Positioning Eastern Africa in the Post-USAID Era

Abstract

Official Development Assistance (ODA) has long been an important pillar of Eastern Africa’s development. This financing strategy has supported critical sectors like healthcare, infrastructure development, climate mitigation, and resilience. Concurrently, agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Kingdom Aid Direct, the European Union (EU) Aid Program, and others, have continued to be a favored soft power instrument in influencing policy orientation and action in development economies while advancing the Global North’s national and regional interests. However, the growing politicization and weaponization of ODA as exemplified by the West’s threats of funding freeze for social programs and budgetary support cuts to South Africa, Uganda, and Ghana over legislation that prioritizes their local concerns, demands that developing economies pivot towards self-reliance. Likewise, the growing global volatility in the ODA ecosystem, as witnessed by the Trump-era freeze and proposed budgetary cuts on USAID and the EU’s shift to economic foreign policy in the face of geopolitical competition and trade wars, necessitate a strategic shift for the region. Reorientation from ODA dependence is imperative, especially concerning the predominance of the agricultural sector in national and regional economic productivity. On average, 60% of the livelihoods are dependent on climate-sensitive sectors. Thus, abrupt aid withdrawals only exacerbate vulnerabilities and threaten food security and pandemic preparedness status. Eastern Africa must curb its inherent overreliance on aid through local-led solutions like regional cooperation, shift to local financing options, and leveraging private sector innovations and partnerships