“Empathy is not weakness.”
Africa is feeling the heat, and lives are being lost. While some may commend the Trump administration’s efforts to cut spending and think that the recent moves of the Trump administration should serve as a wake-up call for Africans, we need to realise that there were people in Africa (and all over the world) who were benefiting from USAID’s global humanitarian efforts.
We may not know or understand all the deep things going on with NGOs worldwide. Still, one thing is sure: at least the crumbs falling from the table were actually getting to a few people who were kept alive by the crumbs—primary healthcare, a few employed, research funding, making and distributing life-saving drugs, like tuberculosis and AIDS drug available to people all over the world that can’t afford it because they are poor.
Recently, I was discussing with a friend working with a research firm in Nigeria, and she confirmed that it’s getting more and more difficult for them.
She narrated to me how there has been a slowdown in services offered by their organisation due to the Trump-Musk financial aid freeze—people have lost their jobs, and patients on life-saving antiretrovirals are anxious and worried.
What does the future hold?
In places like South Sudan, which is one of the poorest countries on the planet, investigations and reports have already revealed that people, especially children, are already dying from the freeze in funds.
May we not forget in a hurry how PEPFAR saved millions of lives in Africa from the death jaws of AIDS.
A lot of people are alive today and living because of PEPFAR, initiated by America under George W Bush. And now, under Trump, PEPFAR might no longer function, and those who depended on it. What happens to them?
Yes, there are shadows in the global humanitarian aid market. Illegal funding and waste of funds, and even deeper issues that many of us, regular people, may not be able to understand, especially accusations that USAID was meddling in other things apart from offering aid—that’s not my objective with this article at all—I aim to draw our attention to the fact that lives are being negatively impacted by this decision and no one should downplay the aid cut and say “nothing bad is happening.”
Something is happening.
People Are Suffering And Dying, And More People Will Suffer If It Continues
“An estimated 1,650,000 people could die within a year without American foreign aid for H.I.V. prevention and treatment”
Centre For Global Development.
In a report published by the Centre For Global Development, it was estimated that about 1.6 million people could die within a year without American foreign aid for HIV prevention and treatment.
You read that right.
That’s just for HIV alone.
What about Tuberculosis, Malaria and vaccination cuts? What about people benefitting from nutrition and maternal and child programmes that have prevented thousands of deaths, especially in South Sudan?
We’ve before us a situation of cataclysmic possibilities! It’s sad, though, that too many countries in Africa have relied too long on foreign aid over the years without being able to at least reduce dependence on foreign aid.
Most countries in Northern Africa depend less on USAID, with countries like Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia having very few people depending on US foreign aid, as low as just 99 people, while the countries depending more are majorly in Sub-sahara Africa, all the way down to South-Africa, with Nigeria leading the list with about 269,000 people surviving on USAIDs foreign aid. South Africa comes next, according to the Centre For Global Development.
I read an article from the New York Times recently that looked into the situation, and the stories are sad. Very sad.
“Achol Deng, an 8-year-old girl, was also infected with HIV at birth and likewise remained alive because of American assistance. Then, in January, Achol lost her ID card, and there was no longer a case worker to help get her a new card and medicines; she too became sick and died, said Labani.”
Will the United States save money from this efficiency war? Yes, they will save some money (the United States spends 0.24% of its budget on foreign aid), but at the cost of “some” lives.
Lives that were kept alive by the crumbs that got to them.
As I mentioned earlier, there’s corruption and all sorts of dark and grey things we don’t even know.
I am not disputing the fact.
What I am only trying to point out is that there were people, despite the accusations that USAID was being used to push other agendas far away from humanitarianism, that were benefiting from USAID, so, in this light, I think it’s only humane that the leadership of The United States of America reconsiders and design new systems to get needed aid to the people who need help. Abruptly pulling the plug without any plan is scary and unimaginable!
It’s easy for us Africans who do not directly rely on foreign aid—though if you’ve ever taken any vaccine, especially polio, it simply means you’re beneficiary, even though foreign aid might not be putting food on your table or shelter over your head—to complain, accuse USAID of terrorism funding, and shout on social media that Africa should start feeding and providing its own healthcare, while not considering people in Sudan, some parts of Nigeria and other regions in Africa who literally have their hands stretched forth every day looking for a drop from the bags of humanitarianism to survive.
“I am going to develop the virus,” Doki said. “My viral load will go high. I will develop TB. I will have pneumonia.” She sighed deeply and added, “We are going to die.”
These are true stories from real people who are at the receiving end of the decisions made in Washington by people they don’t even know.
It’s a sad reality.
While it’s a brutal wake-up call for Africans, it’s also crucial that we realise that despite all that is being said about USAID and people in more prosperous countries wondering if it’s their duty to keep poor people alive in developing countries—we all have a shared responsibility as humans to look after ourselves. Yes, we do.
It’s a moral duty. The stronger should help the weaker and not watch them die.
Many might argue that richer countries use humanitarian aid to control poorer nations subtly.
It might be accurate, but what options do the poorer nations have since their leaders have refused to sit down and fight?
They have no choice but to receive aid that will keep them alive.
The problem of Africa is a deep-rooted problem that will take some time to solve, and that’s if our leaders collectively team up to fight to pick the continent out of the doldrums.
“How many women will die worldwide from haemorrhage, sepsis or eclampsia as a result of this rash decision in Washington? One gauge is that the Population Fund estimates that American financial support over the last four years prevented 17,000 maternal deaths, so that may be a plausible estimate of how many moms will die unnecessarily in the coming four years as American aid is withdrawn.” – Nicholas Kristof.
Was USAID A “Sheep In Wolf” Clothing In Africa?
While the political discussion and debate isn’t my purpose of writing (really, can we dodge political talks when trying to address delicate issues like this?), it’s good we look into some of the stances most senior leaders in Africa have about USAIDs involvement in Africa.
One discussion that stands out for me is Aljazeera’s interview with Arikana Chihombori-Quao, former African Union Ambassador to the United States, where she explicitly calls out the whole USAID operation in Africa as a cunning and glamorous meddling operation.
She calls USAID “Sheep in Wolves Clothing”, citing that USAID comes to Africa disguised as helping Africa with aid, food support, grassroots programmes, etc., meanwhile having a more sinister agenda of destabilising governments—meddling in government to ensure that the country remains in a perpetual state of turmoil and exploiting resources.
Chihombori-Quao even said that most leaders in Africa and the developing world are celebrating the exit of USAID!
She boldly said that the countries where USAID has been operating have not seen any real improvement, mentioning education as an example.
“Show me one country that USAID was in that education improved. Show me one country where USAID was in that the healthcare improved.”
When we look at the amount of money USAID has been pouring into Africa, it’s expected that by now, those countries should have developed to a state where they can take care of themselves to an extent.
When did USAID start sending humanitarian aid to Africa? According to a funding trend report by US Congress, USAID help to Africa markedly grew in the year 2000; though it had been sending funds before then, it only began sending much more in 2000, and according to the report, “35%-40% of annual non-humanitarian State Department- and USAID-administered assistance is sent to Africa every year”—roughly about 7 to 8 billion dollars sent every year to Africa for more than 20 years, and yet we can’t really see profound change.
Why?
Big questions.
Is the money even getting to Africa?
This has been among the major arguments.
Most people believe the money isn’t getting to Africa.
The little effect we see is what I call crumbs.
Yes, those crumbs have actually been helping people in Africa.
However, if the money spent in Africa was thoroughly used for what it was meant for, by now, Africa should be able to start preparing to stand on its own without having to rely entirely on foreign aid for things like health, food, and infrastructure.
When asked about PEPFAR and HIV AIDS in Africa, Chihombori-Quao said something quite controversial. She said that Africans were used as guinea pigs and that “they” were injecting people with the virus in South Africa, and that was what caused the massive rise in HIV cases in South Africa.
She also mentioned GMOs and how agencies like USAID are used to introduce these GMOs that are disrupting our agricultural ecosystems across the continent.
“A little good is coming out, but by and large, the end result means no good. They need to turn around and give us an inventory of all the good things they have done in Africa and other parts of the world.”
A Major Meddling Operation
She said a lot, which I do not need to reiterate here. My point is to approach the whole situation from all possible angles while still maintaining my stance that there were people who were being kept alive by the entire USAID operation.
Was USAID meddling in government?
In today’s world, where “soft power” (I guess you’ve been hearing more about that term lately) is a ploy for more powerful countries to control developing or underdeveloped ones—nothing is impossible.
Can we completely rule out the possibility that USAID was actually being used to push unimaginable dark initiatives in parts of Africa to ensure control?
I mean, I have heard many talks about USAID sponsoring Boko Haram in Nigeria.
I have lived in the Northern parts of Nigeria for more than 20 years of my life, and I can tell you first-hand the crippling effects of terrorism.
There are regions in the Northern parts of Nigeria that have changed beyond recognition because of terrorism.
My town was among the first in Nigeria to experience the horrid effects of terrorism, so accusing USAID of sponsoring terrorism in Nigeria is a serious allegation.
One can’t even imagine it.
An organisation labouring to feed, clothe and help people is accused of having a dark side that sponsored the death and destruction of people—beats the imagination. However, this is not the primary focus of this article.
Chihombori-Quao’s interview with Aljazeera is incredibly instructive and has some insight into it.
Nonetheless, we can’t just swallow all she said: hook, line, and sinker.
I agree with her in so many aspects, primarily where she advocates for Africa to free itself from the clutch of foreign aid—are we going to rely on foreign aid forever?
Whether USAID was meddling or not, my concern is that they brought some comfort to many thousands in Africa, and the sudden withdrawal of that comfort is causing pain to many people in Africa.
America Vs China?
“About 84% of Africa’s health funding is from foreign aid.”
I am not very particular about the Politics (but as you know, it’s impossible to talk about an issue like this without addressing certain vital aspects of the politics). There’s a lot of politics going on behind the scenes, with experts and analysts insinuating that China might come in to replace The United States and, in so doing, steal “some soft global power” from the United States.
Whether the theory is true or not, I am more concerned about the people who need help now! Children and Mothers in Sudan and people in West Africa and East Africa need vital medications, not even food, but medicine to stay alive.
However, we’ve started to see China move stealthily to try to fill the wide gaps left by America’s USAID—is China big enough to effectively do what the United States was doing?
They have made moves in places like Cambodia, Nepal, and Colombia, and they sent Africa CDC $4 million in response to USAIDs withdrawal (which isn’t enough to do much at the moment).
Experts and analysts have called China’s moves cosmetics and shallow, considering that China’s type of aid is predominantly in the form of loans and lending in contrast to the US, which is more of grants to Non-profits and support, though things are expected to change going forward as the ecosystem of global aid is experiencing historical shifts. So, it may mean that most of our foreign aid may be coming from China. I’m not sure because I still hope that America will reconsider and devise solid plans to make aid more transparent.
Let’s be true to ourselves.
Africa still has a lot of work to do within its walls, and even if we decide to start solving our problems tomorrow, we will still need help and support.
Africa Needs To Wake Up And Arise
To round up this essay is a call to Africa to wake up. We all need to gather around and push for a safer, stronger And more prosperous Africa!
How can a continent rely 84% on foreign aid to power its healthcare sector?
What happens when those countries helping now decide to stop supporting, as is the case we are now and what also happened during COVID-19?
Chihombori-Quao, in her interview, argued and consistently insisted that the aid getting to Africa was peanuts and that Africa could do without the crumbs.
I agree.
We could do without the crumbs because the actual volume of cash wasn’t getting to us, so we had to manage the crumbs finding their way down the river.
Africa doesn’t have to rely so much on foreign aid for basic things like healthcare, security, and food.
It’s an abnormal situation that needs to stop.
And honestly, no country owes us anything.
If America, France, or any other country decides not to help, we can’t become angry with them for not helping.
The World Is Divided
A part of the media has constantly pushed for America not to withdraw its aid schemes.
They have advocated for the importance of foreign aid and how it saves lives while also saying it’s a way for America to maintain “soft power” worldwide.
The other side wants America to withdraw or significantly cut its aid programme because they feel money is wasted on those aid schemes.
While we, the beneficiaries of aid, remain in the middle of the debate, confused about what to do.
Maybe we should take a clue from what Burkina Faso and its brothers are doing and try to seize more power for ourselves, fight resource exploitation, and stand on our own.
Africa is not inferior at all.
We’ve all that it takes to build our continent.
It takes speaking with one voice.
From Nigeria to Ethiopia, Algeria, and South Africa.
Speak with one voice and labour to make our continent self-sufficient.
This is an Opinion Piece and does not reflect the editorial stance of Care City Media.
