In my first encounters with development finance newbies and seasoned, documenting and reporting on outreach and communication, it became obvious that there are major misunderstandings on both sides of the aisle (donor-investor and recipient) … -Africa del Sahara, and to a greater extent in other parts of the world, when expectations are not communicated, roles are left to the assumption, this can jeopardize the “relationship” in that framework. Whether risks are minimized or returns are exaggerated, my role is to reasonably define the key responsibilities of each party and ensure that the Future Plan is understood and updated as necessary.
In the current framework of investment needs in sub-Saharan Africa, the opportunity gap is likely to affect underperformance in areas that are well known as high demand, so that local livelihoods are dependent. The basic infrastructure in food, agriculture, health and education is being provided without taking into account medium and long-term impacts or in sync with the interests of local private actors. The lost decades of development in the 1970s, partly attributed to such poor planning cycles from the donor perspective.
Due to the initial phase of sub-Saharan African markets, investors are often made up of local entrepreneurs, with very little cross-border involvement in such business opportunities. Endogenous investors often benefit from residual setbacks and unmet demands for donor investments. Even though the African food market is expanding with estimates showing it will be worth $ 1 trillion by 2030, up from $ 300 billion today. Key challenges remain in enabling an optimal transition of your companies to thriving businesses.
The beneficiaries who represent the majority of 90% of development aid resources are prepared, with little or no preparation, to fulfill the delicate task of producing the grains and harvesting them with the help of women and families in typical settings. of small farmers. In that sense, the demand for food is also projected to at least double by 2050.
These trends, combined with the continent’s food import bill, estimated at a staggering US $ 30-50 billion, indicate that there is an opportunity for small farmers, who already produce 80% of food. what we eat.
At this juncture, there is obviously no interaction between the perspective of donors, entrepreneurs and beneficiaries. Wherever resource allocation is sought, due to skills shortages and institutional instability, better disclosure and communication needs to be carried out for the sake of ownership and therefore accountability in deliverables of the project …
Obviously the whole part of a dialogue … Let’s start the conversation!
