United States Ambassador to Zambia, Michael C. Gonzales, has highlighted America’s previous role in corruption and bad governance that stunted growth over the decades, particularly in African nations.
In an explosive article, “Breaking the Cycle of Foreign Assistance Enabling Corruption,” published by the State Department, Gonzales decried how the U.S. doled out funds to governments without holding them to account.
“What is needed for economic growth and development is not more money, but sound reforms that incentivize enduring private investment and growth,” he asserted, noting that Africa has received over $200 billion in U.S. aid since 1991.
The envoy cited African Union reports indicating that countries on the continent lose an estimated $88 billion each year through tax evasion, money laundering, and corruption.
Gonzales said that instead of insisting on mutual accountability and using U.S. assistance to address the causes of poverty and underdevelopment, Washington funded outputs to allay the symptoms.
That approach, he noted, failed both American taxpayers and citizens of developing countries who looked to their governments and the U.S. to help create the conditions for a better future.
Criticising the pampering of governments rather than demanding performance, he said America “did not have a consistent policy as to whether assistance was charity or a foreign policy tool.”
Gonzales added that rather than challenge administrations that failed in their professed commitments, the U.S. excused the lack of political will as “capacity constraints,” choosing not to “expect too much.”
The ambassador wondered why Washington did not recognise that leaders of aid-recipient countries often prioritised personal interests at the expense of their people and national development.
“Never did we withhold assistance funds because host governments failed to deliver on their commitments… we responded by providing even more aid because they have needs,” he said.
“By trying to save people from the bad governance and corruption of their leaders, we helped perpetuate that very same corruption and bad governance,” Gonzales declared.
The diplomat said America “fuelled moral hazard,” citing cases ranging from the greed exposed in Malawi’s ‘Cashgate’ scandal under Joyce Banda to the systematic kleptocracies of Bangladesh and South Sudan.
“We have enabled and underwritten government corruption… such as the predatory abuses of Mali’s Ibrahim Keita or Guinea’s Alpha Condé against their own populations,” Gonzales noted.
According to the former deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of African Affairs, corruption and the failure to deliver basic public services have led to military coups and incursions by terrorist organisations.
Stressing that U.S. foreign aid is meant to advance American diplomacy, security, and prosperity, he urged Washington to administer it with “host-government buy-in and mutual accountability for outcomes.”
Gonzales believes such a strategy would create space for market-driven growth and help block the means by which malign international actors exploit developing economies and workers.
He referenced Secretary Marco Rubio’s statement that America should favour “nations that have demonstrated both the ability and the willingness to help themselves,” and avoid “failed governments in faraway lands.”
Among his recommendations, Gonzales called for “performance-based funding” and the “right focus,” centred on systemic reforms that enable sustainable growth and mutual opportunities for the U.S. and recipient countries.
The ambassador suggested adopting contractual approaches, unlike USAID’s Development Objective Agreements (DOAs), which bound the U.S. to fund sectors but rarely included host-government performance commitments.
Gonzales said the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) offers best practice by clearly defining shared objectives and commitments by both governments, reducing uncertainty, and improving accountability.
The envoy added that under President Donald Trump and Secretary Rubio’s leadership, America has the opportunity and courage to acknowledge its mistakes, embrace candid lessons learned, and do better.
“Assistance that delivers for the American people and our partners must be founded on transparent engagement,” he said. “Nothing should be imposed, hidden, given as ultimatums, or come at the partner’s expense; we are not China.”
