Nigeria is set to lose more than half of its development assistance from the United Kingdom (UK) over the next three years following a major policy shift by the British government to reduce overseas aid and channel more resources into defence and domestic priorities.

According to the 2025–2026 Annual Report and Accounts of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), direct aid to Nigeria will decline from £136.62 million in the 2025/2026 financial year to £68 million by the 2028/2029 financial year, representing a 50.2 per cent reduction.

The planned cut forms part of a broader restructuring of the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA), which will be reduced to 0.3 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2027.

The report indicates that the policy will affect all 34 African countries currently receiving UK bilateral assistance, with some countries expected to experience reductions of as much as 92.5 per cent.

The British government attributed the move largely to the need to increase spending on national defence and security amid evolving global security challenges. It also reflects a wider trend among Western governments, including the United States, Germany and several European Union member states, which are scaling back foreign aid in response to domestic economic pressures and changing fiscal priorities.

Rather than maintaining broad-based bilateral development assistance, the UK plans to concentrate its support on targeted humanitarian interventions and stronger trade and investment partnerships.

For Nigeria, the reduction is expected to affect programmes supported by UK funding in critical sectors such as healthcare, basic education, democratic governance and poverty reduction, particularly in vulnerable communities.

Development experts warn that the decline in grant funding could place additional pressure on both federal and state governments to finance essential social services and sustain ongoing development initiatives.

They argue that the shrinking pool of donor assistance underscores the urgency for Nigeria to strengthen domestic revenue mobilisation, deepen public-private partnerships and pursue sustainable economic growth driven by investment, trade and local resource generation.

The development also reflects a growing global shift away from traditional aid dependency towards partnerships anchored on economic cooperation, investment and shared commercial interests.

The UK has long been one of Nigeria’s major bilateral development partners, supporting programmes aimed at improving health outcomes, expanding access to education, strengthening governance institutions and promoting economic development. The latest reduction signals a significant change in that relationship as donor countries increasingly recalibrate their international assistance in line with domestic fiscal and strategic priorities.