Podcast Summary: "What is the Impact of Aid Cuts in Africa?"

Podcast: This Week in Global Development
Date: February 12, 2026
Hosts & Reporters: Rumbi Chakamba (host), Ayanat Mercy, Sarah Jerving
Key Focus: Examining how recent U.S. and Western aid cuts are affecting African countries—with insights from reporting teams across the continent and analysis of how governments, health, and communities are adapting.

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the consequences of recent foreign aid cuts in Africa, particularly those implemented by the U.S. The team—reporters based on the continent—unpacks government responses, economic and social impacts, and first-hand experiences from communities and individuals affected by these changes, referencing new research and on-the-ground reporting from Malawi, Kenya, Ethiopia, and more.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. CGD Report: How African Budgets Respond to Aid Cuts (00:00–02:48)

• Main finding: Most African countries are not significantly raising domestic revenue to replace lost aid. Instead, they are primarily reducing spending.
• Country Focus:
  • Sierra Leone: Plans to broaden the tax base and improve revenue administration.
  • Tanzania: Implemented new taxes (alcohol, imported vehicles, telecom, gaming, etc.) and proposed an import substitution strategy.
• Upcoming: Anticipation that 2026 budgets might show more pragmatic responses, especially after policy changes and events like the Accra Reset.

Quote:
"Overall, they found that countries aren't really looking at raising more revenues but are rather cutting back on spending." (Rumbi, 00:28)

2. Malawi as a Case Study in Aid Dependency (02:48–07:20)

• Aid Dependency Data:
  • 73% of Malawi’s development projects are donor-funded.
  • 55% of the health budget is externally funded.
  • 90% of domestic revenue goes to wages and statutory obligations, leaving little for development.
• Recent Actions: Malawi has raised multiple taxes (income, VAT, others), but analysts warn this is insufficient and could further burden citizens.
• Impact: Shrinking GDP by $127 million directly attributed to U.S. aid cuts; concerns about maintaining crucial gains in health, especially on HIV/AIDS (95-95-95 targets).

Quote:
"Malawi is one of the countries that's acknowledged that the aid cuts themselves are actually going to affect economic growth..." (Rumbi, 05:30)

3. Impact on Health and Social Programs (Kenya FGM Reporting) (07:20–13:00)

• Health Systems: Aid cuts reach beyond immediate needs—programs to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and support education for at-risk girls are threatened.
• On-the-ground Reporting: Rescue shelters like "Mission with a Vision" face sustainability issues due to shrinking donor funds, especially for crucial awareness campaigns and support for survivors.
• Awareness & Behavioral Change: Slow, generational work is threatened—need for long-term donor patience and societal engagement.

Notable Quotes:

• "Programs that might not seem life saving...actually do, like supporting health workers in skill delivery." (Sarah, 07:20)
• "Their strategy is really focusing on younger generations...the SDGs have a goal set for the elimination of FGM at 2030 and that, you know, there's a very little kind of optimism that that could happen." (Sarah, 11:56)

4. Health Care Sector: Costs Shifting to Patients (13:40–16:20)

• Examples:
  • Zimbabwe: Price of condoms rose immediately post-aid cuts.
  • Clinics in Kenya/Nigeria shut down, pushing patients to more expensive private facilities.
  • Kenya: Proposed taxes for the informal sector (about 40% of the population).
• Expert Insights: Raising domestic taxes often falls directly on patients, many of whom cannot afford these costs.
• Critical Quote:
  • Daniel Mwai, Kenya’s Presidential Economic Transformation Secretariat: "That money you're asking for does not exist." (Sarah quoting, 15:40)

Analysis: Funding gaps extend to research and development, which, if filled, could aid local medical product development and reduce costs.

5. Aid Cuts’ Impact on Employment and Social Fabric (Ethiopia Focus) (16:20–22:44)

• Scope: Thousands of Africans working on aid-funded projects lost jobs—impact extends to their families and communities.
• Personal Story: "Jonas," a former public health worker, considered dangerous migration routes after losing his job, underscoring the desperation many face.
• Community Response: Job loss led to the creation of Telegram support groups, but over 70–80% of affected professionals remain unemployed a year later.
• Broader Impact: Erosion of a professional class and local community stability in capital cities across Africa.

Quote:
"If you're the best and the brightest...in Ethiopia, you really go into aid. So the loss of a job was really devastating for themselves, but also...for their families and their communities." (Ayanat, 19:46)

6. African Union Summit and the Road Ahead (22:44–25:28)

• On the Agenda:
  • Aid cuts, intra-African trade (African Continental Free Trade Area), water management (2026 summit theme), and the push for a permanent African seat at the UN Security Council.
  • Critical minerals and global competition: Framing the need for African unity and cooperation to avoid neocolonial patterns as international interest grows.
• Longer-Term Trends: Worries that a shift toward bilateral rather than unified African negotiation could weaken the continent's negotiating position in a new “scramble for Africa”.

Quote:
"Africa shouldn't be the subject of someone's ambitions. It shouldn't be another rat race to, you know, almost like a neocolonialism." (Ayanat quoting Ethiopian FM, 24:30)

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On government responses:
  "They only found two countries actually proposing raising revenues to replace lost funding." — Sarah, 01:37

• On the impact in Malawi:
  "90% of its domestic revenue on the wage bill and statutory obligations...leaves little to no money for actual development projects." — Rumbi, 03:45

• On cutbacks affecting community projects:
  "There's these programs that...might not seem to be life saving...but they actually do." — Sarah, 07:25

• On desperation following job losses:
  "He was so desperate that I was thinking of leaving Ethiopia for the first time and not obviously on a plane..." — Ayanat, 18:35

• On the funding gap:
  "That money you're asking for does not exist." — Quoted by Sarah, 15:40

Episode Takeaways

• Governments are struggling to compensate for lost aid: With few new revenue strategies, the main recourse has been spending cuts—putting pressure on essential services.
• Patients and citizens bear the brunt: Out-of-pocket expenses are rising, and poorer communities are the hardest hit.
• Vital progress is under threat: From HIV/AIDS targets in Malawi to the elimination of FGM in Kenya, service and social change programs are at risk.
• Aid sector job losses have lasting social impacts: Particularly on Africa’s professional class and their families, raising questions about brain drain and social stability.
• Regional unity and self-reliance are critical: Amid resource competition and shifting aid policies, African cooperation is more important—and more challenged—than ever.

Explore Further

• Follow Devex for continued deep dives into African country responses to aid cuts.
• Watch for upcoming reporting on the African Union Summit and African Continental Free Trade Area’s progress.
• Connect with reporters on LinkedIn/social media for the latest on the critical minerals race.

For listeners concerned about global development and Africa’s future, this episode provides data-rich context, compelling stories, and a forward-looking view on how the continent is navigating a new era of reduced aid.