Nearly a year after U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze U.S. development aid, USAID has permanently closed its offices in several African countries. Behind this move lies a huge collapse in climate financing, threatening dozens of ongoing environmental initiatives. Experts and observers are increasingly concerned about a funding vacuum that neither Europe nor billionaire philanthropists seem ready to fill. Originally announced as a temporary 90-day suspension, the shutdown of USAID (United States Agency for International Development) programs now appears to be a permanent rupture in U.S.-Africa cooperation. Since April 20, the expiration date of Trump’s moratorium, have been notified of a total halt in funding. focused on energy transition and climate resilience have even been reassigned to the U.S. Department of State, which has stated it will only continue them if they are deemed essential to saving human lives, a former USAID employee, who asked to remain anonymous for political reasons, told Mongabay during an interview in Cameroon. In this context, USAID offices have shut down, and funding for projects related to biodiversity, conservation and anti-desertification efforts and have stopped in many African countries. This sudden disengagement comes at a time when the continent is already struggling with a major green finance deficit. Morris Wamah, the director for the Liberian Initiative for Development Services, who worked implementing USAID funding in Liberian land reform, looks at a local map in June, amid global cuts to USAID funding. Image by AP Photo/Annie Risemberg. A continent neglected amid climate emergency Africa receives…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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