OPINION:
Weeks ago, the Trump administration made waves by pausing the United States Agency for International Development’s assistance programs, and it’s not done yet. Internal documents show that the White House plans to gut nearly 15,000 grants worth $60 billion — roughly 90% of all foreign aid contracts.
The backlash against the overhaul of USAID is predictable but misguided.
As American entrepreneurs who have spent two decades in Africa transforming public education, we’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. Results remain elusive after $700 billion in U.S. taxpayer money since 2000 to foster economic prosperity abroad. If these programs were effective, they wouldn’t require perpetual funding. Instead, billions flow into failing, overpriced programs, enriching entrenched contractors with little incentive to innovate or produce meaningful impact. A full-scale review isn’t just justified; it’s long overdue to ensure aid serves U.S. interests and drives real change.
Nowhere is this dysfunction clearer than in education, the single most powerful driver of economic growth. Eric Hanushek’s research shows a country’s cognitive skill level explains over 75% of economic growth variation. In 1960, South Korea and sub-Saharan Africa had similar gross domestic product per capita, but South Korea transformed its economy by investing in effective education.
Despite billions of dollars in aid, 89% of children in Africa remain in learning poverty, unable to read a simple text by age 10. Across all low- and middle-income countries, it is 70%. The return on investment? Catastrophically low.
USAID-funded education programs improve reading by just three words per minute — what a U.S. first-grader learns in nine days — at double the cost of recipient countries’ entire education budgets. Even worse, a USAID review of 15 years of its education programs found that only half considered learning a priority outcome and only a quarter attempted to measure learning outcomes.
A Washington-driven aid-industrial complex funnels billions of dollars to entrenched contractors and unaccountable nongovernmental organizations with little oversight, sidelining U.S. private-sector innovation. While NASA and the Pentagon leverage private-sector companies such as SpaceX and Anduril for breakthroughs, USAID funds the same entrenched Beltway firms. In 2023, 50% of USAID contract funds went to just 10 firms, with up to 60% going to administrative costs.
When governments embrace private-sector innovation, education moonshots can happen. In Lagos, Nigeria, education transformation cut learning poverty in half in four years. At one-tenth the cost of a USAID-funded program, public school reading levels rose from Chad-like levels to those of middle-income nations such as Malaysia.
The failure of U.S. foreign assistance in education also stems from an ideological misalignment with the interests of American and recipient nations.
Take USAID’s push for mother-tongue instruction, even in countries where English is the national language and a gateway to economic opportunity. In Nigeria, wealthier families speak English at home. Forcing mother-tongue instruction in public schools denies children from non-English-speaking households the language skills needed to succeed, entrenching poverty and deepening inequality. This policy also undermines U.S. soft power by shrinking the global English-speaking workforce and pushing future generations toward China’s sphere of influence.
Spending U.S. taxpayer dollars on ineffective programs is not in America’s national interest. Foreign assistance must be reimagined to leverage private-sector innovation and efficiency to ensure real results.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative is tightening its grip on Africa’s resources, undermining America. Instead of writing blank checks to failing programs, the U.S. must invest in education that builds strong, independent allies with deeper ties to the U.S. — not Beijing.
Foreign assistance is critical to countering violent extremism. In northern Nigeria and the Sahel, where extremist groups prey on uneducated youths, education is not just about prosperity; it’s about security. Jihadi groups such as Boko Haram and ISIS exploit education failures by recruiting young men with no future. The best defense isn’t another broken aid program; it’s real economic opportunity through education that stops radicalization before it spreads.
The ultimate goal of foreign assistance is for recipient countries to achieve self-reliance. Instead of fostering dependency, successful aid programs should help nations transition into U.S. trading partners. As Rwandan President Paul Kagame recently said in support of the administration’s foreign aid review, “African countries need to learn to be self-sufficient. They can’t rely on the generosity of others forever.”
President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio saw the disaster that foreign aid had become and took decisive action by freezing funds temporarily to cut waste and demand real results. This is leadership America needs: ensuring that every dollar spent delivers measurable outcomes and advances U.S. strategic national interests. A results-driven approach is long overdue. Foreign aid should prioritize private-sector innovation, cut waste, and invest in solutions that drive real economic transformation and serve U.S. interests.
• Jay Kimmelman and Shannon May are co-founders of NewGlobe Education, a U.S. company deploying data-driven education transformation in public school systems across Africa and Asia.
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