Despite significant commitments by donors to re-direct international assistance to local actors, only a fraction of funds are channeled directly to local and National organizations in partner countries. A recent study by the Share Trust and the Warande Advisory Centre examines the economic implications of meeting localization goals by modeling a 25% shift of Official Development Assistance (ODA) from international to local intermediary structures. The study estimates that local intermediaries could deliver programming that is 32% more cost efficient on salaries and overheads than international intermediaries.  

During this one-hour event hosted by the Center for Global Development, Courtenay Cabot Venton, Executive Director of the Share Trust and lead author of the study, will present the findings from the analysis. She’ll then be joined in conversation with experts Naomi Ayot Oyaro and Justin Sandefur to discuss the challenges facing this agenda and other potential benefits of increasing locally led development.

NOTE (February 23, 2023): This conversation included an inaccurate characterization of Deloitte Tanzania and its relationship to other Deloitte-branded firms. We are grateful to Deloitte US for providing the following clarification:

"Unlike some international organizations and companies, Deloitte is not a global partnership. Rather, we are a network of independent member firms that license the Deloitte brand name under a set of common policies and standards that govern the brand name’s use. Accordingly, though member firms all share the Deloitte name, they are legally independent and cannot exercise control over one another.”

The implication that Deloitte Tanzania was not Tanzanian-run and operated was therefore also inaccurate, and not an example of a US-owned/controlled firm operating in a lower-income country.