Health, education and a range of other sectors in Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa that were benefiting from USAID might just be in for a long, grueling run following announcements that 83% of the agency’s programmes had been suspended.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday announced that the US government had cancelled 5,200 contracts that were gobbling tens of billions of their funds ‘in ways that did not serve the core interests of the United States.’
His announcement comes barely a month after the suspension of all but a select few programmes funded through USAID, its tax-funded humanitarian agency.
The global suspension, which came into effect less than a week into President Donald Trump’s second term in office, left most of Africa’s humanitarian needs unattended as most had been benefiting from America’s benevolence.
“After a six-week review, we are officially cancelling 83% of the programmes at USAID,” said Rubio.
“The 5,200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States.
“In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programmes we are keeping (approximately 1,000) to now be administered more effectively under the State Department.”
The review was conducted by the infamous DOGE, a unit tasked with auditing, streamlining and recommending future operations of USAID or its disbandment.
In Zimbabwe, USAID was funding part of the country’s health sector through payments to nurses, skills, technology purchase and in many cases, building of clinics primarily in underserved rural areas.
Despite its failure to invest in public health and education over Zimbabwe’s 45 years of independence, the government maintains it has a Plan B and that citizens should not panic.
In South Africa, clinics which were offering free antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) have been shut.
The African situation has been worsened by the pulling out of UKAID and other European aid agencies.
