In July 2024, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr.  held a strategic meeting with renowned entrepreneur and the world’s wealthiest businessman Elon Musk signifying stronger ties..

Held virtually, the Executive Mansion stated that the high-level meeting provided an opportunity for Mr. Musk to express his gratitude for the engagement with President Boakai and commended the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, particularly acknowledging the efforts of Minister Sara Beyslow-Nyanti and her Team for their exceptional coordination and facilitation.

President Boakai highlighted the importance of such engagement, noting that it serves as an opportunity for relationship building and long term mutually beneficial outcomes.

The President also emphasized the significance of technology to the youthful generation of Liberia as well as key sectors, noting the need for collaboration and helping in the service delivery sectors for Liberia.

During the discussion, Mr. Musk emphasized the significance of the Starlink program, a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, LLC, with coverage of 80 countries, and articulated his support for advancing initiatives related to education and healthcare.

Now in seven months forward, Elong Musk Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has announced the cancellation of a $17 million project intended to provide tax policy advice to Liberia. Musk took to social media platform X to question the allocation, stating, “Why would anyone think that this is a good use of YOUR tax money?”

The now-canceled initiative was designed to assist Liberia in reforming its tax policies, with the goal of enhancing the nation’s fiscal infrastructure. However, Musk’s decision reflects his broader strategy to scrutinize and eliminate federal spending that he considers superfluous or misaligned with American taxpayers’ interests.

This action is part of a series of measures undertaken by DOGE to reassess federal expenditures. Recently, Musk claimed to have gained access to the U.S. Treasury’s payment system and vowed to terminate numerous government grants, citing concerns over automatic approvals to potentially fraudulent or terrorist-affiliated groups. This move led to the resignation of senior Treasury official David Lebryk and raised questions about the extent of Musk’s authority within the department. 

Critics argue that such abrupt cancellations could undermine international relations and development efforts. They caution that while fiscal responsibility is essential, it’s equally important to consider the potential long-term benefits of foreign aid projects, such as promoting global economic stability and fostering diplomatic goodwill.

Eon Musk cancellation order comes hours after a US judge on Feb 10 said US President Donald Trump’s administration violated a  court order lifting a broad freeze on federal spending and directed the government to immediately release any withheld funds.

US District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island, had already blocked the funding freeze with a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Jan 31, but a group of Democratic state attorneys-general who sued to block the move said last week that the government was still withholding funds.

The ruling appeared to be the first instance of a judge finding the Trump administration had violated a court order pausing a new policy roll-out. The Trump administration on Feb 10 said it is appealing.

The move by Elon Musk has sparked discussion and uncertainties over Liberia’ For future US Assistance, however, report coming out of Washinton says American-funded aid efforts to tackle diseases such as malaria, as well as preventing newborn baby deaths and treating severe malnutrition, should resume, according to a memo from the United States government reviewed by Reuters.

President Donald Trump moved to freeze international aid while undertaking a 90-day review hours after taking office last month. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a waiver a week later clarifying that “lifesaving” efforts were exempt during this period, but organizations on the ground remained confused over what was included.

The memo seeks to clarify what can now restart.

“These lifesaving activities must resume or continue in the next 30 days of the 90-day pause on foreign assistance to prevent imminent mortality among USAID beneficiaries,” the memo states.

It lists activities tackling tuberculosis, malaria, acute risks of maternal and child mortality, including severe acute malnutrition, and other life-threatening diseases and health conditions.

It also said efforts to combat disease outbreaks, including mpox, avian flu and Ebola, should restart, and global health supply chain activities.

USAID did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The memo is dated February 4, cleared by email on February 6. One aid group said they had received it on Friday.

However, two sources said it was still unclear what could restart, and with what funding, especially given the hollowing out of USAID both in Washington and globally.

Martin Edlund, CEO of Washington-based global non-profit Malaria No More, said the memo was an important step towards resuming programmes.

“Even short-term interruptions of malaria prevention and treatment lead to outbreaks and deaths,” he said. But he added that “start-work” orders would also need to be issued to all programmes to begin indoor spraying, net distribution, testing and treatment for malaria.

A separate clarifying memo, dated February 6, also attempted to give more detail on a waiver issued last week for the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). In red at the top, it outlines that the care, treatment and prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission “should be resumed as soon as possible”.  — Reuters

Last Month, Global Media Experts warned that Trump’s aid cuts will lead to a surge of propaganda, say press freedom groups

Loss of USAid funds will sow ‘chaos and confusion’ and force independent media outlets to shut down, says RSF

Donald Trump’s foreign aid freeze will lead to a decline in the number of independent media outlets across the world, causing a surge in misinformation and playing into the hands of state propagandists, media organisations have warned.

The US president has suspended billions of dollars in projects supported by USAid, including more than $268m (£216m) allocated to support “independent media and the free flow of information”.

A USAid factsheet, accessed by the press freedom campaign group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) before being taken offline, showed that in 2023 the US agency funded training and support for 6,200 journalists, assisted 707 non-state news outlets and supported 279 civil-society organisations dedicated to strengthening independent media in more than 30 countries, including Iran, Afghanistan and Russia.

RSF said Trump’s decision had sowed “chaos and confusion”. Clayton Weimers, executive director of RSF US, said: “Non-profit newsroom and media organisations have already had to cease operations and lay off staff. The most likely scenario is that after the 90-day freeze, they will disappear for ever.”

A worker removing the sign outside the USAid building in Washington DC last week after President Donald Trump ordered it to be closed down. Photograph: Zuma Press/Alamy Live News

In Ukraine, where the media had until recently been largely controlled by oligarchs, nine out of 10 outlets rely on subsidies and USAid is the primary donor, according to RSF.

“It’s a very dangerous moment,” said Anna Babinets, chief executive and co-founder of the Kyiv-based investigative platform Slidstvo.Info, which has lost 80% of its funding from groups that formerly received money from USAid. “We are having to think about cutting our frontline reporting and our war-crime reporting – it means that the people of Ukraine, and the world, will know less about what is happening here.”

Trump has made unsubstantiated claims that billions were stolen at USAid to pay for positive media coverage of his opponents in what he calls the “fake news media”. Meanwhile, Elon Musk called USAid a “criminal organisation” and said it had paid media to “publish their propaganda”.

Valerii Garmash, head of Make Sense, which develops independent media in Ukraine and received almost 50% of its funds for its 6262.com.ua website in the city of Slavyansk from USAid, said its projects had started shutting dow

Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery at Russian positions in Donetsk. Nine out of 10 media outlets in the embattled country relied on subsidies from USAid. 

“We are 24km [15 miles] from the frontline and provide spaces for journalists to prepare before they go there – these spaces have now had to close. Without the money, we have to work like volunteers.”

Weimers said a decline in the number of independent news outlets could lead to a surge in misinformation. “Chaos causes a vacuum and when you pull reliable sources of information, that vacuum will be filled will less reliable sources [such as] state propagandists,” he said.

“Just look at those praising this move: it’s leaders in China, Russia, Hungary, El Salvador – countries known for horrible human rights violations, particularly against their press,” he said.

A protest in Amsterdam after a blogger, Roman Protasevich, was arrested when his flight was diverted to Minsk. The free press in Belarus risks ‘fading away’, a journalist says. Photograph: Rex

Babinets said that since the funding freezes and cuts had been announced, anonymous Telegram channels and unnamed websites had also sought to discredit media recipients of USAid in Ukraine. “We have seen a lot of fake stories about our organisations – that we are not journalists, that we are just spies. It’s playing into the Russian narrative,” she said.

In neighbouring Belarus, Natalia Belikova, of Press Club Belarus, said 70% of her organisation’s funding came from a mix of US federal sources and that various cuts and freezes to funding had put it on “the brink of existence”.

Belarus has orchestrated widespread persecution campaigns against journalists and forced hundreds of reporters into exile in recent years. Press Club Belarus surveyed 20 of the country’s outlets in early February and found that 60% of budgets came from US funding. “They are at risk of fading away and gradually disappearing,” said Belikova.

Belikova said independent reporting had played a crucial role in keeping Belarusians informed about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This decision really plays into the hands of authoritarian regimes,” she said.

“If Belarusian independent media stops existing, then people will only be left with the state propaganda. If there is no alternative, it will gradually capture their minds and we may have a very different society in just a few years.”

The Panama City offices of Mossack Fonseca, which was exposed in the Panama Papers leak. Trump’s policies have sent a chill through the world of investigative reporting. 

Experts fear investigative reporting, which can take years to conduct and often requires a large amount of money, will suffer the most from USAid cuts.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which operates globally and has produced in-depth investigations such as the Panama Papers, which scrutinised secretive offshore tax regimes, said 29% of its funding had been frozen and it had had to lay off 20% of its staff.

“The real issue is there simply isn’t enough funding for global investigative journalism in general,” a spokesperson said. “Without investigative journalism, people don’t know what is really going on in the hidden underworld of crime and corruption.”

Drew Sullivan, co-founder and publisher of OCCRP, said other organisations were wary of stepping into the breach. “These disinformation attacks being amplified by Elon Musk against people like us are being seen by legitimate institutions and it’s scaring good people and they’re not acting. You can’t be afraid of bullies or they win.”