With ODA falling and multilaterals facing deeper cuts, Ota Akhigbe argues for modest, measurable changes — flexible local buffers, a clear localisation ratio, and open‑standards digital rails — that can protect service delivery without big new budgets ahead of UN General Assembly week.
Two weeks after the Insights Learning Forum in Abuja, the argument that practical, people‑centred design must drive digital health and systems strengthening remains urgent — and it now meets a considerably tougher financing backdrop. In a column for BusinessDay, Ota Akhigbe set out a pragmatic agenda: small, time‑bound financing flex, measurable localisation, and an emphasis on shared digital rails and creative influence as ways to protect delivery when budgets wobble. (businessday.ng)
The macro picture helps explain why those modest, operational moves matter. The United Nations secretariat has been asked to identify workforce reductions of roughly 15–20 percent as part of the UN’s wider efficiency drive, a level of retrenchment that signals volatility has become the default for multilaterals. That direction comes from internal UN guidance reported by AP News and is feeding into next year’s budget cycle. (apnews.com)
At the same time, official development assistance is no longer on an unbroken upward arc. OECD preliminary figures show ODA from DAC members fell by 7.1 percent in real terms in 2024 — the first decline in several years — and the OECD’s analysis warns of further falls this year in scenarios ranging broadly from about 9 to 17 percent depending on donor actions. Those declines translate into fewer and smaller grants for programme managers, and into cashflow gaps that can stall procurement, interrupt supply chains and slow routine primary‑care services. (oecd.org)
Washington’s fiscal manoeuvres add a concrete near‑term risk. A congressional rescissions package that would claw back roughly $8–9 billion from previously appropriated funds includes cuts to foreign assistance and to multilateral channels — a move that could slow disbursements and squeeze liquidity for international partners. For implementation on the continent, delayed transfers mean vaccine orders postponed and fragile supply chains stretched. (apnews.com)
Faced with that squeeze, the practical policy responses Akhigbe outlined are low‑glamour but high‑leverage. First, create limited, predictable finance flexibility where it matters: a small, locally managed buffer within portfolio budgets — for example a time‑bound 10 percent line linked to results and oversight — can bridge timing gaps without diluting accountability. Second, set a clear localisation ratio — Akhigbe proposes 40–50 percent of programme spend through African‑led implementers — coupled with quarterly, transparent reporting so localisation becomes a performance metric, not an aspiration. Third, build on shared rails: identity, payments, registries and logistics that let countries plug in new applications without tearing down existing systems. As Akhigbe put it in BusinessDay, “Digital public infrastructure, identity, payments, registries, and logistics let countries plug in new tools without ripping out the system.” (businessday.ng)
The World Bank’s work on digital public infrastructure (DPI) underscores why that rails‑first approach matters. World Bank programmes such as ID and G2P efforts show how secure digital IDs and government‑to‑person payment platforms can reduce friction, protect fiscal transfers and enable rapid scaling of services — provided governance, privacy and interoperability are addressed at the outset. That evidence makes a strong case for prioritising open standards and qualified local vendors where specifications and value for money are met. (worldbank.org)
Nigeria offers a practical testing ground for the approach. The Basic Health Care Provision Fund and a maturing DPI stack are already scaffolding primary‑care improvements anchored in local realities; private‑sector partners can lay technical rails while creatives and youth networks build the trust and attention that determine uptake. These are not abstract building blocks but operating assets that can be woven together by integrators who braid financing, technology and cultural credibility into a single operating model, as Akhigbe argued. (businessday.ng)
Operationalising these ideas at UN General Assembly week is a realistic use of proximity. UNGA convenes decision‑makers able to commit to procurement norms, reporting standards and pilot funding models. Three specific commitments Akhigbe urged funders and partners to make on the record are sensible and achievable: a pilot flexible, multi‑year buffer in 2026 portfolios; adoption of a measurable localisation ratio with public flow‑and‑results reporting; and prioritisation of open‑standards DPI and qualified local vendors in procurement when value for money is demonstrable. These moves do not require big new budgets; they change the rules of deployment so existing funds buy more resilience. (businessday.ng)
A few pragmatic caveats are worth noting. First, flexibility must be designed with accountability: time‑limits, clear results metrics and local governance reduce the risk that a buffer becomes a slush fund. Second, localisation targets require parallel capacity investments — rapidly channelled money into local implementers without accompanying mentoring, sub‑granting systems and fiduciary support will not produce outcomes. Third, DPI adoption depends on robust governance: interoperability standards, data protection and vendor qualification frameworks are preconditions for scale, not afterthoughts. The OECD’s analysis of ODA cuts stresses the risk that poorer and fragile states will suffer unevenly if shortfalls are not managed with deliberate, pro‑poor safeguards. (oecd.org)
Finally, Akhigbe’s fourth lever — creative influence — matters in a tight funding cycle. Attention‑efficient channels such as youth‑led storytelling, social games and chat interfaces can lower the cost‑per‑influence and speed behaviour change in ways conventional communications rarely do. In practice, that means funding creative briefs and impact measurement alongside procurement pipelines, not as discretionary extras.
There will be those who counsel retrenchment and process preservation in a “retrenchment year.” The counter‑argument set out in Abuja and rehearsed ahead of UNGA is that constrained central resources make it more important, not less, to optimise how every dollar flows and how every procurement is specified. Small, measurable changes to portfolio design — flexible buffers, transparent localisation ratios, and open‑standards DPI procurement — are not panaceas. But they are feasible, low‑risk ways to smooth volatility, shorten feedback loops and protect services for communities dependent on those systems.
If UNGA is to be more than a photo opportunity this year, ministers, funders and procurement leads should arrive with the narrow asks they can deliver: a budget line to pilot, a vendor list to open, a reporting norm to adopt, or a story to amplify. The policy horizon looks tighter than it did a year ago; the political economy of implementation requires less grandstanding and more execution. As Akhigbe concluded in BusinessDay, the test for African systems now is whether we can lock in small, time‑bound commitments that shift whole systems — and then publish the receipts. (businessday.ng, apnews.com, oecd.org, worldbank.org)
Source: Noah Wire Services
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