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Fundraising News - Week of 29 Sep 2025


1) Funding risks and budget cuts

Donor: Oxfam

Type of Update: Warning / Funding Risk

Details: Oxfam reports that 17 OECD donors plan to cut USD 31.1 billion in aid for 2025. The U.S. is projected to cut ~90%, France ~40%. These reductions threaten funding for education, agriculture, and social protection across Africa.

 

Donor: Germany / BMZ & ODA

Type of Update: Budget / Policy Change

Details: Germany’s 2025 federal budget includes cuts of ~EUR 910 million (8%) in BMZ (development cooperation) and ~EUR 1.3 billion (47%) in humanitarian assistance. This represents a significant scaling back of Germany’s development and humanitarian footprint, impacting programmes in Africa.

Link: DSW

 

Donor: Bilateral OECD Donors

Type of Update: Trend / Funding Strategy

Details: The OECD projects a 9 to 17% drop in official development assistance (ODA) in 2025. Many OECD/DAC donors are reducing long-term development assistance, shifting budgets to climate, resilience, and security priorities. This poses a risk to social and health programmes in Africa that rely on consistent long-term ODA flows.

Link: OECD

 

African Capital Markets
African Capital Markets

2) Grants, pledges, and financing instruments

Donor: Gates Foundation

Type of Update: Grant / Pledge

Details: Pledged USD 912 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. This matches its previous commitment and aims to counteract government aid cuts.

Link: Reuters

 

Donor: OPEC Fund for International Development

Type of Update: Grant / Funding Commitment

Details: Committed over USD 1 billion in new financing toward Africa and other developing countries as part of a broader USD 2 billion pledge over 5 years.

Link: Reuters

 

Donor: Japan / JICA

Type of Update: Grant / Financing Instrument

Details: Issued Africa TICAD bonds worth ~USD 155 million (JPY 23 billion) to finance African development projects, including infrastructure and social investments.

 

Donor: Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), backed by Bezos Earth Fund, IKEA Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation

Type of Update: Funding / Strategic Expansion

Details: Announced a 5-year plan to mobilize USD 7.5 billion for renewable energy in developing countries. At least USD 500 million in philanthropic capital will be leveraged ~15x through MDB and private sector partnerships. Focus areas include “Grids of the Future,” battery storage, and digital utilities across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Link: EcoFin

 

3) Partnerships, trade, and investment

Donor: Afreximbank / African Union / AfCFTA Secretariat

Type of Update: Grant / Partnership / Trade & Investment Pledge

Details: At the 2025 Intra-African Trade Fair (Sept 4–10, Algiers), USD 48.3 billion in deals were signed. Albania accounted for ~USD 11.6 billion (~25%). Deals covered agriculture, energy, transport, finance, and manufacturing. The IATF will be institutionalised with permanent structures.

 

Donor: AfDB & Bloomberg Philanthropies

Type of Update: Partnership

Details: Launched collaboration to convene private financial institutions and mobilise capital into Africa’s development sectors including jobs, gender, and climate resilience.

Link: AfDB

 

Donor: AU, EU, Germany

Type of Update: Partnership / Pledge

Details: At the 2nd Africa Climate Summit, AU, EU, and BMZ launched CEPA and ENGAGE programmes to accelerate Africa’s energy access and green transition. These support AfSEM and the CMP under Agenda 2063, as part of Global Gateway.

Link: EEAS

 

Donor: South Korea & Kenya

Type of Update: Strategic Partnership

Details: Strengthened cooperation in education, agriculture, climate, and innovation. Key projects include Konza Digital Media City, Kenya-AIST, and International Vaccine Institute offices. Plans for Korea Exim Bank in Nairobi. Expanded cooperation on labour mobility, energy, and climate change.

 

4) Policy and strategy shifts

Donor: USA / State Department / Foreign Aid Architecture

Type of Update: Policy Change / Strategy Shift

Details: New “America First Global Health Strategy” resumes funding for HIV, TB, malaria, and polio medicines plus salaries for health workers. Delivery will prioritise bilateral agreements with governments and faith-based organisations. NGOs seen as financially weak will lose out.

 

Donor: U.S. (DFC & State Department)

Type of Update: Policy Proposal / Reform

Details: Proposed raising DFC lending cap to USD 250 billion, broaden mandate to invest in some high-income countries, create new finance mechanisms, and ease congressional notification thresholds. A new global health compact shifts responsibility to partner countries while tying aid to U.S. policy.

 

Donor: AfDB / ADF

Type of Update: Policy Shift / Strategy

Details: ADF will begin tapping capital markets in 2027, targeting ~USD 5 billion every 3 years via bonds, supplementing donor contributions. This marks a historic shift toward market-based fundraising.

Link: Reuters

 

Donor: Global Health / UN Agencies

Type of Update: Policy Signal

Details: UN agencies warn that shrinking multilateral aid will leave low- and middle-income African countries with fewer resources to confront major health threats.

Link: Unitaid

 

5) Operational changes

Donor: USAID (Closure Process)

Type of Update: Operational Change / Asset Liquidation

Details: Following closure announcements, a “fire sale” of USAID assets (medical kits, vehicles, solar panels) is underway. By August 1, 2025, 86% of USAID’s awards (5,346 of 6,193) had been terminated. Programmes are in flux, disrupting health and development delivery in Africa.

 

 

6)    Multilateral Finance & Climate Funds

Donor / Organisation: Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs)

Type of Update: Climate Finance / Record Funding

Details: MDBs reported a record USD 137 billion in climate finance for 2024. Of this, USD 85.1 billion was directed to low- and middle-income countries. Private finance mobilisation increased by 33% compared to the previous year, highlighting MDBs’ growing emphasis on crowding in private capital alongside concessional funding.

Link: Reuters

 

Donor / Organisation: Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Type of Update: Innovative Finance / Wildlife & Biodiversity Bonds

Details: The GEF is scaling wildlife and biodiversity bonds across Africa to cover all 54 countries. It has committed an initial USD 150 million, which could leverage up to USD 1.5 billion in conservation capital through pay-for-results structures. This represents a major expansion of nature finance using outcome-based instruments.

Link: Reuters

 

Donor / Organisation: Africa Finance Corporation (AFC)

Type of Update: Resource Mobilisation / Domestic Capital

Details: The AFC estimates that as much as USD 4 trillion of local capital exists in African pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and other institutional pools. AFC is positioning to mobilise this domestic capital for infrastructure and climate-aligned projects, signalling opportunities for blended finance structures that tap local institutional investors.

Link: Reuters

 

Donor / Organisation: African Development Fund (ADF) / AfDB

Type of Update: Policy Shift / Capital Markets Strategy

Details: The ADF announced plans to begin issuing bonds on international capital markets by 2027, targeting USD 5 billion per replenishment cycle (every 3 years). This represents a historic shift from reliance on donor contributions to tapping debt markets, creating potential opportunities for NGOs to co-finance bond-linked projects.

Link: Reuters

 

Donor / Organisation: African Treasuries (e.g., South Africa)

Type of Update: Domestic Finance Innovation / ESG Instruments

Details: Several African governments are experimenting with structured instruments to expand fiscal space. South Africa, for example, sought at least USD 500 million in foreign currency funding via ESG-linked forex instruments as an alternative to Eurobond issuance. Broader trends include domestic levies, public-private partnerships, and debt swaps.

Link: Reuters


 
 
 

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