Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stirred fresh controversy after claiming that deaths across Africa declined following major cuts to United States foreign aid, insisting the reductions curbed instability rather than worsened humanitarian conditions.
Musk made the remark on Tuesday while defending the cost-cutting measures of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which backed deep reductions in funding for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
According to Refugees International, US humanitarian assistance dropped from $14 billion in 2024 to $3.7 billion in 2025, while the Center for Global Development estimated that USAID spending fell by about 58 per cent over the same period.
Despite widespread warnings from humanitarian groups, Musk argued that available mortality data did not support predictions of rising deaths.
“Deaths in Africa decreased after USAID funding was cut, because they’re no longer able to push for violent revolution to install leftist regimes!” he wrote on X while sharing an analysis based on South African mortality data.
The analysis cited weekly death figures from January 2023 to May 2026, claiming excess deaths remained close to zero and below projected levels after the aid reductions. It also referenced a 2019 study that questioned whether higher foreign aid spending significantly improves life expectancy or reduces mortality in developing countries.
However, health experts have continued to sound the alarm over the funding cuts. A study published in The Lancet in July 2025 estimated that reduced aid could contribute to more than 14 million deaths globally by 2030, including over 4.5 million children.
Musk has repeatedly defended the cuts, arguing they were necessary to eliminate waste, corruption and the misuse of taxpayer funds, while claiming some previous USAID activities in Africa fueled violent political unrest rather than humanitarian development.
