The British government is planning to “slash hundreds of millions of pounds” to five individual African countries and the Sahel, according to official papers acquired by open Democracy, a UK-based political website.
The five – Libya, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Nigeria – are among eight countries and regions that are due to see a drop in British aid.
Although the UK government is committed by law to spending 0.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI) on aid, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak announced in last week’s Budget that this would drop “temporarily” to 0.5 per cent, reducing aid spending by around £4 billion.
Mr Sunak said the cut was necessary “during a domestic fiscal emergency, when we need to prioritise our limited resources on jobs and public service”.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the UK government has spent £355 billion on fighting the virus, supporting businesses and jobs during the 2020/2021 financial year, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
The OBR estimates that the figure for 2021/2022 fiscal year will drop to £234 billion.
Last year, UK government pandemic spending of £100 million went to paying the wages of workers who were told not to go to work in order to reduce COVID-19 infections.
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