Presented by MSD for Mothers

Germany’s development agency is shifting toward a focus on private partnerships to boost its domestic economy, winning coalition backing but raising doubts. Experts warn German firms lack the capacity, leaving aid effectiveness at risk.
Also in today’s edition: Plaudits for constructive dissent, and the drive for vaccine manufacturing in Africa.
+ Join us today at 9:30 a.m. ET (3:30 p.m. CET) for a Devex Pro Funding Briefing on how a midsize U.S. funder mobilizes grassroots philanthropy to fund health partnerships in Africa. There’s still time to save your spot. Can’t attend live? Register anyway, and we’ll send you the recording.
Survival or spin?
German development ministry BMZ has a new strategy, published Oct. 7, to shift toward economic cooperation and private partnerships — a move designed to benefit the German economy. Both parties in the governing coalition back it, but experts still doubt it’ll change much.
“[German companies] are typically in the wrong sector,” says Heiner Janus of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability. “They tend to be in niche high-tech, not in large infrastructure or construction projects.” Those sectors, he adds, are “where Chinese companies dominate the global market.” OECD data shows 95.5% of BMZ projects went to companies outside Germany in 2022-23, and critics warn the proposed shift will weaken aid effectiveness.
But Germany is hardly an outlier in pushing its own economy for aid work. “When you look at the proposal for the EU budget, it’s almost the same language,” says Anita Käppeli of the Center for Global Development. “It’s about strategic interest, critical raw materials, trade promotion. So Germany’s really just jumping on the train.”
The politics are messy. BMZ nearly faced abolition this year amid defense spending pressure, and its 2025 draft budget was cut by 8%, or €910 million. “The context of this [plan] is a fairly new government that is now in charge of a ministry that was almost abolished,” Janus says. Käppeli calls it a “fight for survival – a fight to stay relevant.”
BMZ may be the last freestanding development ministry in the West. But with elections due by March 2029, it has to prove whether its turn inward to German firms can be a smart strategy — or just desperation.
Read: The German development ministry's survival plan (Pro)
+ Elevate your development work. Begin your 15-day free trial of Devex Pro and instantly access our comprehensive suite of resources: expert analysis, insider insights, an extensive funding database, curated events, and a library of exclusive content designed to keep you ahead. Discover all the exclusive content available to Pro members here.
Return to dissenter
“We were already one of the biggest proponents of ‘America First,’” says Randy Chester, a USAID veteran forced into early retirement after the Trump administration dismantled the agency. Now vice president and USAID liaison for the American Foreign Service Association, or AFSA, he’s working to keep its mission alive.
AFSA recently honored aid workers for “constructive dissent” at its annual awards, Devex Managing Editor Anna Gawel writes. Sam Kraegel, a former contracting officer, was recognized for coauthoring a memo opposing Trump’s aid cuts. Signing it was “terrifying,” he says. “We felt like we were going to lose our jobs, and then we did anyway.”
Kraegel and Chester both argue that USAID boosted the U.S. economy. “We were spending taxpayer dollars reinvesting in America,” Kraegel says, while Chester noted: “We always supported ‘America First’ … because it was a mandate … to buy America first.”
Their frustration? The lack of discussion. “We were expecting budget cuts … but we were expecting to have a dialogue,” Chester says. “We never got that opportunity.”
Chester has harsh words for U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s folding of USAID into the State Department, calling it a shift that strips staff of security without saving money. Kraegel calls AFSA’s dissent award “the honor of a lifetime,” his proudest moment in nearly 20 years of service.
Read: Former USAID staff honored for their ‘constructive dissent’
AI-yi-yi
AI meets global development in Barcelona this week, with policymakers, tech leaders, and aid organizations gathering at the AI for Development 2025 conference. They’ll explore how artificial intelligence can accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals — and what guardrails are needed to keep it ethical and inclusive.
Speakers include OpenAI’s Emmanuel Lubanzadio, World Food Programme’s Nasim Motalebi, UNICEF’s Henrietta Ridley, and creative technologist Javier Ideami. Expect conversations on data equity, humanitarian forecasting, and how smaller NGOs can practically adopt AI tools.
This is the second edition of the AI4D conference, organized by DevelopMetrics, a tech organization that develops AI and predictive analytics for development projects. DevelopMetrics CEO and founder Lindsey Moore tells Devex that this year, it seems tech companies are paying attention to the development community — with a sense of reserved curiosity, but still, they are in the room today. And of course, one of the main concerns for many present is finding the financing to support the development community’s inroads into using AI for impact.
“Last year, we really saw that the development community wasn’t as far along in the AI race. And I hope in this case, we see progression today, but I also hope to see funding,” Moore shared about her hopes for the next 12 months.
Devex is on the ground, covering how leaders are grappling with AI’s opportunities — from data analysis to reducing operational costs amid major aid cuts — while also addressing the profound risks related to data bias, governance, and equitable access in the global south.
Homegrown
Four years ago, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention set an ambitious goal: 60% of the continent’s vaccines manufactured locally. At this year’s World Health Summit, leaders said the drive is alive and expanding to cover therapeutics and diagnostics.
“The political will is not waning; it is increasing,” said Shanelle Hall of Africa CDC.
Pieces of the puzzle are coming together — from infrastructure to regulation — but questions linger over whether countries will actually buy what’s made. “This is the strand of work that has advanced the fastest,” said Martin Seychell of the European Commission Directorate-General for International Partnerships, pointing to the African Medicines Agency that’s now helping countries harmonize standards. He also cited the Human Development Accelerator, a joint fund that channels up to €750 million into infrastructure. And last year, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance launched the $1.2 billion African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, which aims to ease startup costs.
Yet major hurdles remain, Devex contributing reporter Andrew Green writes. “It just takes us too long to generate or find that candidate. … We simply can’t get any of the reagents, for instance, because they’re manufactured externally,” said Isabella Oyier of KEMRI-Wellcome Trust. Others stressed that technology transfers are essential if Africa is to hit the 2040 target.
Despite the obstacles, optimism ran high at WHS. “The African continent has refused to let this go, rightly,” Seychell said. “That’s very important.”
Read: Africa inches toward local production of vaccines and more
Read the takeaways from WHS: The World Health Summit focuses on opportunity amid a funding crisis
+ For more content like this, sign up to Devex CheckUp — our free weekly newsletter that provides front-line and behind-the-scenes reporting on global health.
Norway bucks the aid-cut trend
Norway’s aid budget dipped 5% last year; even so, it still gave 1.02% of its gross national income in ODA — the world’s highest level — and plans to hold steady in 2026.
For Gunn Jorid Roset, director general of NORAD, part of the job is making sure Norwegians know where that money goes. “I think that is where also the public trust in what we do comes in,” she said at a Devex Impact House event on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF annual meetings. “We inform about results, we inform about dilemmas, maybe also about the international discussions surrounding us when it comes to this landscape.”
The approach seems to be working. An Ipsos survey found 60% of Norwegians want aid to stay the same or increase, with even stronger backing among young people. But Roset admitted the squeeze is real, which is why NORAD is reaching beyond government funding. “We also have to engage with private sector, with philanthropic families’ funds, pension funds, to share our knowledge and … to have an even more transparent discussion,” she said.
And unlike other countries, the public isn’t pushing for a “Norway First” agenda. Just 9% said aid serves Norway’s interests, while more cited duty and the opportunity to help. “I’m very mindful of the fact that … to inform and enlighten and to keep up very transparent and open discussion about development assistance is very important,” she said, “Because you can’t take it for granted.”
Read: Citizens of the world's most generous donor favor its aid expenditures
In other news
The World Health Organization is preparing to declare the Ebola outbreak over in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the last patient discharged Sunday and no new cases reported since Sept. 25. [The Telegraph]
Reduced funding for malaria eradication could cause a resurgence of the disease, with a 20% cut in contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria projected to result in 33 million additional cases, 82,000 deaths, and a $5.14 billion loss in GDP by 2030. [The Guardian]
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer will attend the COP30 summit in Belém, Brazil, a reversal of earlier reports. [The Independent]
Sign up to Newswire for an inside look at the biggest stories in global development.