After USAID: Who Funds Humanitarian Logistics in East Africa Now — and What It Means for Your Procurement Strategy

By Specialized Logistics Solutions | March 2026 | Download the SLS 2026 Company Profile

On 20 January 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order freezing all US foreign assistance. Within weeks, USAID — the agency that had provided $12.1 billion annually to sub-Saharan Africa and funded 47% of the global humanitarian appeal — was effectively dismantled. By March 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had cancelled 83% of all foreign aid contracts. South Sudan, DRC, Uganda, and Kenya were among the hardest-hit countries in East and Central Africa, each having received more than $400 million per year in USAID funds.

More than a year later, the projected donor backfill has not materialised. "What we now know in 2026 is that is not happening," said Fatema Sumar of Harvard's Center for International Development. The OECD estimates a 16–28% decline in overseas development assistance to sub-Saharan Africa in 2025 alone, as the UK, Germany, France, and the Netherlands announced parallel cuts of their own.

For NGO procurement officers and UN logistics coordinators operating in East and Central Africa, the consequence is structural — not temporary. The aid pipeline that many organisations relied on to fund and source critical supplies has fundamentally changed. What has not changed is the need for water purification, emergency shelter, dewatering pumps, and WASH infrastructure on the ground. The organisations that adapt their procurement strategy now will maintain operational continuity. Those that wait risk being unable to source supplies when a crisis escalates.

What the USAID Withdrawal Actually Removed Regarding Logistics

The scale of what was lost is difficult to overstate. In 2024, USAID provided $6.5 billion in humanitarian assistance to sub-Saharan Africa alone — less than 0.1% of the US federal budget, but representing the single largest source of humanitarian funding on the continent. The withdrawal did not just cut money; it dismantled delivery systems that had taken decades to build.

In South Sudan specifically, the Global Fund — one of the key alternative funding vehicles — has been forced to trim $1.43 billion from its current funding cycle after donors failed to meet commitments. Country allocations for South Sudan were cut by 5%. PEPFAR-funded HIV organisations were notified their support was terminated permanently, with immediate effect. Cholera treatment centres in Jonglei, already facing a nationwide outbreak of 97,801 cases, are described by OCHA as critically short of supplies.

In Uganda and the DRC, USAID programmes that supported disease surveillance, health logistics, and WASH infrastructure were suspended or closed entirely. As one Harvard global health expert noted: "What we can say with confidence is these cuts are already killing people." The Centre for Global Development projects that the decline in humanitarian and food assistance alone could account for 490,000 additional deaths per year if current funding trends continue.

The humanitarian system is creaking, overwhelmed by overlapping crises and funding shortages exacerbated by the USAID dissolution. Adaptation is no longer optional — it is critical. — AidEx, March 2026

The New Procurement Reality for NGOs and UN Agencies

The funding shift is producing a structural change in how humanitarian organisations source supplies in East Africa. Three trends are now reshaping procurement decisions:

•        From international pipelines to pre-positioned local stock. When USAID funded a programme, it often came with a pre-approved international supply chain. That structure is gone. Organisations are now seeking suppliers with stock already inside the region — suppliers who can move quickly without waiting for international shipping windows or customs clearance in conflict-affected border areas.

•        From long-term contracts to flexible, on-demand sourcing. With funding cycles shorter and less predictable, procurement teams are moving away from annual framework agreements toward shorter-term, request-based procurement from suppliers who can respond to emergency needs within days rather than weeks.

•        From Western-headquartered to regionally-embedded suppliers. The localisation agenda — already gaining momentum before the USAID cuts — has accelerated significantly. UN agencies and major INGOs are actively seeking suppliers with operational presence in East and Central Africa, not just distribution agreements routed through Nairobi or Dubai.

This is not merely a theory. The East Africa Humanitarian Summit (EAHS) Nairobi 2026 — attended by over 80 leading UN agencies and NGOs — specifically convened sessions on "procurement in fragile and conflict-affected contexts" and "context-sensitive supply chain strategies in high-risk environments." The procurement community is actively looking for new partners embedded in the region.

What Pre-Positioned Supply Actually Looks Like in Practice

The case for pre-positioned, regionally-embedded supply comes down to response time. When active conflict displaces 280,000 people in Jonglei in a matter of weeks — as happened in early 2026 — a procurement order placed with a European or American supplier is not an option. Roads are cut. Cholera is spreading. The supply you need is the supply that is already inside the country.

SLS maintains pre-positioned stock in Juba and Kampala across our full WASH product range, pump equipment, and modular warehousing solutions. Our supply capability includes:

•        Water purification at scale: P&G Purifier of Water sachets and Aquatabs chlorine tablets — both proven in our documented South Sudan cholera responses — for point-of-use treatment with no infrastructure requirement.

•        Emergency water storage: Butyl Products onion bladders and Oxfam-standard steel tanks for rapid deployment at IDP sites, health facilities, and humanitarian hubs. Manufactured to international WASH standards.

•        Industrial pumping systems: Multiquip and Aussie dewatering, submersible, and trash pumps for flood control and groundwater extraction — particularly critical as the 2026 rainy season begins. Full range available at our pump equipment page.

•        Modular warehouses for forward staging: Hallgruppen structures, deployable without permanent infrastructure, for organisations establishing or expanding humanitarian hubs under constrained funding. Details at our warehousing page.

•        MREs and NFIs: Long-shelf-life meals ready to eat and a full non-food items portfolio for emergency response teams and newly displaced populations.

SLS has delivered critical supplies for IOM, UNMISS, and WHO across multiple crisis cycles in South Sudan and beyond. Our 35 years of operational presence in East and Central Africa means we understand what local supply chain continuity actually requires — not in theory, but in practice.

Practical Steps for Procurement Teams in 2026

For NGO and UN procurement officers reassessing their supply chain strategy in the post-USAID environment, we recommend the following priorities:

•        Audit your current supplier geography. How much of your critical supply — particularly WASH equipment, pumps, and NFIs — is sourced from outside the region? What is the realistic lead time if a crisis escalates tomorrow?

•        Identify and pre-qualify regional suppliers now. Pre-qualification in a calm period takes days. Pre-qualification during an active emergency, when your team is overwhelmed and supply is tight, takes weeks — or becomes impossible.

•        Build flexibility into your procurement framework. Shorter call-off contracts with pre-qualified regional suppliers give you the speed of spot procurement with the price certainty of a framework agreement.

•        Ensure warehousing capacity at forward positions. Pre-positioned stock is only useful if it is securely stored within reach of likely crisis points. Modular warehousing at Juba, Malakal, or Kampala staging points is far more valuable than centralised stock in Nairobi when roads are cut.

The Opportunity Inside the Crisis

The dismantling of USAID has not reduced the need for humanitarian logistics in East and Central Africa. It has exposed the fragility of supply chains that were always dependent on a single, external funding source. For organisations that adapt — that build genuine partnerships with pre-positioned, regionally-embedded suppliers — the result is a more resilient operational model, not just a response to a funding crisis.

SLS exists specifically to serve organisations operating in the environments that are most affected by the current funding shift: South Sudan, Uganda, DRC, and across the East and Central Africa humanitarian corridor. If your organisation is reviewing its procurement partnerships for 2026, contact our team for a quote and a capability conversation. We are pre-positioned, regionally embedded, and ready.

About Specialized Logistics Solutions

SLS is a Juba-based humanitarian logistics and WASH supplier with 35 years of operational experience in East and Central Africa. We serve UN agencies, INGOs, and government organisations with pre-positioned stock across WASH products, industrial pumps, modular warehouses, MREs, and NFIs. Authorised distributors for Butyl Products UK, Multiquip, Aussie Pumps, and Hallgruppen. View our partners →

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