By Muhammed Sherifdeen. Omeiza
For decades, foreign aid has been an important part of Africa’s development story. Governments and humanitarian organisations have used external funding to support healthcare, education, food assistance, infrastructure and emergency responses. But the world is changing, and the money available for development assistance is falling.
This raises an uncomfortable question: what happens when the countries and organisations that Africa has depended on for assistance can no longer provide the same level of support?
The decline is already visible. Official development assistance fell sharply in 2025, recording one of the largest annual declines ever reported. Bilateral aid to Sub-Saharan Africa is also expected to fall further in 2026.
For countries facing conflict, poverty, disease and humanitarian crises, these reductions are not just numbers.
They can mean fewer health workers, fewer food distributions, fewer schools and fewer programmes supporting vulnerable communities.
Somalia provides a clear example. Aid cuts have contributed to pressure on health and nutrition programmes at a time when millions of people still face food insecurity and children remain particularly vulnerable to malnutrition.
This shows why aid still matters.
It would be wrong to argue that Africa no longer needs foreign assistance. Countries facing war, drought, disease outbreaks and humanitarian emergencies cannot simply wait for long-term economic reforms to solve immediate problems.
But there is another side to the debate.
Africa cannot build a sustainable development model around money that can disappear when another country changes its foreign policy or budget priorities.
This is where the politics of aid becomes important.
Donor countries do not provide assistance in a political vacuum. Their priorities change. Economic crises, wars, elections and domestic political pressures can affect how much money governments are willing to spend overseas.
Africa therefore needs to ask a difficult question: should development programmes depend so heavily on decisions made outside the continent?
The answer should not be to reject foreign aid.
The answer should be to use it differently.
Aid should increasingly support systems that can eventually become sustainable. Instead of continuously funding the same emergency, donors and African governments should invest in local health systems, agricultural productivity, public institutions, education and domestic revenue mobilisation.
African governments also need to take greater responsibility for financing their own development.
This means improving tax collection, reducing waste, strengthening public financial management and making better use of domestic resources.
There is also a question of accountability.
Aid does not automatically produce development. If money enters a country but institutions are too weak to use it effectively, the problem is not simply that donors have not given enough money.
African governments need to show that they can manage resources transparently and measure the results of programmes.
There is an opportunity in the current decline in aid.
It may force African countries to think more seriously about self-reliance.
But self-reliance should not mean isolation. Africa still needs international partnerships, technology, investment and humanitarian support.
The goal should be a relationship where foreign assistance strengthens African capacity instead of permanently replacing it.
Aid can save lives.
But development requires systems that can continue working after the aid ends.
That is the real challenge facing Africa as foreign assistance becomes less reliable.
– Muhammed Sherifdeen Omeiza is a Nigerian researcher and writer whose work explores the intersection of humanitarian action, human rights, gender equality and global governance. With a keen interest in public policy, democracy, and political economy, he examines how local experiences and global decisions shape humanitarian outcomes in times of crisis. His writings draw from African and international contexts, reflecting a commitment to justice, accountability, and people-centered governance in global affairs.
Email: sherifdeenmuhammed001@gmail.com
