Africa: UK to Cut Aid to Some African Countries by 90%

Lead

The UK government has confirmed sweeping reductions to its bilateral aid programme, with nine African countries set to lose more than 80% of direct British assistance by 2029. Foreign Office figures, analysed by development charities, show cuts of 90% for Mozambique and Malawi by 2029, 80% for Rwanda and Sierra Leone, and 49% for Somalia. Kenya will see a 93% reduction in funding, while Tanzania and Zambia are also among those facing steep cuts. Bilateral aid to Africa is expected to fall from £1.6 billion to less than £700 million, a decline of 56% overall, with funding for the world's least-developed countries nearly halved over the next four years.

Coverage Comparison

Reports on the cuts differ in their focus and emphasis. One account, citing the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's annual report, highlights the UK government's plans to cut international development funding to Malawi by 60% in 2026-27, with reductions reaching 90% by 2028-29 compared with 2025-26 levels. This source notes that Malawi received £50.2m in UK official development assistance (ODA) in 2025-26, a figure set to fall to £20m in 2026-27, £10m in 2027-28, and £5m in 2028-29. The same analysis points out that the planned 90% cut to Malawi's funding is roughly 38 percentage points deeper than the average reduction across Africa, where UK aid as a whole is falling from £1.449bn to £693.8m, a reduction of 52%.

Another report, while corroborating the overall scale of the reductions, frames them as part of a broader policy shift, with overseas development spending cut from 0.5% to 0.3% of Gross National Income. This account also notes that UK aid to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is battling one of its largest Ebola outbreaks on record, will fall by 29%.

A third perspective, from The Guardian, emphasises that the Labour government announced these deep reductions to spending on overseas aid last year to fund increases in the defence budget-to fund increases in the defence budget, prompting the resignation of Anneliese Dodds as development minister. The Guardian also reports that Labour's approach in implementing the cuts has been to switch its focus to funding multilateral donors such as the World Bank, which it argues is a more efficient use of straitened resources.

The UK government, in a policy paper titled "The UK's Modern Development Approach," said it had taken "the decision in the current fiscal circumstances to reduce our ODA budget" in order to fund a necessary increase in defence spending. The paper sets out four fundamental shifts in the UK's approach to development, and the government says future assistance will be delivered through more targeted partnerships and multilateral institutions.

Key Claims

• UK bilateral aid to Africa is projected to decline by 56%, with funding for the world's least-developed countries nearly halved over the next four years.
• Nine African countries are set to lose more than 80% of direct British assistance by 2029, including Kenya (93% cut), Malawi and Mozambique (90% each), Rwanda and Sierra Leone (80% each), and Somalia (49%).
• Malawi's UK ODA is set to fall from £50.2m in 2025-26 to £5m by 2028-29, a 90% reduction.
• UK aid to the Democratic Republic of the Congo will fall by 29%.
• The cuts are part of the Labour government's decision to reduce overseas aid spending to fund increases in the defence budget.

Perspectives

The UK government, through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, defends the reductions as a necessary response to current fiscal circumstances and the need to fund increased defence spending. In a written statement to parliament in March, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "In a range of countries, we will transition away from spending high levels of grant ODA, but our ambition and effort will remain high – delivering through modernised partnerships, and making the most of what the UK has to offer."

Development organisations have strongly criticised the decision. Romilly Greenhill, chief executive of Bond, the umbrella group for development charities, said: "By slashing UK aid funding to countries like Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Uganda, this Labour government is abandoning communities on the frontlines of conflict and the climate crisis and risks plunging these countries' populations into poverty and instability." Lisa Wise, director of global outcomes at Save the Children, added: "Today's international budget allocations reflect what we already know – reductions in public investment in countries and children that need it most. These choices send a global message about the role the UK wants to play."

Stuart Brown, chief executive of the Scotland Malawi Partnership, warned of the impact on some of Malawi's most vulnerable people: "Already Malawians face multiple daily challenges, economic fragility and the devastating impacts of the climate crisis. Some of the most vulnerable women, children and families in Malawi will suffer as a result of these swingeing cuts. More people will go hungry, the most basic healthcare provision will be diminished, research progress impeded, educational and employment prospects stunted and lives will be lost. We strongly urge the British Government to reconsider."

Senior military figures have also weighed in, with General Lord Richard Dannatt, former head of the British Army, having previously argued that reducing aid to fund defence spending risks undermining long-term security interests.