From Collaboration to Action: 5 Reflections from the ICA World Event 2026 in Addis Ababa

I arrived in Addis Ababa a day before the official start of the ICA World Event 2026. By the time I left, I had not only attended a conference; I had participated in a timely conversation about the future of development consulting, the partnerships that will matter in the years ahead, and the role African technical firms like Cloneshouse must play in shaping that future.

The theme of the event, “From Collaboration to Action: Strengthening Cooperation for Sustainable Development,” captured the mood of the week. Across sessions, bilateral meetings, and informal conversations, one message was clear: collaboration is no longer enough as a slogan. It must now translate into stronger systems, better partnerships, smarter financing, and more locally grounded development practice. Here are five reflections I took away from Addis Ababa.

1. Strong partnerships begin with the opportunity, not the logo

One of the most practical sessions of the week was the Tender Lab on consortium formation. I had the privilege of moderating this session, where we discussed how organisations can move from loose alliances to strong delivery partnerships.

The major takeaway was simple: strong consortia are not built by gathering logos. They are built by understanding the opportunity, mapping the capabilities required, clarifying who should lead, and agreeing on roles, money, risks, accountability, and delivery expectations early. In a more competitive development consulting market, organisations will need to be honest about what they bring, where they need others, and how they can deliver together.

2. Development firms must learn to work smarter

The update on ICA World’s planned platform redevelopment was particularly interesting. The new ICA/Assortis platform is expected to include AI-enabled tools for partner identification, reference generation, CV processing, matchmaking, and early anticipation of selection criteria.

For Cloneshouse, this reinforced something we are already seeing: technical credibility alone is no longer enough. Firms must combine strong technical expertise with smarter systems for tracking opportunities, presenting evidence, building teams, and demonstrating value. AI and digital tools will not replace strong judgement, but they will increasingly shape how organisations compete and collaborate.

3. Localisation must move from language to practice

The session on translating global strategy to local impact offered important reminders about localisation. Global frameworks are useful, but they cannot simply be imported into national systems without adaptation. Context, language, infrastructure, consent, data governance, community ownership, and institutional capacity all matter.

For Cloneshouse, this resonated strongly. Much of our work sits between global reporting requirements and local implementation realities. The lesson was clear: localisation is not just about where work happens or who is contracted. It is about who owns the process, who benefits from the evidence, where the data sits, and whether the intervention reflects local realities.

4. MEL must respond to changing development finance

One of the most forward-looking conversations was around development finance. In the session, “Beyond Standard Development Aid—Redesigning Development Finance,” speakers including Sarah Hessel of Finance in Motion, Enas Abdulmalik of GEAPP, and Onja Rabary of UNFPA discussed the movement beyond traditional aid toward blended finance, concessional capital, guarantees, philanthropic capital, domestic resource mobilisation, impact investment, and results-based financing.

This has major implications for MEL firms. In a blended finance environment, evidence is not only for donor reporting. It also supports risk assessment, investor confidence, performance verification, and decision-making. MEL partners must therefore understand finance logic, not only evaluation logic. This creates opportunities for firms like Cloneshouse to support impact measurement, investment readiness, ESG-related reporting, gender and inclusion metrics, market assessments, and learning systems.

5. Multi-level cooperation is essential for sustainable impact

The discussions on cooperation across local, national, regional, and continental levels highlighted the importance of alignment. Development work is more effective when it fits within national priorities, regional strategies, and broader systems, rather than creating fragmented projects that compete for attention and resources.

This point was especially relevant in agriculture, energy, governance, youth development, and systems strengthening. Sustainable development requires coordination, country ownership, institutional capacity, and inclusion. Women, youth, persons with disabilities, and vulnerable groups cannot be added as an afterthought. They must be designed into programme logic, indicators, implementation systems, and accountability mechanisms from the beginning.

Leaving Addis with clarity

The ICA World Event 2026 was both a learning experience and a positioning opportunity for Cloneshouse. It affirmed the relevance of our work in MEL, research, data systems, localisation, and multi-country implementation. It also challenged us to keep evolving.

Addis Ababa offered more than a conference. It offered a reminder that the future of development cooperation will belong to organisations that can move from conversation to action, from visibility to value, and from partnership in name to partnership in practice.