Finance Minister Augustine K. Ngafuan has informed members of the Liberian Senate that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) canceled an additional US$51 million support to development projects.
Minister Ngafuan made the disclosure Monday, February 24, 2025, when he appeared before the Ad-Hoc Committee set to investigate the recent decision taken by President Donald Trump for the cancellation of all USAID funds worldwide.
The minister said USAID support was significant to Liberia and was the second largest donor next to the World Bank. He said USAID, from 2020 to 2025, has committed to106 projects and 29 active projects, adding that the cancellation has affected areas including health, education, elections, media activities and domestic revenue mobilization.
The Finance Minister said canceled projects include media activities accounting for US$11 million, school feeding program of US$20 million, and food security project under the Ministry of Agriculture accounting for US$20 million, bringing the total amount to US$51 million.
He said other affected projects are the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Oversight Services for Water and Health Infrastructure, valued US$2.9 million, and a Community-Led Monitoring Project US$185,000, which was being implemented through an NGO, and Data Evaluation, Learning, and Technical Assistance (DELTA) Project, designed to improve monitoring and evaluation at the Ministry of Finance at a cost of US$19 million.
He said one of the largest affected programs is the Education System Strengthening Project which is valued at $23.4 million and aimed to enhance Liberia’s educational sector. Other projects on the list include Elections and Democracy at US$15.9 million and Local Empowerment for Accountability and Decentralization (LEAD) at US$17.9 million.
Meanwhile Minister Ngafuan disclosed that that the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) was the key beneficiary of the LEAD project, adding that it was instrumental in transitioning Liberia’s tax system from Goods and Services Tax (GST) to Value Added Tax (VAT) and USAID was a lead partner in that effort by providing training, technical assistance, and investments in systems.
Finance Minister Ngafuan said LRA is migrating to a new tax regime, thus this project was essential in domestic resource mobilization and the cancellation will affect the government’s US$1 billion domestic revenue generation target.
Minister Ngafuan said a prepared preliminary report on the situation has been shared with the Office of President Joseph N. Boakai and Senate Ad-Hoc Committee.
By Tonita N. Copson
