USAID freeze: South Africa’s opportunity to create sufficient model for education

South Africa must see the aid sector uncertainty as an opportunity for the country and the continent to establish a self-sufficient and distinctly “African model” for sustainable education funding, education analyst and CEO of IDEA, Dr Corrin Varady said on Monday.

“The shift in the aid environment, if seen as a new horizon for the Global South, will enable African nations to shape their own educational identities, decolonising their education systems and influencing global education standards," he said in a statement.

“With more responsibility, African continental governments can better educate their workforce and contribute to global conversations that affect the youth in their nations."

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Varady argued that while the future is unsure in the aid sector in terms of USAID and US funding for South Africa, the withdrawal of large tranches of education aid will strengthen South Africa’s engagement with the Global South.

He added that similar shifts across the continent, not just in trade but in the economics of education, could bring the country closer to its Brics partners following US President Donald Trump's freezing aid for South Africa.

“Some are seeing the US executive order as an attack, but in education, we must see this as a catalyst for change, driving a resilient and independent education model prioritising learners over foreign funding interests,” Varady said.

He said governments should invest in long-term, locally created, and run private sector initiatives that deliver real impact rather than relying on agenda-driven aid projects, sometimes serving as bureaucratic tick boxes.

In addition, he highlighted the need for funding models that empower private organisations and incentivise the government to work more openly with the private sector so that both are accountable in procurement decisions.

Meanwhile, Professor Ntobeko Ntusi, CEO and president of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), explained to University World News that the country’s universities have historically received US government funding mainly via two streams.

The first stream—which Trump has now frozen—consisted of funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The second primary stream of US government funding comes from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is part of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS.

Ntusi says this has not been affected by Trump’s executive order freezing foreign aid, but there are fears that it might fall victim to future cuts.

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