As global aid contracts at an unprecedented pace, this policy brief makes the case for a fundamental shift in how Africa finances its own development. Rather than seeking to replace shrinking grants, it argues for catalytic investment that mobilises innovation, crowds in private capital, and builds self-reliant systems. 

Drawing on UNDP's timbuktoo initiative, which aims to mobilise $1 billion to support 1,000 African startups, the brief presents real evidence of how small catalytic grants can unlock transformational investment chains, as demonstrated by the Mobihealth case. It calls on African governments, development partners, and the private sector to move decisively from aid dependency toward an investment-driven model that harnesses the continent's extraordinary entrepreneurial potential.