The head of the UK development investment agency said on Thursday that development financing was undergoing a “structural reset” amid shrinking Western aid budgets and the fallout of the Iran war.

“The development finance system has been in need of a sort of structural reset,” British International Investment CEO Leslie Maasdorp said at Semafor World Economy in Washington, DC, arguing that the previous model no longer fits the moment.

“A lot of the countries have been uncomfortable with almost a paternalistic donor-recipient relationship,” he said.

Maasdorp called for a pivot toward investment, capital mobilization, and regional integration, saying BII was looking to forge partnerships that de-risk investment in markets long dismissed as too volatile.

The organization is currently partnering with the World Bank and African Development Bank on its Mission 300 program to connect 300 million Africans with electricity access by 2030, and backing other big-ticket projects such as a large port in the conflict-hit DR Congo.