Does Africa Really Need USAID?

Spoiler alert: HELL NO!

So the USAID website is down, and many people say it's because the Trump administration wants to put the agency under the control of the State Department.

But let's not get distracted by the headlines.

The real story isn't about a website glitch but the deeper issue of foreign aid itself, an issue I've been speaking about for over a decade.

Foreign aid is not the solution to poverty.

In many cases, it's actually part of the problem. For years, we've been sold the idea that aid from organizations like USAID helps "lift" Africa out of poverty. But here’s the truth: if foreign aid worked, Africa would be the richest continent on Earth by now.

Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country and giving it to the rich people of a poor country.

- Ron Paul

Walk through Dakar's streets, and you'll see exactly where your aid money goes. The city is filled with foreign residents working for the UN, various NGOs, and embassies. They live in a parallel economy – one that most Senegalese can only observe from the outside. These aid workers enjoy lives of luxury: fine dining at expensive restaurants, driving new SUVs, occupying the best apartments in town, employing multiple household staff (all courtesy of and paid by taxpayers' money from donor nations – aka foreign aid money), and hosting lavish parties.

And oh, by the way, they receive "hardship pay" for their supposed sacrifice of living in what they consider a “far away place filled with malaria, tropical diseases and tough climates.”

This creates a devastating ripple effect throughout our local economy.

These organizations, flush with seemingly unlimited budgets, inflate the cost of everything – from housing to basic services. A local business owner like myself has to compete with these inflated prices while running a real business with real constraints. We can't just throw money around because we're dealing with actual market forces, not endless streams of "free" money.

But the damage goes deeper than just raising the cost of living.

These organizations also poach our best and brightest talents with salaries that no local business can match. Instead of building businesses, innovating solutions, or creating real economic value, our most capable people are diverted into bureaucratic jobs pushing papers and writing reports that rarely translate into meaningful change.

I've seen brilliant minds reduced to professional workshop attendees, moving from one donor-funded meeting to another, producing NOTHING of lasting value.

When I travel across Africa, I don't see sustainable prosperity created by aid programs. Instead, I see the destruction of local markets and the creation of dependency cycles that strip away our dignity. Consider what happens in our villages: When free mosquito nets arrive, local merchants who sell them go bankrupt. The same thing happens with shoes. Donated shoes flood local markets, making it impossible for local shoe manufacturers to compete. Each "free" gift comes with the hidden cost of destroying local economic ecosystems.

(To be clear, I’m not speaking about humanitarian aid here. This critique focuses on foreign aid programs aimed at development, not emergency responses to crises like natural disasters or conflicts.)

Again, the accountability in these organizations is virtually non-existing.

Their budgets make no sense in any real-world context – they operate in a fantasy land where money seems to have no limits. They measure success by money spent and goods distributed, not by actual economic development or the creation of sustainable businesses…

What's even more frustrating for me is how this system creates a culture of dependency while simultaneously diminishing our dignity. The narrative becomes one of Africa needing constant help, rather than Africa needing fair opportunities to compete and grow.

I've been sounding this alarm for years. Foreign aid indeed creates jobs and careers - just not for the people it's supposed to help. Every successful economy in history has developed through trade and entrepreneurship, not through handouts and aid dependency.

So, am I glad the world is waking up to this? Absolutely.

The sooner we stop treating foreign aid as a sacred cow, the sooner we can start focusing on what actually works: economic freedom, entrepreneurship, and policies that empower people to build their own futures.

The first step toward a prosperous Africa is to eliminate what's poisoning it – this toxic aid dependency that has created a parallel economy and diverted our resources away from productive activities.

Only then can we build the Africa we know is possible: one where entrepreneurship thrives, dignity is preserved, and prosperity is created through our own efforts rather than handouts.

Africa doesn't need more aid. It needs more freedom.

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Postscript: I dive deep into Africa's poverty problem and its solution in my book, The Heart of a Cheetah. If you want to understand what truly holds Africa back and what can set it free, you can order it now!