Reimagining Development: Learning from Failures in Africa
Despite significant global investments, development programs in Africa have often failed to deliver long-term, contextually relevant impact. In this compelling session moderated by Haileselassie Medhin of the IKEA Foundation, a diverse panel of practitioners, researchers, and development leaders openly reflect on the shortcomings of top-down interventions, projectized funding structures, and the systemic neglect of local realities. From energy access to agroecology, and policy advocacy to infrastructure deployment, each speaker shares powerful stories of failure, not as a dead end, but as an entry point for transformation.
Million Belay from the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa details the challenges civil society faces when confronting bureaucratic inertia and donor influence. Simon O’Connell of SNV and Makena Ireri of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet explore the tensions between vision and execution, highlighting how siloed strategies and performative collaboration can derail meaningful progress. Vijay Modi from Columbia University introduces academic perspectives on the mismatch between assumed needs and actual usage patterns, while Paul Yillia and Sisty Basil offer honest accounts of coordination breakdowns in energy and healthcare delivery across Sierra Leone and Tanzania.
What emerges is a nuanced, multi-layered conversation that does not shy away from complexity. The panelists call for a radical reimagining of development: one that centers indigenous knowledge, enables community agency, and moves away from metrics-based validation toward genuine systems change. In acknowledging failure as a shared, structural reality, this session invites development practitioners, funders, and policymakers to embrace humility, deepen collaboration, and co-create solutions that reflect Africa’s diverse needs and dynamic contexts.
