Governing aid coordination in regional platforms: the G20 Compact with Africa case

Abstract

The diversity and increasing number of development actors is a factor of complexity for recipient countries that puts at risk the efficiency of assistance delivery and undermines country ownership. The G20 Leaders have called on the international community to promote country platforms, owned by governments, to foster coordination among development partners and mobilize private investments. The objective of this study is to analyse the coordination exercise of the G20 Compact with Africa, a regional platform initiated under the Germany G20 Presidency in 2017, in line with its mandate to leverage private financing. In particular, we will investigate how the international community pursues common goals in the sectors of operations under the Compact with Africa and how Compact's countries structure their national development and sectoral strategies in synergy with development partners. The analysis will be triangulated through a documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews to assess how country platforms can contribute to promoting a coordinated approach among development partners in the definition of government priorities and attract private sector investments. The implications of this work emphasize that country platforms can act as a vehicle to harmonize, monitor, and narrow the number of development priorities in a country. For this mechanism to be effective, country leadership and ownership should be inclusive of all development partners and in line with governments’ needs and targets.