Follow Us on Google
By Abu Killa
The United Kingdom (UK) Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) recently announced a 50.2% reduction in direct development aid to Nigeria as part of a broader overhaul of its international assistance framework. Direct British aid to Nigeria will reportedly drop from 136.62 million in the 2025-2026 financial year down to #68 million by the 2028-2029 financial year.
The UK is cutting down on its overall Official Development Assistance (ODA) target from 0.5% of Gross National Income (GNI) down to 0.3% by 2027, redirecting funds toward domestic economic priorities and increased defense spending.
Impact assessments indicate that frontline WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) and women’s health programs will bear the brunt of the reductions. These cuts were triggered by substantial reductions in U.S. foreign assistance (including major shifts following the restructuring of U.S. overseas funding frameworks), compounding challenges for maternal health, child education, and disease-prevention initiatives across Nigeria.
UK officials and some lawmakers are defending the reprioritization toward national security and defense. But international development bodies (such as Bond) and parliamentary committees have warned that deep aid cuts risk destabilizing vulnerable communities and creating vacuums that other global powers may exploit. Bond argue that slashing budgets for nations already dealing with climate shocks, internal conflict, and disease outbreaks (such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC) facing an Ebola resurgence) risks pushing vulnerable populations deeper into humanitarian instability.
According to data from Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) annual report, aid reductions for some African nations by 2029 include: Kenya slashed by 93%; Tanzania cut by 91%; Mozambique cut by 90%; Malawi slashed 90%; Zambia slashed by 88%; Rwanda by80%; and Sierra Leone cut by 80%. Across African nations, the abrupt retreat of UK funding is deeply impacting fragile health sectors.
Health Policy Watch and The Lancet, a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal founded in England in1823, say the Reliance ratio on UK health aid is incredibly high in some countries, meaning local budgets cannot easily absorb the shock. Rural clinics in nations like Kenya face closure, forcing a reliance on unpaid volunteers and mandatory insurance fees that lockout the poorest citizens.
Researchers estimate that Britain’s aid cuts could result in 5.1 million deaths across 128 low- and middle-income countries. A report by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) says that U.K. cuts to sexual and reproductive health programmes could contribute to 1.1 million unintended pregnancies, 175,000 unsafe abortions and more than 1,000 maternal deaths in these countries.
Other News
Crucial agricultural and crisis funding lines have been compressed. Aid organizations are already warning that over 4 million people globally, with a significant concentration in sub-Saharan Africa’s highly vulnerable conflict and drought zones risk losing vital food allocations.
The truth is that UK is facing its own economic problems which have squeezed its living standards. Spillovers from the Middle East conflict have driven up global energy and oil prices triggering rising inflation in the country. The Office for Budget responsibility sharply cut UK economic growth forecast for 2027 down from 1.6% to 1%. Real household disposable income are projected to fall by 2027. Persistent high costs for food, energy, and housing continue to outpace average wage growth, with retail sales volume dropping.
The UK is equally facing ballooning government debt and borrowing costs. Its public debt has crossed 3 trillion pounds. Last year, Britain announced aid cuts alongside plans to raise defense spending to 2.5 of Gross Domestic Product dueto geopolitical tension.
Defending the aid cuts, the UK Foreign Secretary, Tvette Cooper, said: ‘’Our commitment to international development is as important as ever – it reflects UK values, supporting those in conflict and extreme poverty, and is also in the UK national interest because in an interconnected world, crises and instability across the world undermine our security and prosperity at home. “We are modernizing and improving our approach to development to have the greatest impact abroad and secure the best value for money for taxpayers at home.”
It should now be clear to all in Nigeria that we don’t have reliable economic partners in the Western nations who would never compromise their living standards for charity. Mismanagement of public funds, rent-seeking behavior among elites, and large-scale oil theft drain resources that should be used for country’s development.
The government must build a strong domestic manufacturing or value-adding agricultural base, instead of exporting raw materials and importing finished goods. The country can improve its economy by moving beyond oil dependence, fixing infrastructure, stabilizing prices, and building human capital.
• Abu Killa writes from Ilorin
