After gutting our principal development, humanitarian and peacebuilding institutions, the Trump administration is now pushing to close another of our most powerful institutions on the frontlines of a growing global information war: the Voice of America.

The timing for its closure could not be worse. Disinformation campaigns targeting African information systems have surged nearly fourfold since 2022, with Russia and China leading a systematic assault.

According to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 189 documented disinformation campaigns now target Africa — nearly quadruple the number reported in 2022. These campaigns have triggered "destabilizing and antidemocratic consequences," all of which undermine U.S. interests on the continent.

At least 39 African countries have been targeted with foreign disinformation, with half facing three or more campaigns.

Russia has emerged as the primary architect of this disinformation offensive, sponsoring 80 documented campaigns across more than 22 countries in Africa. Perhaps nowhere are the effects of these campaigns on American interests so visible as in Niger, a country then-Secretary of State Blinken praised as “a model of resilience” on a first-ever visit to the Sahelian state.

Only months later, an army coup would topple the country’s democratically elected leader with the help of Russian networks.

In the months following, content about Niger spiked by 6,645 percent on Russian state media and Wagner Telegram channels and included narratives about Western imperialist forces fomenting instability to exploit Niger’s mineral resources and sovereignty.

A year later, U.S. Defense officials

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