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Seven African countries will be hit the hardest by the Trump administration’s funding cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), according to development analysts.
DR Congo, Ethiopia, Liberia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda received more than a fifth of their total development assistance from USAID, said researchers at the Center for Global Development. The small size of their economies means that aid accounts for an average of 11% of their gross national income: “With USAID providing 30% of [development assistance], the freeze could create a shortfall equivalent to over 3% of GNI,” the researchers said, triggering “a potentially major economic shock.”
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In all but two of these countries, USAID’s focus is categorized as “emergency response”: Basic health is the main sector targeted in Liberia, while in Uganda it is reproductive health. USAID spent more than $12 billion in sub-Saharan Africa in 2024, according to government records, the majority on humanitarian and health aid. DR Congo received the largest amount of aid, at $1.3 billion, followed by Ethiopia and Sudan.
