DONALD TRUMP’S REVIEW ON AID POLICY AND ITS IMPACT ON AFRICA: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR NIGERIA

This study examines the review of Donald Trump’s foreign aid policy and its implications for Africa, with a specific focus on Nigeria. Under Trump’s administration, U.S. foreign aid underwent significant shifts, emphasizing security assistance, trade partnerships, and private-sector-driven growth, while reducing humanitarian aid, particularly in health and development sectors. The paper explores the opportunities and challenges, this policy shift presents for Nigeria, a major African country heavily reliant on foreign aid for health, security, and economic development. This study is anchored on dependency theory which emerged in the mid-20th century as a critique of traditional development theories. This study adopted an exploratory research method, the key documents were sourced from government publications, official websites (such as the U.S. State Department, PEPFAR, USAID, and the U.S. Congress), think tanks (e.g., the Centre for Global Development), and global organizations (e.g., the World Bank). The findings of the study indicates that military and trade investments under Trump’s policy offer substantial opportunities for Nigeria to enhance its defence capabilities and economic growth, reductions in health aid and humanitarian support create significant setbacks, particularly in addressing public health crises like HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. The study concludes that Donald Trump’s aid policy significantly impacted African countries, including Nigeria, by shifting the focus from traditional aid to trade, investment, and security assistance. The study recommended that Nigerian government should allocate a larger portion of its budget to the health sector, particularly for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and maternal health programmes.