Thu, July 16, 2026 at 4:31 PM UTC
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Nine African countries are set to see their UK bilateral aid cut by more than 80 per cent, after the government laid out the full breakdown of its plan to reduce the aid budget from 0.5 to 0.3 per cent of Gross National Income through to 2029.
Bilateral UK aid to African countries is set to fall from £1.6bn to under £700m, and the countries impacted includes numerous long-standing UK partners – including Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Mozambique – whose aid relationship is set to be virtually eliminated, or reduced to £5m or less.
Kenya is set to see UK foreign aid fall by 93 per cent, Tanzania by 91 per cent, Mozambique by 90 per cent, Malawi by 90 per cent, and Zambia by 88 per cent.
Countries experiencing some of the most pressing humanitarian emergencies in the world are set to see funding slashed, with aid to the Democratic Republic of Congo – currently in the midst of an Ebola outbreak – falling by 29 per cent, and aid to Lebanon also falling by 58 per cent.
Overall UK aid cuts between 2024/5 to 2028/9 add up to some £6.5bn, with aid to fragile and conflict affected states – supposedly the government’s priority – falling by 34 per cent, aid to least developed countries falling by 49 per cent, and aid to Africa falling by 56 per cent.
Aid agencies, charities and MPs have hit out at the “devastating” impact that such a programme of cuts – laid out just one day before the summer recess of parliament – will have on development programmes in developing countries.
Some 15 countries are set to see UK bilateral aid fall to zero over the next three years, including Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Venezuela, which is currently reeling from a devastating earthquake.
Jean Mclean, of Oxfam GB, said that the government has “taken a wrecking ball to the aid budget at exactly the moment when conflict, humanitarian crises, hunger and climate breakdown are driving global need to record levels”.
Lisa Wise, from Save the Children UK, said that the cuts “send a global message about the role the UK wants to play on the international stage” and suggested that incoming prime minister, Andy Burnham, “has an important opportunity to step up, to prioritise international co-operation and ensure that the rights of children are at the heart of foreign policy”.
Romilly Greenhill, CEO of Non-governmental orgnisation (NGO) network Bond, agreed that the incoming Labour government should “recognise the role of development building a safer, equal and more stable world”, adding that they should rule out any further aid cuts.
Ian Mitchell, from think tank the Center for Global Development, pointed out that the ten countries in Africa whose aid has been cut to £5 million or less hold “over 130 million people living in extreme poverty”.
These countries, he added, will receive less than half of the £130 million allocated to the UK’s <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/uk-aid-overseas-territories-africa-cuts-b2953924.html” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>aid programmes in the overseas territories of St Helena, Montserrat and Pitcairn, whose combined population is around 8,500.
Sarah Champion, the Labour MP for Rotherham and chair of parliament’s International Development Committee, criticised the delay to the announcement of the aid allocations, suggesting that it is “disappointing the Government has waited until the last working day of parliament to set out details”.
“By leaving it so late to come clean, it feels like the Government is choosing to avoid scrutiny,” she added.
Fellow Labour MP Beccy Cooper added that the cuts are “not just numbers on a spreadsheet”, but will “result in devastating disruption to vital health services, humanitarian support and education programmes that communities rely on.”
The new figures also confirm previously-announced cuts to UK climate aid, from £11.6bn across the five years to 2026 to £6bn over the next three years, which recently led to the UK cutting its contribution to the Green Climate Fund – the world’s biggestcrisis – by 50 per cent
“Climate finance is a key obligation of high-income countries like the UK, and a lifeline for countries and communities on the frontline of a climate crisis not of their making,” Catherine Pettengell, executive director of the Climate Action Network UK, which represents 45 civil society organisations working on climate change.
She continued: “When tens of billions of pounds can be raised every year by fairly taxing the largest polluters and wealthiest in our society, these cuts are both unacceptable and not in the interests of the UK, and the new Prime Minister must take action.”
Tim Ingram, head of advocacy at WaterAid UK, added that cutting funding to highly climate-vulnerable countries like Malawi, Zambia and Ghana will have “deadly consequences, particularly for women and girls”.
The development minister, Baroness Jenny Chapman, defended the cuts to The Independent.
“We’re making every pound of UK development spending work harder, for people facing the toughest crises and for taxpayers at home,” she said.
“We are prioritising support for countries where humanitarian need is highest, and continuing our investment in sub-Saharan Africa, to protect communities which sit on the frontlines of conflict and climate shocks,” she continued.
“But we’re also taking the necessary steps to move towards a new model of development: focusing on partnerships rather than paternalism, strengthening national systems, and helping countries move away from reliance on aid.”
In the ministerial statement to parliament accompanying the announcement, Baroness Chapman said that the UK is committed to “modernising and improving our approach to have the greatest impact abroad and secure the best value for money for taxpayers at home”.
This article has been produced as part of The Independent’sRethinking Global Aidproject
