Africa's Awakening: A Zimbabwean Perspective on the Need for Harnessing local resources for Endogenous Resilience amidst global funding shifts

Zimbabwe, like many African countries, has long depended on foreign assistance for its development. However, the recent and sudden drop in global Official Development Assistance (ODA) calls for a re-examination of this dependence as well as the need to accelerate the building of endogenous resilience. Using document review, key informant interviews, observations, and focus group discussions, this qualitative study examines the multifaceted implications of this funding shift in Zimbabwe, revealing its pervasive impacts. The research shows the perception of declining global funding impacting important sectors — with face loss of health, agriculture, and governance — and highlights vulnerabilities in the country. While considerable obstacles exist, including limited domestic resources and weak institutions, the assessment also identifies key opportunities for Zimbabwe to operationalize self-reliance through strengthened domestic resource mobilization and South-South cooperation, as well as a renewed emphasis on local ownership. Moreover, these findings emphasize the absolute necessity of strong Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) systems to ensure the efficient and transparent allocation of limited resources during this transitional process towards sustainability. As such this study concludes that the decline in global development funding represents a crucial juncture for Zimbabwe to plot a course for much more sustainable and locally driven development, with robust M&E systems at the very foundation of that transformative journey in an evolving system of international assistance that is now on the verge of transformation.