The British government plans to cut bilateral aid to Mozambique by 90% by 2029, reducing annual disbursements from the current €58.5 million to €5.8 million, while retaining cooperation on energy transition initiatives. The reduction is part of a broader UK strategy to gradually lower official development assistance to the equivalent of 0.3% of Gross National Income by 2027, following the government’s decision to redirect greater resources toward defence expenditure.
The figures are drawn from the 2025-26 Annual Report and Accounts of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), cited by Lusa, which sets out official development assistance funding projections for the coming years.
According to the document, Mozambique is expected to receive €58.5 million in 2025-26, a figure projected to fall to €32.1 million in the following financial year, €18.4 million in 2027-28, and €5.8 million in 2028-29.
Mozambique is among the countries most severely affected by the UK aid review, alongside Malawi, with both facing projected cuts of approximately 90% by 2028-29. In Malawi’s case, bilateral aid is also set to fall to €5.8 million in that financial year. The FCDO is additionally projecting reductions of 83% for Rwanda and Sierra Leone, whose allocations are expected to stand at approximately five million pounds.
The report states that the United Kingdom allocated a total of approximately €10.1 billion to official development assistance during the 2025-26 financial year, equivalent to roughly 71% of the FCDO’s budget. However, it notes that the new strategy prioritises a smaller number of partnerships deemed to carry greater strategic impact.
Despite the sharp reduction projected for Mozambique, London states it will maintain cooperation in areas considered priorities, particularly in the fields of energy transition and climate change. In that context, the report highlights that during COP30, the United Kingdom agreed with Mozambique on a clean energy action plan, as part of a broader set of similar initiatives also concluded with the African Union, the Caribbean, Chile, and Colombia.
According to the FCDO, these agreements are designed to mobilise private financing, strengthen technical capacity, and develop investment-ready project pipelines, within the framework of the UK’s strategy to promote energy transition in partner countries.
The document does not specify the financial value associated with the action plan with Mozambique, confining itself to situating it within the UK’s policy of supporting clean energy, climate resilience, and sustainable development.
The figures presented also show that UK bilateral aid to Mozambique has recorded significant fluctuations in recent years.
In 2020, disbursements stood at €61.2 million, declining to €37.6 million in 2021, €33.5 million in 2022, and €35.9 million in 2023, before rising to €54.8 million in 2024. The same report indicates that British humanitarian assistance directed at Mozambique increased from €5.4 million in 2023 to €20.4 million in 2024, reflecting a heightened priority placed on emergency relief.
Mozambique also appears among the countries covered by the FCDO Crisis Fund, which provides for an allocation of €2.3 million in the 2025-26 financial year.
The report additionally lists Maputo among the locations included in capital investment programmes for the British diplomatic estate, alongside cities such as Tokyo, Nicosia, Lagos, and Baghdad.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/07/18/desenvolvimento-2/reino-unido-vai-cortar-90-da-ajuda-bilateral-a-mocambique-ate-2029/
