RismadarVoice Reporters, June 30, 2026
Tech billionaire, Elon Musk has claimed that mortality rates in Africa declined following significant reductions in United States foreign aid, arguing that the funding cuts halted programmes he alleged contributed to political instability on the continent.
Musk asserted in a post on X while responding to criticism of spending reductions linked to the former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, which backed major cuts to funding for the United States Agency for International Development.
According to Refugees International, US humanitarian assistance dropped from about $14 billion in 2024 to $3.7 billion in 2025, describing the dismantling of USAID as one of the clearest signs of a wider decline in global humanitarian support.
Similarly, the Centre for Global Development reported that USAID spending fell by approximately 58 per cent in 2025 compared with the previous year.
Despite Musk’s position, humanitarian organisations and public health experts have continued to warn that the funding reductions could have devastating consequences for vulnerable populations.
A study published in The Lancet in July 2025 projected that the aid cuts could contribute to more than 14 million additional deaths worldwide by 2030, including over 4.5 million children.
Also, columnist Nicholas Kristof, citing estimates from the Centre for Global Development, previously warned that more than 1.6 million people could die within a year if US-funded HIV prevention and treatment programmes were discontinued.
Backing his argument, Musk shared mortality data from several African countries, including weekly all-cause death statistics from South Africa covering January 2023 to May 2026. He argued that the figures showed no measurable increase in deaths following reductions to USAID and President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funding.
In his post, Musk wrote that deaths in Africa had decreased after the funding cuts, alleging that USAID had previously supported activities aimed at promoting violent political change and installing left-leaning governments.
The analysis cited alongside the data also referenced academic studies questioning the overall impact of foreign aid on health outcomes, including a 2019 study that found limited statistical evidence linking higher aid levels with improvements in life expectancy or mortality in developing countries.
Musk has consistently defended the reduction in US foreign assistance, maintaining that the cuts were necessary to curb waste, corruption and the misuse of taxpayer funds, while critics argue that the withdrawal of aid threatens critical health and humanitarian programmes across Africa and other developing regions.
