Commentary

On April 22nd, MCC staff were told the agency would be effectively shuttered, with most work immediately suspended. The agency’s model means its spending is concentrated in a few countries. For a subset of those countries, the impact will be considerable.

Ahead of the African Development Bank's presidential election in May, CGD's Karen Mathiasen and AfriCatalyst's Daouda Sembene interview three of the candidates – Amadou Hott, Samuel Munzele Maimbo, and Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala – on their priorities for the Bank and their views on how to help stee...

With disease outbreaks continuing to emerge–including mpox, bird flu, and unidentified pathogens—it’s clear that the next pandemic is not a distant possibility but a looming reality. When it arrives, countries will face a crucial decision: wait for vaccine approvals before making procurement deals o...

Developing economies face mounting fiscal pressure from slowing global growth, crippling debt service, and steep cuts to international aid budgets. Higher taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks may be part of the solution. Often implemented to improve public health, these taxes have significan...

We’ve previously looked at the sectoral and geographic impact of the proposed USAID award cuts. But for those who want to see US foreign assistance back on its feet, it is also worth looking at the impact on awardees—the firms, nonprofits, and international organizations that implement USAID projec...

With major cuts to foreign assistance announced or anticipated in the US, the UK, and across the EU, and in the World Bank’s subsidized lending program, we must urgently work to get the most out of shrinking aid budgets. Nothing can prevent the cuts from leading to deaths, but we can still do better...

On Wednesday, World Bank President Ajay Banga announced that the Bank will pursue an “all of the above” approach to energy projects in poor countries, including lending for natural gas, geothermal, hydroelectric, solar, wind, and nuclear power. This marks a departure from its current policy of fundi...