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Bill Gates Says U.S. Likely to Maintain Aid Levels for Africa

  • Microsoft co-founder ‘hopeful’ Congress won’t make huge cuts
  • Some U.S. government officials ‘think long-term’ Gates says
Bill Gates signs visitor's register at the Ahentia Health Centre in the Awutu Senya district, central region in Ghana on March 26, 2013.

Bill Gates signs visitor's register at the Ahentia Health Centre in the Awutu Senya district, central region in Ghana on March 26, 2013.

Photographer: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images
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The U.S. will probably maintain its current levels of aid to Africa despite President Donald Trump’s proposals to slash funding, according to Bill Gates, the world’s richest man.

Trump said in May his government would no longer allocate funding for family planning, a move that has the potential to undermine aid programs in the poorest countries in the world. However, with Congress in control of the budget, it’s unlikely that all cuts proposed by the Trump administration will go ahead next year, Gates said in an interview in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s commercial capital.