Sustainable development goals in Africa: perspective from US aid

Since the end of the Second World War, many countries have provided external assistance for Africa's growth and development. The impact of these funds on the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) by African countries is not yet clear. This paper try to fill this gap by analyzing the impact of US aid on sustainable development goals in Africa. Based on data from 47 African countries for 2015 to 2020, this paper used fixed effect and ordered probit models to examine the impact of US aid on the achievement of Africa's SDGs. The results are as follows. First, United States aid to Africa is beneficial to improving the overall SDG scores of African countries. Second, United States aid to Africa contributes to the achievement of some of the SDGs in the social and economic and environmental dimensions. This is reflected in the positive impact on the scores of SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 15 (Life on Land). Third, United States aid to Africa has been instrumental in increasing the pace of achievement of some of the SDGs. This is reflected on the trend of changes in the scores for SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), SDG l0 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). Fourth, this paper further classify the forms of funding and find that the United States should increase funding for project support aid. Therefore, increasing aid for environmental protection and project support would be conducive to advancing the SDGs of African countries.