Opinion: ‘Africa First’ is a necessary response to Trump’s ‘America First’

For decades, the United States and African countries have collaborated as partners in several socioeconomic development initiatives of mutual interests across the African continent. Now, as the U.S. has frozen nearly all foreign assistance, halting billions of dollars in global funding as part of the “America First” agenda, it is time for an “Africa First” perspective. An “Africa First” strategy ought to promote domestic mobilization of resources by African nations to substantially invest in strategic infrastructure investment, social services provision, and human capital development. Foreign assistance has been a double-edged sword In the decade leading up to 2023, approximately 70% of the yearly nonhumanitarian aid provided by the U.S. State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development for Africa was allocated to health projects, with aid for HIV/AIDS accounting for most funding. Other financing has aimed to increase agricultural production and economic growth, strengthen security, promote democracy, human rights, and governance, and expand access to education and social services. In addition, in fiscal year 2024, the U.S. allocated around $6.6 billion in humanitarian aid to sub-Saharan Africa to meet urgent and escalating needs. Now, the Trump administration has frozen nearly all foreign assistance, halting billions of dollars in global funding as part of the “America First” agenda. This has unsurprisingly generated uncertainty in Africa and other regions where the U.S. government is pivotal in supporting social, political, and economic development programs. Yet, despite yielding success in certain areas such as education (e.g. increased adolescent girls’ enrollment and retention in secondary school in Tanzania), health (e.g. reduction of infant mortality rate in Malawi), and energy (e.g. Ghana connected more than 79,205 rural households to the electric power grid), the excessive reliance on assistance from the U.S. and other foreign development partners to execute strategic development schemes has emerged as a double-edged sword for Africa’s future. Despite decades of foreign assistance to African countries, research reveals ongoing discord over the definitive outcomes of the link between foreign aid and economic growth. Many low-income African nations tend to depend on foreign assistance to provide essential services, such as education, health care, and roads. This is because such countries are unable to achieve their spending and income targets within the fiscal year. This overreliance on foreign assistance can lead to paralyzing governments’ primary responsibility to provide basic services to their citizens. The U.S. aid freeze clearly shows how vulnerable Africa is to external policy changes. A key example is the U.S. decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization, which sparked widespread concern across the global health sector. The move has the potential to jeopardize critical health programs in Africa, particularly those targeting HIV/AIDS, polio, tuberculosis, and other life-threatening diseases. As the continent grapples with multiple humanitarian crises — especially in conflict-affected regions — the suspension of U.S. aid has left millions at risk. Despite the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio approving an expanded waiver to allow continued funding for "life-saving" programs, uncertainty persists for many African countries regarding the future of other critical initiatives funded by USAID. Without long-term clarity, several development projects remain in limbo, raising serious concerns about sustainability and resilience in the face of ongoing crises. Domestic resource mobilization In the long run, it is essential for African countries to enhance their ability to mobilize domestic resources. To do so means taking advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area, or AfCFTA, to facilitate intracontinental commerce, therefore generating more revenue for their socioeconomic development initiatives. Currently, 48 out of 55 African Union member states are parties to the trade agreement. At its full potential, AfCFTA is anticipated to elevate 30 million people living in extreme poverty and enhance Africa's income by 7% by 2035. Added to this, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimates that Africa incurs an annual loss of around $88.6 billion due to illicit financial flows. This accounts for nearly 3.7% of the continent’s entire gross domestic product. The new U.N. tax convention, if completed and adopted, will help to tackle the issues of illicit financial flows. This convention will create an international legal framework that will help to curb tax evasion as well as base erosion and profit shifting, which deplete the foreign exchange reserves of most African nations. Such measures will be essential in reducing excessive reliance on foreign aid. Increasing domestic resources mitigates external shocks to our economies when foreign assistance is diminished or discontinued by development partners such as the U.S. and the like. Moreover, UNCTAD indicates that curbing illicit financial flows will help the continent in closing its development finance deficit by 33%, which is crucial for achieving the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and African Union’s Agenda 2063. ‘Africa First’ As the U.S. rolls out its “America First” foreign policy, it is placing the country’s national interests above everything else. Now Africa must prioritize its own interests in global partnerships, adopting an “Africa First” perspective particularly as other nations pursue nationalist agendas. With 464 million people on the continent living in extreme poverty in 2024 despite the continent’s vast natural resources, African leaders need a unified strategy to leverage these assets more effectively. An “Africa First” approach should emphasize domestic resource mobilization, strengthening transportation systems and other social services, as well as the advancement of institutions and human capital. This shift would strengthen Africa’s economic independence while reducing reliance on foreign aid. Success depends not just on resource wealth, but on building robust institutions and human capital capable of managing these assets to benefit all citizens. Editor’s note: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organization he works for.