South–South Cooperation in Africa: The Niger-Turkey Case

Developed countries provided foreign aid to developing nations at an unprecedented rate in the second half of the twentieth century. Notwithstanding, the literature indicates that North–South aid largely failed to achieve its publicly stated goals, whereas South–South cooperation (SSC) emerges as a potential solution with several presumed advantages. Addressing the lack of evidence for those advantages, this study investigates South–South aid by conducting focus groups and semi-structured interviews with recipients of the Turkish state and nongovernmental aid in Niger. Prioritizing the experiences of aid recipients is a novel aspect of our research since existing studies mostly employ data collected from aid providers. Both countries offer important insights for the studied phenomenon, since the donor is a Southern member of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) with global aid practices, whereas the recipient is the lowest-ranked country in the Human Development Index, thus providing a challenge for any donor. Our findings point out that SSC has a strong potential for delivering effective and sustainable aid with some limitations. This study concludes with implications for future research.