Informing the approach of multilateral development banks to use of country systems

This research paper examines the 'use of country systems' (UCS) approach by multilateral development banks (MDBs) in Africa, analyzing the benefits of utilizing domestic processes over external conditionalities and the challenges that hinder its implementation.

• The 'use of country systems' (UCS) approach offers several benefits: it respects national sovereignty by removing external conditionalities, enhances project sustainability through increased national ownership and involvement of domestic actors, and strengthens domestic systems by identifying deficiencies and reducing the cost duplication caused by parallel systems.
• The adoption of UCS is obstructed by four primary challenges: increased financial, reputational, and development risks (particularly in procurement); inflexible MDB safeguard approaches and implementation difficulties; political obstacles to cooperation; and a lack of implementation capacity within both MDBs and borrowing countries.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2017). Informing the approach of multilateral development banks to use of country systems. https://saiia.org.za/research/informing-the-approach-of-multilateral-development-banks-to-use-of-country-systems-2/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Informing the approach of multilateral development banks to use of country systems. 2017. https://saiia.org.za/research/informing-the-approach-of-multilateral-development-banks-to-use-of-country-systems-2/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Informing the approach of multilateral development banks to use of country systems |date=23 September 2017 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/informing-the-approach-of-multilateral-development-banks-to-use-of-country-systems-2/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2017informing, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Informing the approach of multilateral development banks to use of country systems}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2017}, month = sep, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/informing-the-approach-of-multilateral-development-banks-to-use-of-country-systems-2/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }