U.S. Election Day is here. We have some of the development implications for you, plus more on another race — that of who becomes the next president of the African Development Bank.
First, to America …
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• Don’t just look at whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump wins. Look at who holds power in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. That’s key to whether either candidate’s policies might be implemented, noted George Ingram, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Speaking at Devex World recently, Ingram added that even during Trump’s first term, some bills passed Congress — such as the Global Fragility Act — which were improvements in the U.S. aid system.
• Could this actually be a moment for bipartisanship and progress? David Beasley, the former World Food Programme boss and former Republican governor of South Carolina (who is now at the University of South Carolina) thinks so. Why? “Because I know the senators that I’m talking to now on both sides of the aisle, they are working together, ready for whoever wins, whoever wins the Senate, they want to work together to start addressing problems around the world,” he said at Devex World.
• The United Nations agency expected to be on the front lines of cuts, should Trump return for a second term? The United Nations Population Fund. UNFPA provides reproductive health services and education to women and girls in more than 150 countries. Every Republican president since Ronald Reagan has halted its funding, while every Democratic president has restored it.
• Valerie Huber, who served as U.S. special representative for global women’s health in the Trump administration, has been building a global anti-abortion coalition in recent years.
The big election reads:
• How will a shifting US Congress shape foreign aid? (Pro)
• David Beasley believes the US can once again lead on foreign aid. (Pro)
• Inside the global anti-abortion coalition preparing for Trump’s return.
+ On Nov. 12, Devex will host a roundtable of experts with firsthand experience of politics and aid in the U.S. to discuss the election outcome and its ramifications — from funding and leadership to LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights. Save your spot now.
Some like it Hott
Senegal’s former Economy Minister Amadou Hott has told Devex what changes he’d seek — should he succeed Akinwumi Adesina as president of the African Development Bank next year.
Hott stepped down in September as a green infrastructure special envoy at AfDB to go for the top job, which is due to be voted on by the bank’s governors in May 2025. Adesina has led the bank for nearly a decade.
Speaking to my colleague Adva Saldinger, Hott outlined his plans, including:
• A focus on jobs and economic growth.
• Potentially bringing in experts to help African governments on topics such as tax collection.
• More private sector operations, even if that entails greater risk and capital requirements.
• Boosting funding to the African Development Fund, which aids the continent’s least developed countries.
Read: AfDB should focus on jobs, innovation, says Amadou Hott (Pro)
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The big questions in Europe
The European Parliament gets to flex this week, as its committees grill the incoming team at the European Commission for the next five years. When it comes to development (remember, the commission is the third-largest donor of official development assistance measured by the OECD), expect plenty of scrutiny on the commissioner-designate, Jozef Síkela. Especially on the question: What is aid for?
Previously Czech industry and trade minister, Síkela made few friends in civil society and among the centrist and left-wing political groups in the Parliament when he tweeted shortly after his nomination this summer that he looked forward to using his role to open new markets for European companies.
The hearings are a tasty morsel for Brussels political animals and watch parties are not unheard of. While technically the members of the European Parliament can reject candidates if they turn in a poor performance — and the institution as a whole doesn’t mind claiming a scalp to underscore its relevance — a de facto political truce this time makes that unlikely.
Still, here is what we would ask Síkela, with some added reading from Devex for context in the hyperlinks:
Is the share of European Commission funding to the following areas: (A) insufficient, (B) about right, or (C) too high?
3. The European Investment Bank.
4. Ethiopia.
6. The Organisation of African, Caribbean, Pacific States.
Background reading: Are the proposed new EU aid leaders a good fit for the job? (Pro)
Watchdog bites IFC
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The International Finance Corporation says 43% of its long-term financing went to climate-related projects last year. But that’s not the end of the story.
A new report from its independent watchdog has found that the World Bank’s private sector arm is not:
• Properly tracking greenhouse gas emissions: For instance, the lender requires clients to quantify and report their GHG emissions once they reach a threshold of 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, whereas industry best practice has a threshold of 10,000 metric tons.
• Effectively evaluating less polluting alternatives: In some cases, such as a natural gas plant in Mozambique that IFC approved in 2021, the alternatives analysis was one paragraph and didn’t include information about why they determined alternatives were not feasible.
Read more: IFC watchdog calls on agency to revamp how it treats climate emissions
Around the world
The Devex World summit is a wrap for another year. This edition was in person only, so for those who couldn’t attend, here are a few exclusive Devex Pro stories that provide insights and expert analysis:
• Why philanthropy should embrace the idea of being just big enough.
• Why one of the world’s biggest INGOs hopes to get smaller.
• Why the CEO of one of the world’s major plastics manufacturers wants a U.N. treaty on plastics.
• Why the new CEO of the ONE Campaign wants to see a move away from aid.
• And why Gates Ventures says the pipeline for global health innovations is “more robust than it’s ever been.”
+ Pro members can watch all the panel sessions, interviews, and conversations from Devex World 2024.
What we’re reading
The United Nations Biodiversity Conference advances biodiversity protection despite ending before a finance deal. [Devex]
Pandemic Fund secures nearly half of its $2 billion target at its recent pledging event in Brazil. [Devex]
U.K. aid is on track to stay at 0.5% for the rest of the decade. [Devex]
About the author
Vince Chadwickvchadw
Vince Chadwick is a contributing reporter at Devex. A law graduate from Melbourne, Australia, he was social affairs reporter for The Age newspaper, before covering breaking news, the arts, and public policy across Europe, including as a reporter and editor at POLITICO Europe. He was long-listed for International Journalist of the Year at the 2023 One World Media Awards.
