The U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) is an independent U.S. government agency established by Congress in 1980 to invest directly in African grassroots enterprises and social entrepreneurs. USADF's investments aim to increase incomes, revenues, and jobs by promoting self-reliance and market-based solutions to poverty. USADF targets marginalized populations and underserved communities in the Sahel, Great Lakes, and the Horn of Africa. It partners with African governments, other U.S. government agencies, private corporations, and foundations to achieve transformative results.

The USADF measures grant success in terms of jobs created and sustained, household and enterprise incomes increased, and grantee organizations strengthened. Congress provides the funds for USADF to carry out its activities.

By December 2020, USADF had invested over $265 million via nearly 4,000 grants to African enterprises impacting over 10 million lives. A study by Foreign Policy Analytics in 2020 determined that for every $10,000 in USADF grant funding in Africa, 25 workers are hired in the agriculture sector, 19 people in youth-led enterprises, and 79 people in the electrical power sector.

According to the OECD, the largest share of gross bilateral official development assistance from the United States went to sub-Saharan Africa and to partner countries in the least-developed country (LDC) category.^[2]

In February 2025, USADF temporarily stopped disbursing funds and submitted a report describing its mission and needed resources in accordance with an executive order. On February 28, administration official Peter Marocco was named to run the agency. On March 6, CEO Ward Brehm filed a suit seeking an injunction to stop the reorganizing activities.

After its creation by an Act of Congress in 1980 as a government corporation, the African Development Foundation began program operations in 1984. It has since provided financing to more than 1,700 small enterprises and community-based organizations.^[3]

In 1977, Senators Edward Kennedy and George McGovern sponsored the African Development Foundation Act. It proposed establishing USADF to cooperate with indigenous organizations representative of Africa and other private, regional, and international organizations. It also authorized USADF to make grants, loans, and loan guarantees to African entities for developmental purposes and required the agency to give priority to community self-help projects with the maximum feasible participation of the poor and provided for the appointment of a Board of Directors to manage the agency. 

In 1983, the Senate confirmed the nominations of the first USADF board which held its first meeting at the offices of the Inter-American Foundation (IAF). By September 1984, the USADF Board of Directors awarded grants to 11 grassroots organizations in six African nations totaling $838,000. 

From 1985 to 1987, USADF carried out its development model in 19 African countries, awarding over 100 grants totaling $10.3 million. By the end of 1987, USADF had developed accords or memorandums of understanding with nine African governments. 

In 1998, USADF entered into its first host country government co-funding partnership with Botswana, through which USADF and the Botswana government provided matching funds for project grants that foster community-led economic development. Since then USADF has received over $34 million from African governments to implement community-enterprise programming in their countries. 

In 2004 USADF implemented new strategic initiatives to expand trade and investment opportunities between Africa and the United States and to provide African communities with resources to prevent HIV/AIDS and mitigate its social and economic impact. Throughout the 2000s, USADF supported agriculture commodities including paprika in Zimbabwe, red onions in Niger, vanilla in Uganda, sesame in Burkina Faso, shea in West Africa, and coffee across East Africa. USADF support of coffee cooperatives has facilitated several of them exporting premium coffee to the United States and Europe.

In 2013 USADF began awarding renewable energy grants to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and African entrepreneurs and has since awarded more than $11 million to over 115 African off-grid energy enterprises to help combat insufficient access to energy across the continent.

USADF provided $5 million for grantees beginning in early 2020 to manage the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on local economies and health care providers. Between 2019 and 2023, it awarded more than $141 million in grants to more than 1,050 community enterprises in Africa, directly impacting 6.2 million people on the continent.^[4]

In March 2024, US Senators Jim Risch and Tim Scott, both Republican members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, sent a letter to the US Agency for International Development inspector general (USAID OIG) stating that whistleblowers from USADF claimed there had been irregularities in the use and spending of foundation funds, conflicts of interest, inappropriate management and efforts to hide such wrongdoing.^[5] USAID OIG opened an inspection of USADF on March 25,^[6] recommending that USADF improve its fraud, waste and abuse policies and training and concluding in August 2024 that any issues had been resolved.^[7]

On February 19, 2025, US President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order declaring that the "non-statutory components or functions" of USADF and three other agencies including IAF "shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law."^[8] USADF subsequently temporarily stopped disbursing funds and submitted a report describing its mission and needed resources in accordance with the order.^[4] On February 24, Democratic members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations wrote to Trump objecting to any attempt to reduce, reorganize, or eliminate USADF or IAF.^[9]

On February 28, administration official Pete Marocco was named to run USADF.^[10] On March 5, 2025, Marocco and five US DOGE Service Temporary Organization (USDSTO) staffers were turned away from the USADF offices by foundation security staff. Foundation president Ward Brehm, who was not present, wrote to a USDSTO staffer that he had instructed his staff not to allow such meetings without him and that he looked forward to working with Marocco should he be nominated to the USADF board and confirmed by the Senate.^[4]

On the morning of March 6, Marocco and USDSTO staffers returned to the USADF offices accompanied by five individuals reportedly from the US Marshals Service, entered the facility and reportedly changed the locks. In a statement to the Washington Post, USADF declared it would "follow the law with the expectation that our staff will be treated with dignity and respect.”^[11][12] NBC News questioned whether the armed individuals who accompanied Marocco and the USDSTO staffers were in fact US Marshals. The response from the US Department of Justice was, "We are not making a statement at this time. We do request that you please verify with your sources that your reporting would be accurate."^[13]

Later that day, Brehm filed suit against Trump, USDSTO, Marocco and the heads of the White House Presidential Personnel Office and the US General Services Administration seeking an injunction barring them from entering the foundation offices or removing him as chair and declaring attempts to do so beyond their legal authority.^[10][14] US District Judge Richard J. Leon issued an administrative stay the same day ordering that Brehm not be removed from his position and Marocco or any other person not be appointed in his place pending a hearing on March 11.^[15]

Working through a community-led development model, USADF provides grant capital of up to $250,000, capacity-building assistance, and convening opportunities to develop, grow, and scale African enterprises and entrepreneurs. These investments address food insecurity, insufficient energy access, and unemployment, particularly among women and youth. USADF utilizes 100 percent African staff and local partners on the ground across Africa, operating in areas that are often too remote or fragile to be reached by other U.S. government development agencies.

USADF is funded through annual appropriations for foreign operations. USADF links African host country government funds, corporate social investments, and U.S. Government interagency funding sources to achieve sustainable economic growth opportunities for grassroots, small, and growing enterprises in underserved regions across Africa. USADF has leveraged over $34 million from African governments.

In fiscal year 2020, USADF awarded 253 new grants, investing primarily in early-stage agriculture, off-grid energy, and youth and women-led enterprises and skills training programs.

USADF is governed by a board of directors that includes seven members who are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. The board of directors selects the USADF president and CEO, who manages the day-to-day activities of the foundation.

USADF's current countries of operations and programs can be found on its website.

The board of directors is composed of seven members, appointed by the president of the United States with the consent of the United States Senate. Of these, five members are appointed from private life, and two members from among officers and employees of U.S. agencies concerned with African affairs. All members shall be appointed on the basis of their understanding of and sensitivity to community level development processes. No more than four members may be affiliated with the same political party. Members are appointed to terms of six years, but they may continue to serve on the board until a successor is confirmed.^[16]

The President designates one member to serve as chairperson and one member to serve as vice chairperson. A majority of the members of the board constitutes a quorum.^[16]

The USADF board names the president of the foundation. On March 3, 2025, in an emergency USADF meeting, Ward Brehm was named USADF president.^[10]

The current board members as of December 22, 2024:^[17]

President Biden nominated the following to fill seats on the board. They were not confirmed as of the end of President Biden's term.^[18]

• Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations

• African Development Fund website