When the U.S announced aid closure, I’ve seen some people insinuate that it might be liberation from neocolonialism. How true is this? Liberation is not simply handed over. Imagine a village with fertile land but limited tools to cultivate it. Its growth is slow despite hard work. Then an outsider offers advanced tools, training and seeds. With the right partnership, the village thrives and the partner also benefits from it, but only if safeguards are in place to prevent exploitation. This is the essence of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). But Africa has taken so much aid that ur continent is now facing:
Limitation of relying on foreign aids: Foreign aid and investment often come with significant drawbacks that can hinder long-term development. Aid can create dependency cycles where countries become reliant on external funding rather than developing sustainable domestic solutions. Recent debates, especially on US investments in Africa highlight the need for African leaders to be more discerning in their FDI deals. It should drive economic growth, not dependency or neocolonialism. For instance, many African healthcare systems remain heavily dependent on foreign donors, making them vulnerable when funding priorities shift..
Vulnerability to Changing International Priorities: Recent global events demonstrate how quickly international priorities can shift, leaving aid-dependent nations exposed. When COVID-19 hit, many Western nations redirected their aid budgets to domestic concerns, leaving previous commitments unfulfilled. Climate change funding promises made to African nations often go unmet when donor countries face domestic economic pressures. This unpredictability makes long-term development planning extremely challenging.
Risk of Being Caught in Great Power Competition: Africa increasingly finds itself as a battleground for influence between global powers, particularly the U.S., China, and Russia. This creates several risks: Infrastructure projects becoming political leverage (like China’s Belt and Road Initiative), Being pressured to take sides in global conflicts, potentially losing support from other partners, Having domestic policies influenced by external powers’ agendas rather than local needs, Receiving aid and investment that serves donor interests rather than recipient priorities
Western “aid” has been a futile approach for decades due to mismatch of priorities, the ‘tier-aid’ problem, and technology transfer limitations. Western aids are symptoms of a system designed to enrich foreign contractors and complicit elites, not Nigerians. When the U.S. cut funding, I don’t think it was abandoning us. They’re recalculating ROI which is good! They are looking inwards, it is time for us to look inward as well. If you ask me what we have to do now, I’d say:
Implementing Strategic Aid Management: Countries can develop comprehensive aid management policies that: Require alignment with national development priorities, Set minimum standards for local content and participation, Mandate technology transfer components, Establish clear exit strategies for transitioning from aid to sustainable local solutions. Ethiopia’s approach to selective aid acceptance, where projects must align with its national development plan, offers a good model. We have to grow to start asking for investment and stop begging for aid.
Strengthening Regional Coordination: This will mean decolonizing rigorously. African nations can enhance their bargaining power through regional coordination. The African Union (AU) and regional economic communities can set unified standards for accepting foreign aid and investment. For example, the East African Community’s joint negotiation approach has helped member states secure better terms in infrastructure deals. By presenting a united front, countries can resist unfavorable conditions and push for terms that prioritize local development needs.
Use ECOWAS as a Shield, Not a Pawn: We need to prioritise African IP, not donor dictatorship. Creating Alternative Funding Sources: African nations can develop domestic and regional funding mechanisms to reduce aid dependency: Strengthening tax collection systems, Developing local capital markets, Establishing sovereign wealth funds, Creating regional development banks. For instance, Botswana’s management of diamond revenues through its Pula Fund demonstrates how resource wealth can be transformed into sustainable development financing. #USAidShutdown
This period is not about “independence”. I don’t think we’re there yet. I’m requesting that we embrace interdependence and partnership according to our own terms. It’s time for us to enter the bakery and bake our own bread. Aid sustains the rhetoric that we’re incomplete without the outsiders. But Nigeria is not poor, we’re plundered. #USAidShutdown