UK cuts foreign aid as bilateral aid to Africa set to fall 56% by 2028-29
Mar 19th 2026
The foreign secretary has cut large parts of the UK aid programme, slashing bilateral support to many low income countries and shifting spending toward defence and conflict-led priorities while moving funds into multilateral channels.
- Bilateral UK aid to Africa will be reduced by almost £900m by 2028-29, a 56% cut.
- The government is cutting the overall aid budget by 40% and reallocating more than £6bn to defence spending.
- Aid will be prioritised for conflict zones, especially Ukraine, Sudan and Palestine, with Lebanon protected this year.
- Most G20 countries will no longer receive direct bilateral aid, aside from Turkey for refugee support.
- The FCDO will shift funding to multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, Gavi and the Global Fund.
- The humanitarian crisis reserve falls from £85m to £75m and overseas aid is forecast to drop to 0.24% of GNI by 2027-28.
Articles
- UK to cut climate aid to developing countries by 14% to £2bn a year in ‘refocus’ www.theguardian.com
- Some of the world’s poorest countries to lose UK aid due to 56% budget cut www.theguardian.com
- UK reveals aid priorities after major cuts to budget www.bbc.com
- UK reveals cuts to aid for Africa and Middle East www.ft.com
- Britain steps back from Africa with new aid cuts www.politico.eu