Governance in a new development paradigm: Reformer leadership and partnership humility
This Working Paper, written by TPP Principal Wilfred Mwamba, calls for a major shift in how international actors support governance. With governance aid expected to decline sharply, the central question becomes whether reforms would continue if donor funding ended. Evidence from Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe shows a consistent pattern: reforms last when domestic reformers control design and implementation; they collapse when donors dominate the agenda. Lasting reform relies on political realism, reform agency, and partnership humility.
The paper argues that too much governance aid still produces “performance theatre”: busy programmes, dashboards and workshops that generate impressive activity but little durable change. To counter this, it outlines five shifts external partners must adopt:
- Build platforms governed by domestic reformers
- Underwrite political and financial risk without taking control
- Fund data that meets citizen demand
- support coalitions rather than direct them
- Plan institutionalisation from the outset rather than at exit
A five-part “Partnership Test” helps distinguish genuine partnership from donor-driven substitution, emphasising mutual benefit, power transparency, risk-sharing, design authority and early domestic ownership.
As non-Official Development Assistance finance (such as climate funds, private capital and South–South cooperation) grows in importance, governance capability determines access to this new funding.
Why energy security starts in the kitchen
With global energy markets reeling from geopolitical chaos, Indonesia’s USD 4.7 billion liquid petroleum gas subsidy is no longer just a fiscal burden but a severe economic vulnerability. In this blog (which was published as an Op-Ed for Jakarta Post), TPP Director Neil McCulloch argues that the government must finally grasp the nettle of subsidy reform.
The Political Economy of Gender and Energy
As part of the webinar series looking at different aspects of the energy transition from a political economy perspective, the ENERGIA international network on gender and sustainable energy hosted the third webinar on development partners' changed political priorities regarding gender and social inclusion (GESI) and the strategies that practitioners have used to embed GESI within national energy institutions.
The Political Economy of Carbon Pricing
As part of the webinar series looking at different aspects of the energy transition from a political economy perspective, the International Institute for Sustainable Development hosted the second webinar looking at why carbon pricing remains so politically difficult and what kinds of strategies have been most effective in different contexts.