With U.S. aid cuts affecting Kenyan service provision, the government would be required to raise domestic revenue or borrow more, putting the country into debt. With violent protests in 2024 over higher taxes, the government is forced to go further into debt to make up for the losses.
Date: 3/26
Region: Africa
Country: Kenya
Topic: Economy & Livelihoods, Peacebuilding & Stabilization
Policy Lens: Economic & Trade Interests
Entry Type: Secondary Effect
Additional Context: Devex journalist Ayenat Mersie looked into the impacts of U.S. aid cuts in Kenya one year after the initial funding freezes and terminations. According to her reporting, the secondary effects emerging from the abrupt reduction in U.S. funding have added to ongoing debt pressures, exposing strain in Kenya’s pastoralist economies and public health system.
As Bernard Njiri, a public finance analyst at the Nairobi-based Institute of Public Finance, said, “I don’t see the government increasing or introducing new taxes because of the political incentives."
As of March 2026, Kenya is turning to the International Monetary Fund to negotiate a new economic stability program.
Source: Devex