UK sharply cuts aid to Commonwealth countries despite warm words at the Chogm summit

The UK government has slashed overseas aid to Commonwealth countries, in contrast to the warm words for the group from King Charles and Prime Minister Andy Burnham this week, an analysis of aid figures has shown.

Amid sharp cuts in the UK's overall aid budget, the Commonwealth has fared worse than others, according to an analysis of the most recent and projected aid figures. Funding for Commonwealth nations that previously had bilateral aid programmes will be cut from £546m in 2024-25 to £131m in 2028-29.

Of that total, a large chunk — £68m — will go to Nigeria, leaving just £63m for all the other Commonwealth countries combined.

The revelations come as the King attends the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Antigua this week, where he said it was only right to acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of slavery. Burnham's government, however, fought to ensure that any discussion of reparations would be kept off the agenda, the report said.

The government had been cutting aid to rapidly developing countries now judged to be middle income, such as India and Antigua. But the cuts to Commonwealth countries go much further, including many of the world's poorest countries and many struggling under heavy debt burdens.

Sierra Leone is one example. Aid to one of the world's least developed countries will be slashed from nearly £30m in 2024-25 to £5m in 2028-29. Yet the UK and Sierra Leone will act as co-conveners of a strand of talks on adapting to the climate crisis at the Cop31 summit in Turkey next week.

Aid to Rwanda is also being cut from nearly £30m to £5m. Aid to Tanzania will fall from £60m in 2025-26 to £5m in 2028-29. The Caribbean Development Team will see its funding cut from more than £98m in 2025-26 to £45m in 2026-27. Nigeria will remain one of the biggest destinations for Commonwealth aid, but its allocation falls from £137m this year to £68m in 2028-29.

Funding for nature has been particularly hard hit, experts said. Many Commonwealth countries have not only had their aid slashed but have also been cut off from applying to the Darwin Initiative funds for nature protection. At least 26 Commonwealth countries have been prevented from receiving funds under the longstanding stream, worth about £40m a year.

Adrian Gahan, the UK lead at the Campaign for Nature charity, said: 'UK aid to Commonwealth countries has fallen dramatically in recent years, with further cuts on the horizon. Some of the world's most biodiversity-rich countries, many of which are also grappling with high levels of poverty, are facing severe reductions in support. The UK's Caribbean Development Team is set to see its funding cut by more than half between this year and next.' He added that this week the King attended the launch of a major new Commonwealth nature initiative, yet the UK government failed to make a financial contribution to it.

Jean McLean, Oxfam GB's chief influencing officer, said: 'The UK government has really dropped the ball when it comes to the aid budget at exactly the moment when conflict, humanitarian crises, hunger and climate breakdown are driving global need to record levels. These cuts will not be felt in Westminster — they will be felt by families facing starvation, children denied healthcare and education, and communities struggling to survive the impacts of conflict and climate disasters.'

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been approached for comment. The Chogm meeting is set to wrap up on Wednesday.