Pic by UNOPS Global development finance is entering a harsher season. Aid volumes dipped in 2024 for the first time in five years, while indebted low‑income countries faced escalating debt service and shrinking fiscal space. Against this backdrop, one question reigns supreme: is Global North private sector activity, both via profit‑shifting practices and the growing use of “private sector instruments” in aid, crowding out government revenue and, in turn, squeezing public assi

Pic by NC State University The national reflex in times of hunger is predictable: buy more maize, shore up ADMARC stocks, and pray the rains arrive on time. “Chimanga ndi moyo” (maize is life) is more than a proverb; it is a policy reflex, a political promise, a cultural comfort. Yet, the economics are unforgiving and the climate is changing faster than our budget lines and slogans. If we want food security and real self‑reliance, we must look beyond expensive, input‑hungry m

Photo by WFP/Giulio d'Adamo Watching our economy navigate the most severe crisis in a generation, one believes we have reached a point where the choices we make over the next two to three years will determine whether Malawi stabilizes and grows or slides into prolonged stagnation. The comforting era of generous, predictable aid is fading. Donor budget support has become episodic and largely off-budget since the 2013 Cashgate scandal, and while grants spiked during COVID‑19 an

Photo by Freedom House Shifting Global Aid Dynamics and the SDGs Global foreign aid patterns have undergone notable changes. In this...