UK aid cuts reduce bilateral support to some African countries by up to 90%

Labour's foreign aid cuts will mean reductions of up to 90% in bilateral support the UK gives to some African countries, Foreign Office figures show. The department's annual report includes a long-awaited breakdown of how the reduction in the aid budget will affect individual countries over the next three years.

Analysis by Bond, the umbrella group for development charities, shows cuts of 90% for Mozambique and Malawi by 2029, 80% for Rwanda and Sierra Leone, and 49% for Somalia.

Bond's chief executive, Romilly Greenhill, said the government is abandoning communities on the frontlines of conflict and the climate crisis, risking plunging these countries' populations into poverty and instability.

Keir Starmer's government announced deep reductions to overseas aid last year to fund defence budget increases, prompting the resignation of development minister Anneliese Dodds.

Part of Labour's approach has been to shift focus to multilateral donors such as the World Bank, arguing it is a more efficient use of straitened resources.

In a written statement to parliament in March, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the UK would transition away from high levels of grant ODA (overseas development assistance) but maintain ambition and effort through modernised partnerships.

Charities, however, say the scale of reduction in direct support will jeopardise vital projects. Lisa Wise, director of global outcomes at Save the Children, said the cuts send a global message about the role the UK wants to play internationally.

The next steps for Labour's development policy will fall to incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham's pick for foreign secretary, with current energy secretary Ed Miliband seen as a likely contender. Some MPs have urged Burnham to restore the party's development leadership, including setting a path back to the 0.7% of national income target for overseas aid.

The UK takes on the G20 chair next year. Greenhill urged the new PM and foreign secretary to use that role to champion global reforms to address poverty and inequality.

Development minister Jenny Chapman said the world has changed, with crises in one part of the world affecting all. She noted conflict in the Middle East driving up food and fertiliser costs and the Ebola outbreak in the DRC as reminders of global health security. She emphasised the UK is making every pound of development spending work harder for people facing toughest crises and for taxpayers at home.