The European Union’s years-long effort to improve the impact and visibility of its financing in Africa has resulted in a “bad option for development,” according to the head of a 2019 Wise Persons report on the topic.
Thomas Wieser told the Center for Global Development and ECDPM think tank last week that the so-called “Status Quo+” improvements being planned for the bloc’s development finance system are a missed opportunity.
“I guess the plus was added by some people because they were slightly embarrassed at coming up with something that is only a bit better than the status quo, which is not good,” Wieser said.