The UK is planning to cut direct aid to several African countries by up to 90% by 2029. These cuts come from spending plans published by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the UK government department responsible for foreign aid and diplomacy. The reductions were first reported by The Guardian on July 16, 2026, and are based on FCDO figures that show how much aid each country will lose over the next three years (The Guardian).

"Aid" in this context means money and resources that the UK government gives to other countries to help reduce poverty, improve health, and support development. "Bilateral aid" means aid given directly from the UK to a specific country, rather than through international organisations like the United Nations.

Bond, a group that represents UK development charities, analysed the FCDO figures. They found that direct aid to Mozambique and Malawi will fall by 90% by 2029. Aid to Rwanda and Sierra Leone will be cut by 80%, while Somalia faces a 49% reduction. Romilly Greenhill, Bond's chief executive, identified Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Uganda as the countries losing UK aid funding under the Labour government's current plans.

The cuts to individual countries are part of a larger pattern. Total direct aid from the FCDO will fall by an estimated 37% over the three-year period from 2026/27 to 2028/29, according to an Equality Impact Assessment published by the FCDO in March 2026 (FCDO Equality Impact Assessment). Direct aid to individual countries is being cut more heavily than aid sent through international organisations. The House of Commons Library confirms that the largest planned cuts in UK aid are to these direct, country-to-country programmes (House of Commons Library).

The overall numbers are large. UK aid spending is being reduced to 0.3% of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2027/28. GNI is the total value of everything a country produces in a year. The percentage means: for every £100 the UK produces, about 30 pence will go to foreign aid. UK direct aid to Africa specifically is planned to fall from £818 million to £688 million over the three years to 2028/29. In 2025, the total direct aid from the FCDO benefitting a single country or region stood at £3,162 million (UK Government Statistics on International Development). A £0.5 billion reduction was also applied to 2025–26 aid budgets across government departments, as set out in the Autumn Budget.

The political story behind these numbers is straightforward. In February 2025, Keir Starmer's government announced it would sharply reduce overseas aid spending to pay for increases in the defence budget. Anneliese Dodds, then the development minister, resigned on February 28, 2025 in protest. In March 2026, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told parliament in a written statement that the UK would move away from high levels of grant aid in a range of countries. Jenny Chapman now serves as UK development minister as of July 2026.

The FCDO had previously published the full aid spending plans on July 22, 2025, describing them as a "modernised aid budget" focused on impact, value for money, and transparency (UK Government). The annual report published on July 16, 2026 includes the country-by-country breakdown that has allowed outside groups to examine the allocations in detail (FCDO Annual Report).

Lisa Wise, director of global outcomes at Save the Children, said the budget allocations "reflect reductions in public investment in countries and children that need it most."

The way these cuts are structured tells a larger story. By protecting aid sent through international organisations while cutting direct, country-to-country aid, the FCDO is reshaping the UK's role in global development: fewer partnerships with individual countries, more reliance on shared international channels. For fragile states like Somalia, where a 49% cut adds to existing security and humanitarian pressures, the shift raises questions about whether aid programmes on the ground can continue. For Mozambique and Malawi, the 90% figure signals something close to a full withdrawal of UK support over the three-year period.

The broader context here is a shift in government spending priorities, driven by defence needs rather than development goals. The decision to reduce aid to 0.3% of GNI moves the UK further from the 0.7% target it used to follow before 2021, and below the 0.5% minimum that applied after that. The multi-year spending plans run through 2028/29, and the country-level reductions are phased rather than immediate. What remains uncertain is how governments and aid organisations in the affected countries will cope with the steep drop in UK funding, particularly in places where the UK has been a leading donor for decades.