Browsing: USAID

• Angola’s $5M boost is a turning point in Africa CDC’s continued push to rally political leadership, domestic financing, and unified continental action around the New Public Health Order and the Lusaka Agenda.
• Angola’s initiative comes in the wake of 70% decrease in foreign financing of health programmes in Africa amid declining flow of development assistance from the US.
• For decades, USAID has been a primary source of financing for various health programmes in African economies, but the funding freeze and potential cuts announced this early this year continue to threaten key systems
• Angolan President João Lourenço made the $5 million funding announcement after a meeting with Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director General of Africa CDC.

Oil-rich Angola has pledged to pay Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) a total of $5 million as part of championing homegrown health financing plan by economies across the continent.

The move, which …

• UN requires G7 countries to commit 0.7% of their Gross National Income to development aid.
• However, the US is the largest donor of international aid according to the UN.
• Statistics from One Campaign show that the G7 and the EU Institutions’ share of aid to Africa is at a near 50-year low.

The cuts to international aid by U.S. President Donald Trump (and billionaire Elon Musk) have sparked global outrage, including in Africa. However, given that the United Nations recognizes Washington as the single largest donor of global aid, can we definitively say Trump (or Musk) is wrong?

Consider this: according to the UN, the U.S. accounted for over 40 per cent of all humanitarian aid tracked in 2024. This means nearly half of last year’s global aid came from American taxpayers—a level of generosity that’s hard to ignore.

But was this a one-time display of goodwill? The numbers …

• International aid and loans to Africa are based on a false (mathematical) statement; Africa needs development aid – False.
• Net financial flows to African countries dropped 18% (2020/22) -True.
• Africa paying more to service debts than development aid it recieves – True.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s aid cuts will fatally affect developing countries where millions of people rely on the aid for their livelihoods at a time when huge debt servicing costs pose even worse effect on their lives. “Analysis also finds growing debt service payments are rapidly outpacing aid and investments in all developing countries,” reveals a One Campaign report.

Titled, ‘Net finance flows to developing countries turned negative in 2023’ the report warns that; “Developing country debt levels have more than doubled since 2009, and the cost of servicing that debt has skyrocketed.” According to the report; “African countries are projected to spend $81 billion on debt …

• WHO Chief faults Trump’s suspension of funding to PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, noting that it has caused immediate stop to HIV treatment, testing and prevention services in 50 countries.
• With the immediate halt of U.S. aid plan, ongoing prevention programmes for at-risk groups disrupted as clinics close, sending thousands of health workers home.
• For decades, economies across Sub-Saharan Africa have pivoted on USAID to drive critical health interventions and humanitarian relief.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded the alarm over looming negative impact on several critical health initiatives in Africa including HIV, malaria, and Tuberculosis (TB) across the world following the withdrawal of financing by the U.S. under President Donald Trump’s new administration.

In an update on Tuesday, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that economies across Africa and beyond risk plunging into disruptions to ongoing HIV treatment plans, while also suffering setbacks on …

• Suspension of USAID funding could severely affect the availability of antiretroviral drugs, HIV testing, and prevention programmes.
• Other essential programmes at risk are malaria prevention, maternal and child health, family planning, reproductive health, nutrition.
• Ghana is exploring alternative funding mechanisms and reallocate resources to prevent any disruption in these vital programmes.

President Donald Trump’s recent move to dismantle USAID has left Ghana grappling with a funding shortfall of roughly $156 million for her healthcare and social programmes.

With the funding gap, the country is likely to face a crisis in tackling a range of pressing healthcare challenges including fighting malaria, enhancing child health among other key interventions critical to the country’s success.

Under President Trump’s new administration, USAID, traditionally a key plank in U.S. humanitarian and development efforts globally, is being dismantled and merged into the State Department. This move has resulted in a freeze on billions of dollars …

• USAID was established in 1961 by US President John F Kennedy.
• The charity arm has over 10,000 global employees and spends $40 million in humanitarian support.
• Trump, Musk allege USAID is run by “radical left lunatics” getting away with “tremendous fraud.”

A notice placed on the USAID website that announces to all its global staff, over 10 000 personnel, the commencement of an administrative leave this Friday.USAID, a giant charity arm of the US government is being dismantled by U.S. President Donald Trump. This decision is set to sent shockwaves across the world as it comes after almost a century of USAID operations. Established in 1961 by President John F Kennedy, USAID has over the years assumed a huge role in humanitarian affairs across Africa, but under Trump, the organization is now unceremoniously been drugged through the dirt.

Its over 10,000 employees will either be laid off or reassigned and …

• Donald Trump threatens to cease all funding to South Africa.
• South African-born Elon Musk against Expropriation Law.
• South Africa says the new law is just and seeks land equality in the wake of apartheid. 

Donald Trump and his advisor, Elon Musk, have threatened to cease all aid to South Africa over its Expropriation Law. The move comes after South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa signed an Expropriation Bill into law this January a move that does not sit well with Trump and Musk, an American billionaire who was born in South Africa.

South Africa says the law, seeks to empower the state to conduct land expropriation to provide equitable compensation to those who lost their land under the infamous apartheid regime. “The land expropriation law seeks to repeal the apartheid-era Expropriation Act (1975) which saw thousands of African families forcibly removed from their land to benefit the white minority,” explains a …

• Existing programs like the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) are under review, with a shift toward enforcing stricter reciprocity.
• USAID, traditionally a key player in U.S. humanitarian and development efforts, is being dismantled and merged into the State Department.
• Stricter visa policies and a reduction in refugee resettlement quotas directly impact African nations.

With the new Trump administration taking shape, its foreign policy direction for Africa is becoming increasingly evident. Guided by the “America First” principle, this strategy prioritizes American interests through pragmatic diplomacy, targeted partnerships, and a focus on security and economic priorities.

Below is a detailed exploration of the policy directions and their implications for U.S.-Africa relations, updated to reflect the latest developments.

Pragmatic Diplomacy and Economic Engagement

The “America First” strategy emphasizes partnerships that yield mutual benefits for American investments and strategic interests. African nations with significant economic or geopolitical advantages are likely to attract …

• Digital solutions offer sustainable food security options for Africa.
• African governments must invest in agri-tech to boost productivity.
• Kenya’s Shamba Shape Up cited as a viable agri-tech solution. 

Agriculture digital solutions have the power to transform agri-food systems in emerging markets by bringing efficiency across all value chains.

“Technology, when applied to agriculture, results in higher income for farmers, increased output, and improved food security…these are among the benefits of utilizing digital tools in an agricultural setting,” said Prof. Mark Natoloi, in a recent research report that reviewed digital solutions for African farmers.

Governments could assist farmers and other agriculture stakeholders by deploying digital tools for important tasks, such as distributing subsidies to farmers or managing the inventories in storage facilities.

“When used as part of a national agricultural-transformation program, digital tools could help raise the incomes of smallholder farmers, increase crop output, and support food security,” reads the report …