International Organizations and Ideas About Poverty in Sub‐Saharan Africa

This study explores how international organizations (IOs) shape ideas about poverty and anti‐poverty policymaking in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). It argues that, beyond the use of conditionality, IOs significantly influence conceptions of poverty in SSA through various mechanisms, including technical assistance, personnel training, and capacity building, collaborating with civil society organizations, publications, conferences, seminars, and as think tanks. The analysis focuses on the World Bank (WB) and the Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD), two organizations that have had a long‐standing relationship with SSA countries and have made significant contributions to development in the region. However, unlike the WB, whose activities in SSA are well known, the OECD's role in SSA is much less known. Therefore, this study broadens the discussion of the role of IOs in domestic policy development in SSA by incorporating the OECD. At the same time, the study offers a comparative perspective missing from empirical studies about IOs, which tend to focus on only one organization at a time.