EU Says it ‘Cannot Fill’ USAID Funding Gap as Africa Seeks Solutions

The European Union has said it cannot plug the funding gap left by the United States suspending its US Agency for International Development (USAID) programs as governments across Africa try to keep critical healthcare services running.

The US is the largest single aid donor in the world, disbursing some $72 billion in assistance in 2023, much of it through the US Agency for International Development (USAID). That same year, the EU, the largest collective donor, contributed almost $100 billion.

“We will not step back from our humanitarian commitments,” a European Commission spokesperson told Semafor, saying the bloc’s 2025 humanitarian budget alone stands at $1.9 billion — with $510 million earmarked for Africa. But the spokesperson added: “The funding gap is getting bigger, leaving millions in need. The EU cannot fill this gap left by others.”

The comments come as sub-Saharan Africa reels from the impact of the Trump administration’s decision to suspend USAID spending for a 90-day review. The vast majority of the agency’s budget in the region goes to humanitarian and health aid—USAID spent more than $11 billion there in 2024, according to official figures—and the freeze has already shuttered services ranging from HIV clinics in Uganda to immunisation programs in Nigeria.

The number and scale of programs funded by USAID in Africa makes it unlikely that any one donor could cover the shortfall. As Kehinde Ajayi, director of the Gender Equality and Inclusion Program at the Center for Global Development, told Semafor, this is a moment “for coalition building,” with key roles for other countries, multilateral lenders, philanthropic organisations, and middle-income African nations.

At best, there is an opportunity to delink foreign aid and critical health services. There is certainly growing momentum for alternative models. But that won’t happen at the speed this sudden freeze demands without any time to plan a transition. The White House is rewriting the rules of US foreign aid, and the effects will be felt for years to come.