Following Trump’s decision to suspend foreign aid to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the website of the “Egyptian Pioneers and Scholars Program,” funded by USAID, announced that all activities of the program would be suspended starting January 24, 2025, for a period of 90 days in compliance with the directives. Trump’s decision has sparked a great deal of chaos, not just in Egypt, but globally.
The shock of this decision began with hundreds of Egyptian students whose academic futures were tied to grants provided by USAID. This decision disrupted a number of major scholarship programs, such as the USAID Egyptian Pioneers, USAID Scholars, and the Tomorrow’s Leaders Program.
This suspension affected students from various universities, directly impacting 13 universities, including Ain Shams University, Alexandria University, the American University in Cairo (AUC), Zewail City of Science and Technology, the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, with approximately 1,077 affected university students.
Egyptian Sectors Affected by the Agency’s Closure
The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Egypt responded with a statement in which it emphasized its commitment to supporting all students to continue their studies without interruption. It announced that universities would cover all financial allocations and tuition fees provided by the U.S. agency to students until the end of the second semester.
Ain Shams University also issued a statement announcing that it would cover all tuition fees for scholarship students, provided the students comply with academic and disciplinary standards. The American University also confirmed that it would cover expenses for scholarship students registered for the second semester and would continue to coordinate with the ministry, with the total number reaching 200 students.
Among the positive steps taken, an emergency fund was also created to assist students at the American University through donations from alumni and faculty members. However, the fate of students who were set to begin this semester remains uncertain.
USAID’s support goes beyond educational grants, extending to several key sectors, with nine active programs in Egypt, including macroeconomics, health, education, environment, agriculture, food, social protection, and women’s empowerment. Furthermore, when the agency closes its doors, these programs will not only lose funding but also the technical support provided to institutions through foreign specialists offering consultations to Egyptian entities. It also provides overseas training opportunities, all of which are at risk of being halted, according to the Enterprise Foundation.
For example, to illustrate the magnitude of the damage, the future of $1.4 billion allocated to the agricultural sector remains unclear. According to Enterprise, the health sector has already suffered significant losses due to the closure of all public health projects funded by the agency, including those supported by the World Health Organization. In this context, the BBC reported that the agency’s closure could seriously lead to the spread of disease and delays in developing new vaccines and treatments.
Trump’s Contradictions and “Massive Fraud”
The news of the closure of USAID came as a shock even to Americans themselves, with many articles and analyses attempting to understand the impacts of this decision, while American media outlets have been heavily covering the event.
A series of reports highlighted the contradictions in Trump’s stance on this decision. While he described the agency and its operations as engaging in a “massive fraud,” his wife and daughter were among the agency’s most significant supporters and promoters. Melania Trump, during her visit to Egypt as First Lady in 2018, expressed her support for the agency at that time.
Melania took a tour near the Sphinx, where she followed a USAID-supported project to reduce groundwater levels that were eroding the hieroglyphic inscriptions on an Egyptian monument. She also praised the agency’s work in providing economic opportunities for the Egyptian people.
Melania was not the only one supporting the agency; Trump himself signed a memorandum in 2019 launching a new initiative called the “Global Development and Prosperity for Women” initiative, aiming to empower women in the developing world by creating a $50 million fund to be distributed by USAID, with the goal of empowering 50 million women in developing countries by 2025.
Additionally, his daughter Ivanka took a personal trip to Africa, where she met with women farmers who received support from a USAID-funded $2 million project aimed at supporting entrepreneurs across the continent.
One article that highlighted Trump’s contradictions was a report published by the Center for Global Development, which compared examples provided by the White House to justify the alleged waste of public funds by USAID. The author pointed out that these examples were inaccurate and did not correctly reflect the nature and impact of the agency’s work. The report also clarified that the amount claimed as waste by the agency represented only a small portion of its budget and that its closure would result in even greater waste due to contract compensation costs for workers.
American Diplomacy vs. Chinese Partnerships
In a report titled “Closing USAID Makes the U.S. Less Safe,” the author discussed the idea that ending foreign aid means the U.S. is relinquishing an essential diplomatic tool, while continuing to spend more money on weapons and wars.
The author explained that the purpose of establishing USAID was to advance U.S. interests through foreign aid, which has indeed contributed to strengthening national security, political, and economic interests. According to the author, while foreign aid is a “softer power” than weapons and wars, it remains a powerful tool for expanding American influence around the world.
The author argues that freezing foreign aid funding is not about saving money, as the total U.S. foreign affairs and aid budget amounts to about $56 billion, which is a small percentage of the overall U.S. spending, especially compared to the increase in military spending. While foreign aid is being cut, Congress is allocating up to $200 billion more for military spending, directly undermining security.
As a logical consequence, in the absence of foreign aid, the military becomes the primary tool for addressing foreign policy challenges. The author then compares this situation to China, which is providing billions of dollars in development funding to countries across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. The report calls for a fundamental rethink of how the United States handles international relations, as friends cannot be won through violence.
China as an Alternative Ally for Egypt
In the context of reduced U.S. aid and the emergence of a new form of American diplomacy, whose full shape has not yet been revealed, China’s presence is rising. This could lead China to exploit the new U.S. diplomatic stance to gain greater advantages and wider global influence through its diplomacy and soft power.
It is noteworthy that China has become one of Egypt’s largest trade partners, with Chinese companies investing billions of dollars in infrastructure projects. The trade volume between the two countries has also increased significantly.
Chinese investments in Egypt amounted to approximately $28.5 billion between 2018 and 2019, making Egypt the largest recipient of Chinese investments in the Arab world. China has also become Egypt’s fourth-largest creditor, with outstanding debts reaching around $8 billion. Additionally, Egypt and China signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2014, followed by 21 more agreements in 2016, including Chinese investments worth $15 billion in various projects.
Chinese investments in Egypt are concentrated in industrial projects (55%), construction (20%), and services (12%). The Suez Canal Economic Zone is of strategic importance to China, attracting more than 140 companies with investments exceeding $1.6 billion by July 2023. China is also Egypt’s largest exporter, with imports reaching $17.2 billion in 2022.
Chinese investments in Egypt are shifting from a focus on contracting and infrastructure to manufacturing. For example, Chinese phone manufacturer VIVO has begun producing devices in a new factory near Cairo, and OPPO is also investing in building a phone manufacturing plant in Egypt. Furthermore, China is using large-scale training programs to train a new generation of Egyptian administrators.
In the renewable energy sector, one of the largest growing sectors, Egypt aims for renewable energy sources to represent 42% of the country’s electricity grid by 2035. In this context, the Egyptian government signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese company to develop solar energy projects with a capacity of 10 gigawatts. Egypt also signed agreements worth $15.6 billion with Chinese partners for green hydrogen and manufacturing projects in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
However, it remains unclear how Egypt intends to benefit from the Belt and Road Initiative or define its priorities in this partnership. Yet, with Egypt’s increasing debt to China, this relationship will become more significant. As Egypt accounts for 35% of China’s trade with North Africa, this gives Egypt a potential opportunity for regional leadership with Beijing, particularly with the expected decline in U.S. diplomatic influence in the event of an American void.
It is also noteworthy that China’s influence is expanding into cultural and media fields. Some Egyptian media outlets have become “platforms for Chinese propaganda,” avoiding discussions of China’s human rights violations against the Uyghur Muslims. The situation has not stopped there, as Egyptian authorities have arrested several Uyghur students in Egypt, prompting international human rights organizations to urge the Egyptian authorities not to extradite them to China.
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