***Allocation falls to £68m by 2029
By Nkiruka Nnorom
The United Kingdom has announced a 50.2 per cent cut in development aids to Nigeria, following the massive reduction by the British government in overseas assistance to enable it fund domestic priorities and increase defence spending.
The move comes as the US, Germany and other European countries scale back aid budgets to fund defence spending and other domestic economic programmes.
According to figures released by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, FCDO, in its 2025-2026 Annual Report and Accounts, Nigeria’s allocation will drop by 50.2 per cent to £68 million in the 2028-2029 financial year, down from £136.62 million in 2025-2026 under a new three-year plan.
The cut is part of a broader overhaul that will affect all 34 African countries, with some facing reductions as high as 92.5 per cent.
UK cites defence spending, ‘modernised partnerships’
The Labour government said the target was to reduce the Official Development Assistance, ODA, budget to 0.3 per cent of Gross National Income by 2027, down from 0.7 per cent, to fund what it called a “necessary increase in spending on defence.”
FCDO said in an accompanying statement in the Annual Report: “The Department’s ODA spending plans for 2026–29 reflect the trajectory of this reduction and how the UK is modernising its approach to development, in line with the Foreign Secretary’s 19 March 2026 Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS1425) and Oral Statement to the House.
“Setting three years of allocations provides the Department with the predictability required to effectively manage the transition to 0.3 percent of GNI. All future plans are subject to revision as, by its nature, the Department’s work is dynamic.
“Programme allocations are continually reviewed to respond to changing global needs, including humanitarian crises and other ODA allocation decisions.”
Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the cuts followed difficult decisions but insisted that Britain was not “walking away from our values.”
Cooper said in a March 19, 2026 statement to parliament: “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.
“With funding pressures and internal restructuring to deal with, disruption caused by changes in the department’s leadership, and multiple crises and conflicts to manage, it would have been easy for the FCDO this year to leave any discussion of long-term goals for another day. But instead, we have done the opposite.
“From economic security and illegal migration to hybrid threats and climate change, the FCDO’s six refreshed priorities seek to tackle our most intractable problems head-on, prepare ourselves better for the future crises we will face, and build the kind of agile alliances that we will need to secure progress at international level,” Cooper added.
Other African countries hit harder, breakdown by country
According to the UK government, priority will be given to war-torn countries and those facing serious humanitarian crises.
A breakdown shows Kenya will suffer the steepest cut at 92.5 per cent to £5 million, while Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique will each see over 90 per cent reductions.
Other major cuts include Zambia down 83.2 per cent to £5 million; Zimbabwe down 72.5 per cent to £5 million; Ethiopia down 54.1 per cent to £80.5m; Ghana down 51.9 per cent to £5m; Uganda down 52.1 per cent to £18m; South Sudan down 39.1 per cent to £72.2m; and Somalia down 20.5 per cent to £85.2m.
South Africa will receive zero allocation by 2029 after suffering a 59.5 per cent cut in two years to 2027-2028.
Funding for the Sahel Department, which covers funding for the regional programmes, fell 33.2 per cent to £67.8m, while Africa and Expertise Departments suffered an 83 per cent cut to £24m.
Other African countries, comprising Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Eswatini, Guinea, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Seychelles, and the Gambia, including West Africa Department, saw a 31.4 per cent aid cut to £1.9 million from £2.77 million in 2025\2026 period.
Overall, UK aid to Africa will fall by 23.7 per cent to £639.81 million in 2029 from £1.45 billion in 2026.
Global retreat from foreign aid
The UK’s aid cut is not happening in isolation as it reflects a wider retreat by Western governments from traditional grant-based aid since they grapple with domestic economic pressures, rising defence spending and shifting foreign policy priorities.
In the United States, the Trump administration in 2025 ordered a sweeping freeze and restructuring of USAID, the country’s main foreign aid agency.
The move led to the cancellation of billions of dollars in programmes across Africa, including health, food security and democracy support in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Sudan, with Washington arguing that the funds would be redirected to border security and domestic infrastructure.
The US also reduced contributions to multilateral institutions and shifted focus to “trade, not aid” partnerships, a model now being copied by the UK.
Several European countries have followed suit. France announced in 2025 that it would cut its aid budget by €1.2 billion over three years.
Germany trimmed its development budget by 10 per cent in 2026 to fund military aid to Ukraine and energy transition at home. The Netherlands and Sweden have also signalled lower aid ceilings tied to 0.3-0.4 per cent of GNI.
The UK’s decision to drop from 0.7 per cent to 0.3 per cent of GNI is the deepest cut among G7 nations and effectively ends a 15-year commitment to the UN aid target.
Implications for Nigeria
The reduction comes at a time Nigeria is grappling with humanitarian needs in the North East, health system gaps, and climate-related challenges.
UK aid has historically supported programmes in health, education, governance, humanitarian response and economic development in Nigeria.
The FCDO said all future plans remain subject to revision as global needs change, including responses to humanitarian crises and conflicts.
