Localization, legacies and leverage:three essays on donor funding and aid allocation in Africa and beyond

Through three interconnected essays, this dissertation examines the political nature of aid allocation and how it is influenced by institutional dynamics, historical legacies, and the rise of new private actors. The first essay focuses on the extent to which donors channel aid to and through local actors (i.e., localize funding). By analyzing Sierra Leone’s Development Assistance Database and conducting primary interviews, this study finds that multilateral donors are more likely to provide funding for local actors compared to bilateral donors. The second essay examines whether and how colonial legacies continue to shape donor-recipient ties. Using data from the OECD’s Creditor Reporting System, I find that while colonial legacies in aid is declining overall within former colonies, the rate of decline varies. Former French African colonies, despite being more reliant on French aid, experience a faster diversification of donors compared to former British African colonies. The third essay examines whether and how the presence of BMGF alters the funding behavior of bilateral and multilateral donors in global health. Through a mixed-methods approach analyzing over 314,107 health projects across 143 countries over 21 years, alongside qualitative interviews with global health experts, the study finds a crowding-in effect of BMGF funding by other bilateral and multilateral donors.