Key facts
- UK aid cuts will reduce bilateral support to some African countries by up to 90%.
- Mozambique and Malawi face a 90% reduction in UK aid by 2029.
- Rwanda and Sierra Leone will see 80% cuts, and Somalia 49%.
- The Labour government is shifting focus to multilateral donors like the World Bank.
- Charities warn these cuts will jeopardise vital projects and increase poverty and instability.
Foreign Office figures reveal that the UK's bilateral support to certain African countries will be reduced by as much as 90% due to Labour's aid cuts. An analysis by Bond, an umbrella group for development charities, indicates that Mozambique and Malawi will see a 90% reduction by 2029, while Rwanda and Sierra Leone face 80% cuts, and Somalia 49%.
Romilly Greenhill, chief executive of Bond, criticized the cuts, stating that the government is abandoning communities on the frontlines of conflict and the climate crisis, risking increased poverty and instability. The Labour government announced significant reductions in overseas aid spending last year, reallocating funds to the defence budget, which led to the resignation of Anneliese Dodds as development minister.
Labour's strategy involves shifting focus to funding multilateral donors like the World Bank, which they argue is a more efficient use of resources. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper explained that while direct grant aid will decrease in some countries, the UK's ambition and effort will remain high through modernized partnerships.
However, charities express concern that the scale of these reductions in direct support will jeopardize vital projects. Lisa Wise, director of global outcomes at Save the Children, noted that these choices signal the UK's intended role on the international stage. The incoming prime minister, Andy Burnham, faces calls from MPs to restore the UK's leadership in development, potentially by reinstating the target of spending 0.7% of national income on overseas aid.
As the UK prepares to chair the G20 next year, Bond urges the new leadership to use this platform to champion global reforms addressing poverty and inequality. Development minister Jenny Chapman defended the strategy, emphasizing that global crises affect everyone and that the UK is making its development spending work harder for those facing crises and for taxpayers.