Trump to gut US agency funding Africa infrastructure projects – memo
FILE PHOTO: Women gather grain spilled by cargo trucks from Zambia along a highway in Magunje, Zimbabwe, February 20, 2016. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo
WASHINGTON, United States — President Donald Trump’s administration plans to gut a US agency that has invested billions in infrastructure in Africa, ceding ground in a key area of competition with China, according to a memo.
A memo, which was sent to staff and whose contents were shared Wednesday with AFP, said that billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency will impose a “significant reduction” in programs and staff at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
Founded in 2004 under former president George W. Bush and long enjoying bipartisan support, the MCC signs contracts for US investment in developing countries that meet standards on democracy, economic openness and good governance.
The MCC has since invested $17 billion with numerous prominent projects underway.
In Zambia, the MCC in October signed a half-billion-dollar agreement to improve roads and irrigation and to boost electricity.
In Senegal, the MCC is implementing a $600 million initiative — which includes $50 million from the Senegalese government — to ramp up electricity outside of rural areas.
The memo indicated that the review was not complete and it was unclear if the United States would fulfill promised contracts.
Infrastructure projects — roads, hospitals and other buildings — have been a signature selling point for China, which the United States sees as its primary adversary.
READ: Trump administration formalizes plans to shutter USAID
On the other hand…
Chinese President Xi Jinping in September vowed another $51 billion of investment in Africa over the next three years.
The United States under former president Joe Biden acknowledged it cannot keep up with such high-profile, state-led spending but has argued it can offer a more sustainable model that includes respect for governance.
Trump has made clear he has limited interest in sub-Saharan Africa and that he opposes development aid that, in his view, does not directly benefit the United States.
Upon taking office this January, Trump and Musk eviscerated the much-larger US Agency for International Development.
