In the fourth episode of Global Aid Rethink, hosts Ivica Petrikova (Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations, Royal Holloway, University of London) and Melita Lazell (Associate Professor in Political Economy and Development at the University of Portsmouth) turn their attention to a critical and often overlooked dimension of international assistance: aid as extraction.

As global aid funding remains at its lowest in decades and the Sustainable Development Goals continue to be significantly off-track, this episode interrogates the increasing financialisation of aid. It explores whether the growing reliance on private sector tools, markets, and financial logic in delivering international development assistance leads to a process where capital or resources are extracted from communities in the Global South, rather than genuinely fostering sustainable development.

Joining Ivica and Melita for this in-depth discussion is Professor Emma Mawdsley, Head of the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge and an expert in the politics of global development. They delve into real-world examples of financialised aid, examining the role of development finance institutions like British International Investment (BII), and questioning whether this trend prioritises profit generation over the needs of the most vulnerable. The conversation also addresses the lack of transparency, the concentration of investments in middle-income countries, and the broader implications of aid being subordinated to geopolitical logics.

Global Aid Rethink publishes fortnightly, on Tuesdays, from 22nd April 2025 to 1st July.  

• Read the transcript here

This is a Research Podcasts production.

Episode credits:

Presenters: Ivica Petrikova, Royal Holloway, University of London and Melita Lazell, Portsmouth University

Guests: Professor Emma Mawdsley

Producer: Catherine McDonald, Research Podcasts

Music: MFCC via Pixabay

Artwork and Audiograms: Krissie Brighty-Glover and Lauren White, Research Podcasts

This podcast was generously funded by the ESRC-funded Royal Holloway Social Science Impact Accelerator

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