.Dependency on foreign aids is no longer an option

 

 

African nations currently facing dwindling foreign aids, trade frictions and migration pushback from once sympathetic western governments must now confront the urgent need for effective political leadership and rapid infrastructure development required for economic independence and internally propelled growth.

 

Country Director & Energy Portfolio Director at DMG Events, Mrs Wemimo Oyelana, who is working on hosting conference on West Africa Industrialization, Manufacturing & Trade Summit is asking African nations to stand up and address some of the most fundamental social service needs and infrastructure deficits impeding growth of the continent.

 

In laying valid premises for policy propositions that would dominate the upcoming conference, Wemimo pointed at the prevailing reluctance of foreign governments to continue assisting Africa with huge financial aids and direct social service interventions.

 

We can report  that the foreign aids cuts, tariff upgrades and strict immigration controls initiated by the President Donald Trump administration of the United States have gained wider adoption by developed western countries that tighten control on fiscal leakages and internal security.

 

 

And with rising rate of pushback from developed economies against African liabilities, policy think tanks across the continent continue to debate the best steps African economies must take in utilizing available material and human resources to spur internal growth and intra-continental trade.

 

In canvassing the need for compelling debate over Africa’s next moves, Mrs Oyelana noted in her online posers that the rate of foreign aid flow to Africa has taken a drastic plunge since early 2025. She cited a review of media reports on several international aid agencies showing that foreign aid from the USA has plummeted from $12 billion in 2024 to paltry $1.02 billion in 2025.

 

In 2024, she noted, foreign aid from the USA totaled over $12 billion; while in March 2025, 83% of $6 billion USAID contracts into Sub Saharan Africa were cancelled. And more recently, she said, the UK government announced plans to cut foreign aid spending by 40% with the biggest reduction being felt across Africa.

 

She added that the cuts in aid would most greatly impact healthcare, not to mention education and economic development.

 

The baby-faced event prodigy also cited reports that the EU’s proposed migration policy may tie future aid to stricter migration controls by African nations.

 

In raising a debate poser, Wemimo questioned how quickly African nations can fill the critical gaps left behind.

 

While recognizing strong interventions by development finance agencies like the African Development Bank Group’s $6 billion investment for quality healthcare infrastructure and pharmaceutical industry capacity boost; pledges by African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA) to produce 60% of Africa’s vaccine needs by 2040; and efforts by Ghana, Kenya, Morocco and others, to scale up National Health Insurance Schemes and improve access; she called for more collaborative effort to urgently achieve more.

 

In noting that dependency is no longer an option in the emerging global setting, she called for visionary and results-oriented leadership, progressive policies, adequate and affordable power, major infrastructure, investment into R&D and technology as essential measures for addressing the needs of 1.5 billion-strong African population.

 

She maintained thatcuts in foreign aid translate to a call for action, stressing that the shifts signal a new era for Africa and also presents a catalyst for the accountability required to “build and care for our nations.”

 

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