional aid and development is rapidly changing with dramatic cuts to aid budgets, shifting aid priorities, widespread fragility, and increasingly unpredictable economic and trade policies globally. Beyond the reduction in financial support through traditional aid channels it is difficult to predict the precise impacts from these changes. There will be winners and losers based on economic sectors and geographies. Despite the valid concerns especially for the most vulnerable communities, it is critical for donor agencies supporting Private Sector Development (PSD) to understand and seize opportunities to keep PSD high up on political agendas and shape PSD efforts in light of new challenges and opportunities.
The DCED has launched this webpage to gather resources on the various emerging strategic shifts in the (private sector) development sector. It is being regularly updated to feature emerging analyses and thinking on the topic.
The case for aid
- Don’t Give Up On Aid Just Yet, Centre for Global Development (CGD), 2025
- International development cooperation is in Germany’s national interest, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), 2025
- Perils and pitfalls of trading off foreign aid and defence expenditure, ODI, 2025
- Who cares about aid? Voters do!, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), 2025
Aid priorities in a changing world
- Aid under pressure: 3 accelerating shifts in official development assistance, UNCTAD, 2024
- Donors in a post-aid world dialogue series: Crafting a new rationale for northern donorship, ODI, 2024
- Policy for a rules-based multipolar world, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), 2025
- Global South perspectives on US development assistance changes and future directions, Brookings, 2025
- The future of aid (website with blogs, podcasts, publications and more), ODI
- EU Development policy in times of polycrisis, European Think Tanks Group (ETTG), 2023
New approaches to address changing priorities
- The Future of Official Development Assistance: Incremental Improvements or Radical Reform?, Centre for Global Development (CGD), 2025
- What Does It Mean for Agencies to Be Effective in a Changing Development Landscape?, Centre for Global Development (CGD), 2025
- Navigating aid and national interest in Ukraine: the development toolbox of European donors, ODI, 2024
- Exploring Barriers and Opportunities for Deepening Cooperation across DAC and Non-DAC Providers, Centre for Global Development (CGD), 2024
- Mind the Gap: Bridging the Divide between Cooperation Providers, Centre for Global Development (CGD), 2024
Ending engagement
- Phasing out responsibly: Switzerland’s lessons from ending bilateral co-operation in Latin America and the Caribbean, OECD, 2025
- Closing programs whilst continuing to keep people safe: what to consider, BOND, 2025
- When aid relationships change: DFID’s approach to managing exit and transition in its development partnerships, Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI), 2016
Role of the private sector in Ukraine’s reconstruction
- Rebuilding Ukraine: Priorities and challenges, Council on Foreign Relations, 2025
- Removing Bottlenecks for the Private Sector: Ukraine’s Current State of Reforms, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, 2024
- How Ukraine’s Private Sector Supports Businesses in Crisis, IFC, 2022
- Private Sector Opportunities for a Green and Resilient Reconstruction in Ukraine, IFC, 2023
PSD approaches in severely fragile and forced displacement contexts
For more resources on this topic, please also see the DCED’s dedicated pages on PSD in fragile and Forcibly Displaced Persons (FDP) contexts.
- Engaging in contexts facing highest fragility, OECD, 2024
- The livelihoods of forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) A global evidence review, ODI, 2024
- The humanitarian-development-peace nexus and forced displacement: Progress, insights and recommendations for operational practice, OECD, 2024
- Empowering Migrants and Communities: Private Sector Engagement for Inclusive Sustainable Development, UNDP, 2023
- Best Practices from the East and Horn and Great Lakes Region of Successful Cooperation with Private Sector, Global Compact on Refugees, 2023
Working in challenging political authorising environments
- Staying Engaged in Authoritarian Contexts: Learnings from SDC Experiences, SDC, 2023
- How (not) to engage with authoritarian states, Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), 2023
- Aid strategies in ‘politically estranged’ settings, Chatham House, 2023
New policy and partnership priorities for growth in Africa
- ‘Africa First’: A new vision for Africa’s growth and US engagement, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, 2025
- Leveraging Africa’s inner strength to realize its full economic potential, Brookings, 2025
- Impact of the Russia–Ukraine war on Africa: policy implications for navigating shocks and building resilience, ODI, 2024
- Europe-Africa Relations in a Multi-crises world, 2023
- After US elections, Africa and Europe should strengthen partnership for green industrialisation, 2024
Opportunities for African trade
- Unlocking Africa’s Trade Potential – Boosting Regional Markets and Reducing Risks, UNCTAD, 2024
- Intra-African trade and its potential to accelerate progress toward the SDGs, Brookings, 2025
- African countries could unlock billions in local and global trade – what’s working and what’s not, The Conversation, 2024
- A ‘golden age’ of global free trade is over. Smaller alliances can meet the moment, The Conversation, 2025
- Aid for Trade at a glance 2024, WTO
Where have we got to and where might additional resources come from?
- Financing for Sustainable Development report 2024, United Nations
- Global Outlook on Financing for Sustainable Development 2025, OECD
- Financing the Future: IDA’s Role in the Evolving Global Aid Architecture, World Bank, 2024
- The MDB Role in “Billions to Trillions”: Were We Delusional?, Centre for Global Development (CGD), 2025
- Mobilising European Institutional Investors into Emerging Markets and Developing Economies: three critical areas to address, ODI, 2025
- Unlocking local currency financing in emerging markets and developing economies, OECD, 2025
- Private Finance for Development: Wishful Thinking or Thinking Out of the Box?, IMF, 2021
- F4D – Finance for Development (website with links to a range of sub-topics and resources), World Bank
- Leveraging private finance for development (website with data and links to resources), OECD
Donor – DFI collaboration
- How Well Do Development Finance Institutions and Bilateral Agencies Cooperate on Development?, Centre for Global Development (CGD), 2024
- Enhancing coordination between European donors, development agencies and DFIs/PDBs – Insights and recommendations (includes links to eight case studies), European Think Tanks Group (ETTG), 2022
- Bridging the gap: Unlocking Synergies between Private Sector Development and Development Finance, British Investment International (BII) and Gatsby Africa, 2022
- Building Bridges: Case studies on successful collaboration between donors and development finance institutions, BII, FMO and Gatsby Africa, 2024
- DFI sponsorship of new platforms and ventures: why and how?, ODI, 2025
- How development finance institutions are fostering growth in frontier markets in Africa, BII and FMO, 2024
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