Photos: Wikimedia Commons
More than four in five USAID programs — some 5,200 projects, including many on the African continent — have been terminated as a result of a six-week purge by Washington.
Around 1,000 surviving programs will be moved under the State Department.
In a post on X, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked his staff and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency for working “very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform.”
The unprecedented shakeup of US foreign assistance ends many decades-old programs, with Africa expected to be the worst-hit continent.
The vast majority of USAID’s budget in the region goes on humanitarian and health aid: In 2024 it spent more than $11 billion across the continent.
Cutbacks have already upended supply chains for vital HIV drugs and disrupted treatment for tuberculosis.
Multiple lawsuits challenging the US State Department’s decision to dismantle operations are now underway.
