Mozambique was the CPLP country receiving the most funds from USAID in 2023

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Mozambique was the CPLP country receiving the most funds from USAID in 2023

2:01 CAT | 05 Feb 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

The member of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) that received the most funds from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2023 was Mozambique, with a total of US$664.122 million.

The data is contained in one of the few web pages that still contain official USAID information after a decision by the Donald Trump government to dismantle the agency, with 2023 being the most recent fiscal year for which complete information is available.

USAID disbursed a total of US$72 billion in the fiscal year of 2023, with the majority of the aid – more than US$16.6 billion (€16 billion) – sent to Ukraine.

In the CPLP universe, Angola followed Mozambique on the list of USAID aid recipients in fiscal year 2023, with US$71.320 million, joined, in descending order, by Brazil with US$68.985 million and Timor-Leste with US$43.688 million.

This was followed by Cape Verde, with US$2.961 million disbursed by the US agency, Guinea-Bissau, with US$2.910 million, Equatorial Guinea, with US$658,700, São Tomé and Príncipe, with US$216,379 and, finally, Portugal, with US$6,482.

USAID is the largest single donor in the world, distributing assistance ranging from women’s health in conflict zones to access to clean water, HIV/AIDS treatments and energy security.

In the first days of his second term, US President Donald Trump suspended all international aid for 90 days, with the exception of humanitarian food programmes and military aid to Israel and Egypt.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be the new acting director of USAID, which he accused of being “completely unresponsive,” criticizing the agency’s “insubordination.”

USAID — whose website disappeared on Saturday without explanation — has been one of the federal agencies most targeted by the new administration.

Trump, as well as the head of the Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE), entrepreneur Elon Musk, and some Republican congressmen have criticized USAID – which oversees humanitarian, development and security programs in about 120 countries – in increasingly harsh terms, accusing it of promoting progressive causes.

Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to be the region most affected by the decision.

Mozambique, for example, had tens of millions of dollars allocated in 2023 for programs related to HIV/AIDS and emergency food. Experts have assessed that the effects on HIV programs are not yet clear, but the consequences could be rapid and even dangerous.

The Mozambican prime minister, Maria Benvinda Levi, admitted last week that the health sector would be the most affected by the suspension of funding.

“It is a major challenge because the support from the United States is extremely important, particularly in social areas. So, we will have to see, with our resources, how we can redirect some resources to these areas, so that they are not left without any structure to develop their activities,” Prime Minister Levi said.

“The main [US] support is for the health area, but there are other sectors that receive less significant support,” she acknowledged.

Source: Lusa