Chihombori-Quao: USAID was ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’ in Africa | The Bottom Line

hi I'm Steve Clemens and I have a question with the termination of tens of billions of dollars of us Aid and humanitarian assistance to Africa and elsewhere around the world is this going to create waves of tragedy let's get to the bottom line as part of its mission to downsize the US federal government the Trump Administration has suspended employment of thousands of USA ID workers and has terminated its programs and most global humanitarian assistance there have been some exceptions for life-saving programs but these are small waivers amidst an onslaught of huge massive Aid Cuts Africa

stands out as the most impacted but what may disappear humanitarian assistance infrastructure support medicine and food programs these are all substantial for countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo which receives about 1.34 billion dollar each year Ethiopia which gets about 1.2 billion Sudan nearly $800 million and other major grants going to Nigeria to South Sudan Kenya mosm Beek Uganda and more but some see a silver lining in this gutting of us support for the continent with Aid they say there has been substantial political meddling and resource exploitation that is demeaned and sidelined African empowerment and

economic growth so rather than trauma with the usaid cuts there could be opportunity they say today we're talking with Ambassador adiana Chi Home bori quao a medical doctor and for former permanent representative of the African Union to the United States Ambassador it is terrific to have you with me in stage here in studio let me just ask you you know if I look through the US aid program some of which have been cut off in Congo there's an aid group action against hunger this says they're treating tens of thousands of malnourished children in Ethiopia food

assistance stopped for more than a million people as we've seen these Aid Cuts go into Force really across the board with very very few waivers how is Africa feeling this moment do do you see this as as a story of tragedy or is there something else that we need to be looking at I think there's something else we need to be looking at there is Need for readjustments there is Need for realignment we need to understand the real reason why usaid is in Africa and not just usaid but other NGS you look at defit which

is the British equivalent and many other smaller ones their sole purpose was to act as if they're coming to rescue Africa they're coming to fill in the the gaps in uh government services gaps in education gaps in health care uh gaps in uh um humanitarian uh Services they're coming in in the guise of um uh addressing issues to do with human rights issues to do with um Environmental Protection and and uh social justice they are coming in claiming that they are introducing uh Grassroots initiatives that are going to help the people and so they use

that as a way to go into the most remote parts of Africa they're talking about government advocacy when you look at it on paper it all looks really good but they're actually wolf in sheep's clothing they are using that open access sounding humanitarian to constantly destabilize government I can tell you right now the majority of African leaders and not just African leaders but leaders in the developing world are celebrating the exit of us ID I was listening to a program I believe it was CNN and I was jumping up and down it was an a

government official from Hungary he was echoing the same sentiment he said they are happy usid is leaving Hungary because they are always supporting opposition their form of government advocacy is supporting whoever can keep the government in a turmo so Ambassador let me just jump in here for this is a message that I don't think many Americans here I think many Americans believe not all of them but many of them believe that Aid was essentially set up for philanthropic reasons for dealing with the HIV aids crisis dealing with the uh you know various instabilities in the

region dealing with infrastructure deficits but you're saying that there was something else as part of that package meddling a major Maj medling agenda major meddling agenda the majority of some of the workers now the average USA worker may not realize it but quite a few of them are also uh operatives who are um underground and their major uh agenda is to De destabilize governments destabilize countries if you think about it their SLE purpose for example filling in the gaps in healthcare and education where is the change show me one country that usid was in and

education improved show me what country where usid was in and Healthcare improved the social services they're bringing it's peanuts the American taxpayer needs to know the billions of dollars that are being given to usid a fraction is making it to the people one of the highest profile medicine programs was is pepar which both Republican and Democrats here in Washington um are are really having outcries about it was one of the signature programs of President George W bush to try to respond to the HIV AIDS epidemic in Africa what's the view on that front let's look

at what HIV AIDS was used to do we know of a program that was run out of South Africa where they actually were injecting people with the virus the reason some of the AIDS virus spre spread as rapidly as it did in southern Africa there were some very dty games was being played on African people they were using Africans as guinea pigs for experimental uh activities even when you look at at every aspect they're using us as guinea pigs yes there was some good a percentage of some good but not all of it is done

with good intentions you look at agriculture they're destroying African agriculture by introducing those GMOs you plant your seed in one season your soil is finished we used to CS that we can use from one season to the other the intro introduction of GMOs through these agencies usid is one of them we are destroying Africa in a massive way a little good is coming out but by and large the end result they mean no good they can turn around and give us an inventory and say as long as you have been in Africa and also other

parts of the world show us your success rate you claim you're helping governments with education and Healthcare show us your success rate but I also turn around and say African governments why do you need this little Aid to assist you in providing proper Health Care proper education the average African government can afford to provide those services for their people I happen to I happen to have many many friends that work for usaid both in the field but also in Washington and I have to tell you I know that they believe that they're doing good that

they're trying to move the needle uh for those that are in desperate situation and desperate condition I think it's very interesting to raise the question of what the other political purposes are but as you sort of look at the scene now the French are very big in Aid programs as you mentioned the British um they also Chinese Aid programs are all of these programs essentially power plays and and all of them need to be suspended how do you see some of the other International programs in Africa now well these are all underground coet operations why

does Africa needs them why do we need them Africa has been the provider if you look at Europe Europe cannot survive without Africa one situation that people don't realize post World War when the US came up with the Marshall Plan what they don't tell you is that the contribution through exploitation of African minerals was actually the biggest funer of the European recovery plan Erp aka the Marshall Plan us contributed $13 billion which is now present day 175 billion which by the way the American taxpayer must be paid back nobody's asking for that money back but

what they don't tell you is that Africa through exploitation of its resources by the Europeans was actually a much much bigger contribution to the European recovery post World War II nobody talks about that why does such a continent that did so much to help Europe recover continue to be so poor let's be realistic here let's not talk about about peanuts Africa does not need the aid what we need is for those who are exploiting Africa to stop Africa has everything it needs if Africa could have contributed as much as it did to the recovery of

Europe post World War II why wasn't Africa equally developed so what happens next adiana you and I have talked about this before and the exploitation of minerals of uranium of cobalt of nickel Etc and many other rare Earths which is apparently very much on President Trump's mind because we see the negotiation uh for rare Earths with uh Ukraine but you and I have talked about the artificially low prices in and and and the and the fact that many economies in Africa don't participate in the gains and growth of the exploitation of those resources what happens

now when these Aid programs are withdrawing does the social contract between you know American mining operations or other Global mining oper does it give an opportunity for the power Dynamic to shift and change and what will that look like I think this is a workup call for the African leaders to the same extent that President Trump is saying USA first African leaders must also say Africa first this is a workup call to the African leaders to take inventory of what is really happening in their countries do they really need the peners that are coming in

as Aid what is really going out if I may use the example of what happened in ner when and the government decided they were going to take take over the mining of their uranium the French companies that were mining the uranium were paying the government 80 cents a kilo for the uranium and then turning around and selling the uranium to the rest of the world at €200 a kilo so that one move from the Nigerian government to say we are now going to take ownership of our own uranium they went from realizing about a billion

in uranium uh resources to over 300 billion a year do you realize what I'm talking about no amount of NGO could bring that kind of money and this is only one mineral not imagine the country taking inventory of all their minerals and benefiting from their natural resources like the rest of the countries in the western world that is what African leaders need to look at do you see that in the Horizon of Africa leaders right now you see them who do you see as the standout winners of that kind of change and who do you

think is still chasing Aid contracts let me tell you we need to look at what's happening in Bina Faso n and Mali president tra is standing up he is saying the natural resources in binaso they belong to the people of Bina Faso n is doing the same thing Mali is doing the same thing every leader must look at what's happening in the Sahar Nations to say like anybody else you must take care of your people you have your natural resources you have everything you need to take care of your people why do you continue to

be Beggars look at what is being brought in by not only usid but all the NOS in your country it's peanuts it's a joke that the African leaders should continue to be beggar of peenuts when you are looking and allowing billions to get out of your country year in and year out if not trillions in natural resources that your people should be benefiting from it is a wake up call for African leaders to wake up and say president Trump is saying us first America First you too must say your country first because you have everything

it takes it is a joke it is embarrassing to see African any AF I have not seen any African leader cry over usid living I can tell you for a fact the average African leader privately is celebrating the exit of usaid because they know what is really going on let me ask you a geopolitical question and again you and I have had the opportunity on this show to talk about it before which is the relationship of the United States broadly with the African continent and I realize the continent has a lot of different nations different

uh countries that are are part of it but president Trump is not known to care much about Africa he has uh talked about it in very derogatory language uh his comments about usaid have had nothing to do with Africa they've had to do with downsizing the scale of government and the perception of corruption um and policies that are not consistent with his own he's not framed any of this in terms of African needs or whatnot so when you think about that what do you think is the possibility of changing the Dynamics of the relationship between

the Trump Administration and African leaders when it doesn't seem to be on his radar screen to be honest with you why should African leaders care why should Trump care about Africa he shouldn't care about Africa to the same extent that the African leaders really shouldn't care about a relationship either if the relationship can be worked out that's wonderful but if president Trump is saying I have a mandate from my own people to take care of my people and I'm doing what I need to do to take care of my people African leaders need to take

that same position you see it takes two to tango if president Trump does not want a relationship with Africa Africans shouldn't be begging for it are you with me do you think this will will transmit to the way Africa deals with Europe with France with Germany I'm hoping that this will translate into African leaders looking from within because they don't really need to keep looking outside they have what it takes it's a workup call just like what happened during covid it was a work up call for African leaders to realize that you must begin to

look within Africa to take care of yourself when the chips were down the world walked away from Africa during Co so that's a reality no supplies were coming to Africa Africans were not manufacturing anything and African leaders were forced to look from within this I'm hoping is another wakeup call where African leaders also begin to realize we must look from within but let me underscore this the average African leader and leaders of majority of leaders of developing world I can tell they are celebrating the exit of usaid and we hope that there will be exits

of many other NOS that are cutting out nefarious activities in Africa and anywhere else in the developing World in order to further the agendas of their governments which is to continuously destabilize divide and conquer to be quite candid Ambassador much of the world looks at the African continent as a gold mine as a diamond mine as a mine for precious material and resources which we've talked about um one of those other major Powers Rising powers in the world is China China has huge stakes and there's all always been the narrative that America is not doing

Aid very well in Africa that China is beating us Bono would come out and say hey in all of the refugee camps and whatnot set up in Africa even the tents say made in China even though though the United States may be providing the support that there's a lot of um both criticism and a claim for the fact that China has been involved um in recent decades in helping Africa develop its infrastructure and whatnot to position itself better uh in Africa than the United States and maybe Europe have with regards to Resource agreements in Africa

so is China the next villain in the story well again my position is Africans must take a position and protect their Turf China wants to come and exploit Africa they'll get away with it to the extent that Africans allow them the United States wants to come and exploit Africa they'll get away with it to the extent that the Africans will allow them the question is does Africa have an African position when they come to the negotiating table with the world the answer right now is no Africa must unite Africa must speak with one voice and

Africa must go to the world stage with one voice one Agenda One plan that the world will have to respond but as long as Africa is going to the world as little bitty little countries as too as istini as as Guinea Africa is fighting a losing game Africa must unite and Africa must speak with one voice that is the only way a strong United Africa can take a rightful place on the world stage and be respected and stop the exploitation why is it so hard I think it's it's a long history if you go back

to um colonization if you go back to uh the Christianity and how it was introduced how we were trained to be subservient uh in Africa the the the rules of the game were the same I think that what was done to brainwash black people around the world uh long before they even left Africa we are still suffering from that Legacy of colonization the legacy of slavery where the people in power they themselves don't believe they can do it we still have leaders who believe you can't make it unless you're working with white people we have

individuals who think only something brought in by white people is what's likely to succeed with that kind of mentality it is a very difficult battle our battle to succeed to unite as the African continent it is a battle of the mind and each and every African must realize that we are defeated where it matters the most which is the Mind brainwashed to the core brain watched to not believe in ourselves and what we can do as individuals wherein lies the problem is the mind I won't call them nationalists but our continentalists are are those that

are trying to um as you say take stock of their situation and and raise uh up Africa and their Nations by their own bootstraps to be less dependent on external countries and investment and Aid is that is that flavor beginning to take hold is that sort of leadership being you know is it is it more and more evident or do you think you have a a big lift ahead I think what's happening in the United States through president Trump is going to make them realize that this is what you need to do you're going to

have to pull yourself up by the board straps president Trump is saying I have a mandate America first so you Africans are you going to sit back and just wait and see the next move that President Trump is going to make or you're going to also say I have a Mand from my people and I'm going to do what I need to do take inventory of what you have in your country use it and use it wisely no more begging you don't need to have anybody filling the gups in your educational system you don't need

anybody filling the gaps in your health care System you don't need anybody creating initiatives in the most remote parts of your country because they claim that you the government cannot have access to that how can somebody come from all the way from the United States or all the way from Britain and access the most remote part of your country that you in your country cannot access it is the most stupid thing when you listen to the justifications and and explanations as to why they are there it's a joke and this needs to stop just finally

Ambassador when you look at us Behavior retracting we've just got a minute left but I would love to know from you what do you think about the UN what do you think about the international court of justice because probably the contraction that we're talking about is going to happen a lot of Institutions do you wor that worry that Africa will be worse off without those institutions no those institutions were created after the second world war United Nations it took four weeks to create the United Nations why in order to help the recovery of Europe the

World Bank the IMF it took 3 weeks to create them after the second world war in order to Aid in the recovery of the of of Europe from the its own self-implosion and destruction so no no no no these institutions were not created to benefit the developing world to the contrary they were built to steal from the developing World their success is based on the failures of the development Nations where they have been stealing from so no no no we must celebrate what Trump president Trump is doing by exiting the United Nations by exiting the

World Health Organization we need the US to exit the World Trade Organization because they're doing nothing on the African end they're giving a blind eye to blatant exploitation ations unequal uneven trade policies that are hurting Africa you take for example coko majority of the Coco coming out of of the world comes from West Africa and yet it's only recently that African nations were allowed to add value to their Coco the World Trade organizations we may have a sister in charge right well Ambassador anik chior quow grateful whenever I talk to you it is a it

is a new reset for us to to hear your very fresh traks on the world um Ambassador T homeor qua thank you so much for joining us today thank you Steve as usual for having me it's been wonderful I always enjoy talking to you I appreciate your good work keep up the great work thank you so what's the bottom line recently the former head of the UK's MI6 Sir Alex younger gave a very sober assessment of us power in the world and said that we have entered quote a new era where international relations aren't determined

by rules and by multilateral institutions but by strong men and dealers the implications of that if he's right are staggering as it means that institutions like the United Nations the international court of justice and even alliances like NATO May fade in importance and one day just cease to matter it means that the transactionalism of programs like the usaid assistance programs designed to both support those in need but let's be serious they also deliver power influence of the United States may be shut off at least for a while I don't know if I fully agree with

the argument summer making that this is a golden opportunity for the African continent to shake off the global neoc colonialists of European and American powers that have exploited its resources and meddled in its politics but this may be right Africa does need a new chance and a restart and whether forced by circumstances of this Aid being cut off or by Africa's own desire this is a time to rebalance the power dynamics between African nations and the rest of the world and that's the bottom line [Music]