JOHANNESBURGâAfrican countries reacted with shock when the U.S. government recently cut $13 billion in financial assistance.
But analysts said the move could spur those countries toward better governance, and even critics said it shines a spotlight on the most corrupt nations on the planet.
In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. government gave almost $13 billion in taxpayer funds to aid countries in Africa, which is rated the worldâs most corrupt region by watchdog Transparency International.
Most of the money was administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which has since had most of its programs paused and been folded into the State Department.
The money was largely directed to programs to feed people in famine-affected areas and to treat and prevent infectious diseases such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis.
The United Nations has suggested that millions of lives are at stake because of the withdrawal of U.S. aid.
It says nearly 16 million Ethiopians relied on grain donated by the United States in 2024, as the East African country was hammered by drought and a civil war.
In South Africa, money from USAID was paying the salaries of staff from hundreds of nonprofits that were working on the largest antiretroviral rollout program in the world, giving medicine to almost 6 million people infected with HIV.
âThe program is not even running at half capacity at the moment,â Foster Mohale, spokesperson for South Africaâs National Department of Health, told The Epoch Times. âMillions arenât getting the pills they need to stay healthy because the organizations who were working with us are now closed.â
Stories like these abound across Africa.
But Chris Maroleng, of the nonprofit Good Governance Africa, told The Epoch Times that President Donald Trumpâs decision to pause funding âshines a bright spotlight on the corruption and selfishness of many African regimes.â
âWe must all put pressure on our leaders to govern cleanly and to share the wealth of our continent with their peopleânot by doling out money, but by providing basic services,â he said. âIn the grand scheme of things, thatâs not much to ask for.â
Maroleng said it is Trumpâs right to halt financial assistance to Africa, but that many business, political, and civil society leaders he has spoken with âare disappointed, even angry, at the speed with which this was done.â
âIt means they have no time in which to readjust budgets and little time to look elsewhere for help,â he said.

Women carry boxes load of porridge, donated by the World Food Programme in partnership with USAID, during a drought in the Mutoko, Zimbabwe, on March 13, 2019. Jekesai Njikizana/AFP via Getty Images
âCutting U.S. aid off so fast, so brutally, is wrong because it leaves the most vulnerable even more exposed to hunger, disease, and other social ills,â Cilliers told The Epoch Times.
He suggested that Washington could have phased out the aid over five years.
âThat would have cushioned the impact and given policymakers more time to adjust and to gradually plug the funding gaps,â he said.
On the other hand, according to Nigerian economist Nengak Gondyi, âIt is time for Africa to get its own house in order.â
The continent âcannot afford to wallow in self-pity and angerâ at the Trump administration, he said.
âWhatâs most needed in Africa is not a big check, but an honest, hard look at the allocation and use of resources,â Gondyi told The Epoch Times.
âMore efficient government revenue collection, stopping corruption and other financial crimes that are so rife in Africa, and broadening tax bases, are just some of the things that must now happen.â
Transparency Internationalâs annual Corruption Perceptions Index measures and analyzes graft in 180 countries.
It rates 90 percent of Africaâs 54 nations as âhighly corrupt.â
In 2023, all but oneâEritreaâreceived U.S. financial assistance.

A vendor waits for customers at her fruit and vegetable stall in the Waheen Market of Hargeisa, Somalia, on Nov. 8, 2024. Luis Tato/AFP via Getty Images
âCorruption is systemic across all levels of government and pervades nearly every economic sector, and perpetrators enjoy widespread impunity,â the organizationâs website states.
âAs such, it takes a heavy toll on the populace by diverting the wealth from the countryâs extensive oil reserves into private pockets instead of public service provision or gross fixed capital formation.â
The Horn of Africa nation has for decades been plagued by conflict between ethnic groups and an insurgency by the al-Shabaab terrorist organization, which is affiliated with the al-Qaeda terrorist group.
âCorruption is both one of the leading causes and consequences of endemic political instability in Somalia,â Transparency International wrote on its website.
âCorruption occurs at all levels in both the public and private sectors and is a visible and expected form of behavior.
âIt affects virtually every aspect of the Somali society: from public officialsâ misuse of public goods for private gain and the solicitation of bribes in exchange for basic services to the clan-based patronage networks used to obtain employment and political appointments.
âBusinesses have likewise adjusted to the climate of lawlessness, for instance, by avoiding taxes and selling expired food and drugs.â
David Ansara, an economist at South Africaâs Free Market Foundation, told The Epoch Times, âWhat we have here is an endless cycle of the United States giving billions of dollars to African countries that are often among the most resource-rich on the planet, but their leaders are stealing the profits and not looking after their citizens.â
Ansara said USAID was doing a âfantastic job in Africa, and its money was tightly controlled, but thatâs not the point.â
âThe point is, itâs now time for African governments to look after their own people, especially those that control billions of dollars in natural resources,â he said.
Ansara pointed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria.
âWhy should the United States give countries like this a cent?â he said. âThereâs no excuse for their citizens to be wallowing in poverty.

Residents walk on the main road of the Rubaya mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on March 5, 2025. Ravaged by conflict for 30 years, eastern DRC is believed to hold between 60 to 80 percent of the world’s reserves of coltan, an essential mineral for manufacturing electronic equipment. Camille Laffont/AFP via Getty Images
âIn theory, these countries are filthy rich. But in reality, itâs only the political elites that are rich because income is either stolen and hoarded in offshore accounts, or itâs mismanaged.â
âHistorically, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has experienced violence and extensive abuses of power,â Transparency International wrote on its website.
âProtracted civil wars coupled with the continued mismanagement of state resources have placed DRC among the group of fragile states with the worldâs poorest infrastructure.
âBribery, lack of political integrity and weak oversight institutions worsen clientele politics, rent-seeking and instability throughout the country.â
The West African country, the second-largest economy in Africa, derives most of its income from oil and gas, but also from minerals such as coal, tin, iron ore, limestone, and gemstones.
In 2024, Nigeriaâs crude oil revenue reached approximately 51 trillion naira (almost $33 billion), according to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
âIn Nigeria, widespread corruption occurs across politics and public administration where patronage networks play a dominant role,â Transparency Internationalâs website states.
âThis manifests at federal, but also state and local levels of government, as well as in the judiciary, the electricity sector, and extractive industries.
âOil revenues have disproportionately benefited ruling elites through systemic corruption, embezzlement, and capital flight.â

Workers stand at a section of Dangote Petroleum Refinery Petrochemicals, the largest single-train refinery in the world, in Lagos, Nigeria, on May 22, 2023. Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images
Given this context, Ansara said, he was not surprised when Trump turned the aid tap off.
âWhen any logical person looks at the status quo, thatâs not a radical decision to make,â he said. âWhy give more than a billion dollars to a country thatâs selling billions of dollars worth of oil every year?
âSurely Nigeria can feed its own people, give health services to its own people? Whatâs been happening is crooked politicians using aid to avoid their responsibilities and to plunder more money and Trump recognized this.â
Transparency International said that Mozambiqueâs vast oil and gas wealth has been âcapturedâ by an elite connected to former President Felipe Nyusi, leaving donors with the responsibility of feeding and keeping citizens healthy.
âMnangagwa provides a protective shield to smugglers to operate in Zimbabwe and has directed Zimbabwean officials to facilitate the sale of gold and diamonds in illicit markets, taking bribes in exchange for his services,â the Treasury Department stated. âMnangagwa also oversees Zimbabweâs security services, which have violently repressed political opponents and civil society groups.â

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa arrives ahead of the inauguration of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria, South Africa, on June 19, 2024. Instead of helping Zimbabweans out of poverty, the Mnangagwa regime pockets the proceeds and shares profits with Chinese mining companies connected to Beijing, according to Transparency International. Phill Magakoe/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Instead of helping citizens out of poverty, the Mnangagwa regime pockets the proceeds and shares profits with mining companies connected to Beijing, Transparency International said.
âIllicit financial flows (IFF) have drained billions of dollars from [Zimbabwe], particularly in sectors related to natural resources like mining, timber and wildlife,â the watchdog wrote. âMany of the IFF proceeds are linked to corruption.â
Gondyi said Africa can no longer rely on external aid.
âWith all the resources we have in Africa, and even more money coming in through foreign direct investment and remittances, we can do things for ourselves,â he said.
âThe challenge is to manage resources properly and to promote investments that provide solutions to societal ills and donât just boost profits.â
Gondyi said African philanthropy should be harnessed to fund critical projects previously managed by USAID.
According to him, this could be achieved through individual and corporate donations, organized crowdfunding, and subscriptions to social impact investments and social bonds.
âCrucially, the projects must be well monitored by trusted experts not connected to governments,â Gondyi said.

Idle excavators at the Arcadia Lithium mining site in Goromonzi, Zimbabwe, on Jan.11, 2022. The Chinese firm Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt in February 2022 acquired the lithium mine, whose product is a key ingredient in rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles. Tafadzwa Ufumeli/Getty Images
Cilliers suggested that Africaâs private sector must step up its contributions to causes and that other countries must also help fill the void.
âChina has indicated a willingness to become more of a donor country than one that just harvests African mineral resources,â he said.
Last year, Beijing pledged to increase its support for Africa to $51 billion over the next three years.
âChina should now bring those plans forward, and must also increase its grants to Africa and not just loan money to the continent,â Cilliers said.
â[United Arab Emirates] and Saudi Arabia, who are now big aid providers to several low-income nations, should also start giving more to Africa.â
Ultimately, Maroleng said, the continent should use the shock of the sudden departure of U.S. aid to become more self-sufficient.
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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