Frenzied, cutthroat, and chaotic — that’s how recent efforts to dismantle the U.S. foreign assistance infrastructure have been described. The Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development left no time for planned transitions for fund recipient governments and organizations implementing programming, nor a wind-down for those receiving aid to identify other options for services they were receiving.
But some argue that parts of the U.S. foreign aid legacy are being remembered through rose-colored glasses: While American aid provided enormous benefits to the world, it also came with baggage.
Devex spoke with four development and private sector experts on the African continent who offered their candid assessments of where U.S. foreign assistance has fallen short — and what changes are needed.