Dalberg collaborates extensively with stakeholders, fostering partnerships to address social impact challenges. We engage with governments, NGOs, and the private sector to co-create solutions, mobilize resources, and drive systemic change. It’s hard to think of a project that doesn’t include some level of collaboration across sectors!
Most relevant in Ethiopia has been our role in supporting 3 major policy pieces over the past 4 years. In 2020 we supported the Ministry of Innovation and Technology to develop the National Digital Ethiopia 2025 strategy. In 2021, we supported the Ministry of Industry in their efforts to revise the Industrial Policy and Sectoral Priorities. More recently, we supported the Ministry of Trade to develop the National Export Strategy last year. Across all of our government engagements in Ethiopia, Dalberg provides a technical leadership role under the ownership and direction of Ministerial leaders. Beyond Ethiopia, we have done and continue to do similar work with government leaders across 48 countries in Africa to-date with similar value.
With private sector and NGOs, our role focuses on empowering their leadership to continue to be recognized changemakers in their field(s) of activity by providing them with strategic thought partnership, technical support, and practical solutions.
Across the Africa region, my colleagues are working on how solar irrigation can provide sustainable livelihoods with CLASP. We actively partner with government bodies, training institutions, the private sector, and development partners towards the goal of fostering sustainable careers for youth employment and boosting Kenya’s much-needed Solar irrigation prospects. A Dalberg team has supported the Kenya Ministry of Energy, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, with contributions from a dedicated Taskforce and in-country and global subject experts to achieve the Kenyan Government’s commitment to bringing its residents 100% clean energy by 2040.
Part of me still thinks of myself as a young professional. I think that is because this is such a dynamic and evolving field that it requires continuous learning and adaptation. So, I would emphasize that you never want to be stuck to an ideology of ‘expertise.’ You will develop pattern recognition with time and will be a seasoned professional, but you never want to stop bringing curiosity to your work, re-examining what you think you know to be true, and engaging with diverse perspectives in healthy conflict of ideas.
Second, I would say the only way to serve impact through consulting is to embrace a human-centric approach. Recognize that real impact begins with understanding the people and communities you aim to serve and always start by asking them what success means to them as your north star. When you embrace local contexts, you take on the responsibility of bringing the voice of people with lived experience to decision makers, so you can bring a human-centric approach to systems change. So, prioritize empathy and humility in your work and in your collaborations. Cultivate that same empathy for yourself and your partners if you can and be kind all the way along your growth journey.
Finally, collaboration is at the heart of sustainable impact. Forge partnerships, work with local communities, build ideological bridges and be open to learning from those you aim to empower as well as from those you serve whether governments, NGO, Philanthropies, or even the private sector.
As the new Regional Director for Africa, I’m excited to build upon Dalberg’s strong legacy in the region. We have a rich history of deep engagement in Africa, spanning nearly two decades, and the DNA of our approach is distinct — we are not consultants who fly in and out and make recommendations that someone else carries out. Instead, we aim to be embedded in and originate from the communities we serve. Our mission is to empower the drivers of change by providing them with strategic thought partnership, with technical and implementation support. Our approach in Africa has always been to pull in a range of services, whether in data analysis, design thinking, research tools, systems or implementation solutions, or even mobilize communities through communications to ensure our clients’ strategic interests are met.
At times that means being willing to step into uncomfortable spaces. Our vision is clear: If we are effective in our role, it should have a clear endpoint, an exit. We measure our success by our ability to transition out of roles when the time is right and be part of the shift from incremental to transformative change. We understand that the requirements around solving substantial problems today won’t be the same as two years from now and so we have to be constantly willing to evolve to meet the needs of our context.
Looking ahead, we will leverage our legacy and evolve our approach. Today, Africa has more energy, resources, and leadership than ever before. Personally, I want to deepen our engagement, continue to evolve our approach, and be thought partners in a way that supports community organizers, organizational leaders, government officials, and civil servants to deepen and scale their impact.
PUBLISHED ON
Oct 24,2023 [ VOL
24 , NO
1226]
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