The review and subsequent shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is having a significant effect on some community radio broadcasters in Africa.

Throughout the African continent, USAID has provided support for media information projects about health, education and other topics, as part of its support for community media in the region.

Community radio stations are not in a position to generate substantial advertising revenue like commercial stations, so they depend on additional projects funded by aid or philanthropic support to keep the stations going. Several stations have told radioinfo that they will struggle to keep the doors open and the transmitters on air. They have felt an immediate effect because funds immediately stopped flowing after the freeze on the organisation.

Initially the organisation went into a staff and funding ‘freeze’ while government efficiency department head Elon Musk reviewed the agency as part of a government wide efficiency review. But staff and Democrat politicians protested the freeze, leading to what appears to be a full shut down of the organisation.

President Trump told reporters that shutting down USAID “should have been done a long time ago.”

USAID employees have now been laid off and programs shut down around the world. The USAID website has been shut down and yellow ‘do not cross’ tape surrounds the agency’s headquarters in Washington.

According to a report by the Associated Press, Elon Musk declared “we’re shutting it down.”

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy signalled that the USAID issue may be a key point for a confrontation on the efficiency review process, calling it “a constitutional crisis.”

Maryland Democrat Senator Jamie Raskin said “We don’t have a fourth branch of government called Elon Musk. And that’s going to become real clear.”

Meanwhile, radio stations around Africa are urgently reviewing their cash flow to decide if they can stay on air to support their communities.