Zimbabwe Urged To Prepare For Development Beyond Traditional Aid

Staff Reporter

VICTORIA FALLS — Zimbabwe and other developing countries must prepare for a development environment in which traditional donor funding is becoming increasingly limited, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Zimbabwe Dr Rosemary Kalapurakal has said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Solar Alliance’s 8th Africa Regional Meeting in Victoria Falls, Kalapurakal said developing countries could no longer base their development strategies on the assumption that wealthier nations would continue financing projects indefinitely.

She said the traditional model, in which richer countries provide funding and technology to developing countries, was changing, with governments increasingly expected to take the lead in setting and driving national development priorities.
“The model now is government-led, national priorities,” Kalapurakal said.

Her remarks came against the backdrop of discussions on expanding renewable energy across Africa, but she said the changing development environment had implications far beyond the energy sector.

For Zimbabwe, where international development assistance has supported infrastructure and social programmes, the shift could require greater emphasis on domestic resource mobilisation, trade and investment.

Kalapurakal said the United Nations was also adapting to the changing environment by aligning its programmes more closely with national development priorities.
She said UN initiatives should be developed in partnership with relevant government agencies and designed to support national policies rather than operate as standalone interventions.

“We don’t ever go off and just do something separate from the government,” she said.
The changing funding landscape is being driven partly by declining availability of traditional donor finance, with Kalapurakal describing the trend as a global development challenge.

“Donor funding is running out,” she said.
She said some traditional donor countries were increasingly promoting a “trade, not aid” approach, presenting developing countries with the need to identify opportunities to generate economic value from their own resources.

“It’s not just a challenge; it’s an opportunity for developing countries to think,” Kalapurakal said.

For Zimbabwe, this means examining what the country has that can be traded while aligning those opportunities with the major programmes and aspirations contained in its national development strategy.

Kalapurakal said the changing role of international organisations also meant moving beyond simply providing financial assistance. The UN, she said, could contribute scientific research, international norms and standards, technical expertise, convening power, and experience from working across different countries.

The International Solar Alliance, which has more than 120 member states, provides a platform for countries to exchange knowledge and experience in renewable energy and related development challenges.
However, Kalapurakal cautioned against directly transplanting solutions developed in other countries into Zimbabwe without considering local circumstances.

She cited India, where densely populated settlements create different challenges for delivering services to communities, while Zimbabwe’s dispersed rural population requires approaches suited to its geographical circumstances.

“The last mile solutions to reach those really dispersed villages that you have in Zimbabwe cannot come from India, perhaps,” Kalapurakal said.

She also called for greater coordination among government institutions, arguing that many development challenges are experienced at local level and cannot be effectively addressed by one ministry working in isolation.

The UN is seeking to apply a similar approach within its own system by encouraging its agencies to work together rather than pursuing disconnected interventions.

Zimbabwe’s First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa also attended the conference, highlighting the role of high-level government advocacy in advancing renewable energy engagement.

Kalapurakal said the era of one-off development projects should give way to longer-term programmes aligned with national priorities, arguing that isolated interventions risk losing their impact when funding ends.

For Zimbabwe, the emerging development environment could therefore require a shift in expectations around international assistance. While international partners may continue providing financing, their role is increasingly likely to centre on supporting nationally owned programmes, technical expertise and other forms of development cooperation, as the country faces greater pressure to mobilise its own resources and pursue trade and investment opportunities.