The development world stands at a turning point. Official development assistance — led by cuts in the United States — has taken a staggering hit, with a 17% drop in spending estimated this year alone. And for John Denton, the head of the International Chamber of Commerce, there’s only one thing that can effectively fill the gap.
“Let’s be real here. We’ve now got this demise, if not, significant erosion of the development assistance opportunities,” he said. ICC represents 45 million businesses in 170 countries.
“[The development sector’s] economic models for growth have been based, quite significantly, on development assistance. That’s not there anymore, so what is going to replace it? Our argument is that it needs to be private sector-led economic development,” he said.
About the author
Elissa Miolene
Elissa Miolene covers U.S. foreign assistance from Washington, D.C. She previously covered education at The San Jose Mercury News, and has written for The Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, and other news outlets across the world. Before shifting to journalism, Elissa led communications for aid agencies in the United States, East Africa, and South Asia.
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