The U.K.’s decision to end bilateral aid to South Africa by 2015 underscores the growing need for implementing partners — especially NGOs — to diversify their sources of funding to fill the void left by cash-strapped traditional donors.
The British Department for International Development’s announcement in May reflects a growing donor perception — that this emerging economy and donor nation no longer needs foreign aid. U.K. Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening says the South African government, like the Indian government before, can now pretty much handle its own development challenges, and other donors seem to be on the same page.
The United States is set to scale down its health footprint in South Africa with a reduced U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief allocation in the next five years that could go down to as low as $250 million by 2017, a move that is sure to drive aid groups working in the HIV/AIDS sector to scramble for funds in a country that is a unique case in Africa: A regional economic powerhouse and middle-income nation that nevertheless still suffers substantial poverty.