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USAID Funds Intended for Ethiopia Ended Up in Pockets of Americans, Human Rights Activist Says

08:56, 13 February 2025
© Getty Images / Jemal Countess
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Newly appointed USAID head Marco Rubio notified the US Congress last week that a review of USAID's foreign assistance activities was underway with an eye toward a potential reorganization. Later, all USAID overseas offices were reportedly ordered to shut down, with all staff to be recalled.
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Funds of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) intended for Ethiopia ended up in the pockets of Americans, with the African country receiving only 25% of the assistance, Mesud Gebeyehu Reta, an Ethiopian human rights advocate with over 10 years of experience working on USAID-funded projects, told Sputnik.

"For instance, we have a big program on the protection of human rights. We’re the implementing partners of the program here. We have about 10 organizations that are receiving funding from this program. It's a $20 million program over the period of five years, funded by the USAID. But we only received less than $100,000 per year from this program. If you do the calculation, all the 10 local organizations only had access to about $5 million out of the $20 million for this program," Reta, who is an executive director of the Consortium of Ethiopian Human Rights Organizations in Ethiopia, revealed.

The activist went on to explain why local partners like himself had no bargaining power in the face of the USAID.

"That's why I asked them, 'Is this a joke? Where's the $20 million you announced for the protection of human rights?' They don't explain to you. They only tell you that you can only access this much funding from the big portion they promised. The thing is, you have to comply or leave it. We can't be equal partners with them, because they make us dependent on their funding," Reta said.

Reta also pointed out that one of the biggest problems with the distribution of USAID funding was the fact that all the projects required the participation of US companies or US-based NGOs.

"What they do is they bring American companies or US-based NGOs to manage the funds on behalf of USAID in Ethiopia. They’re like intermediaries. Even if they give the projects to a big Ethiopian organization, the chief of a project has to be an American citizen. The tricky thing is, if they commit, for instance, $20 million, maybe only $5-7 million could reach local partners in Ethiopia. That's because they pay a big salary to the US citizens who live in fancy hotels. They have a lot of allowances, and they have big cars. That's why all the money goes back," he said.

Even though the suspension of USAID funding could disrupt many projects in Ethiopia, Reta still supported the Trump administration's efforts, hoping that efficiency reforms would ensure the funding reached local partners.

"That’s why I say the freezing of USAID funding is exposing how the system has been corrupt and how the system has been out of control. And most importantly, how the system has been manipulated by the elites, who can simply sit in the office and collect a large portion of the $20 million funding, while local partners only get $5 million or less. That’s why I hope Trump understands that USAID projects have to show the value for the money. That’s why I like the Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk, because he said the old system didn’t meet the value for the money," the activist said.

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Sub-Saharan AfricaDonald TrumpElon MuskEthiopiaUnited States (US)USAIDEast AfricaNorth AmericafundingbudgetMarco Rubio