Sweden’s right-wing government has announced a sweeping overhaul of its international development strategy, discontinuing aid to four African countries and closing three embassies as part of a reallocation of resources aimed at increasing financial support for Ukraine.
Development Aid Minister Benjamin Dousa confirmed on Friday that aid to Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Liberia along with Bolivia will be phased out next year. In addition, Sweden will shut down its embassies in Bolivia, Liberia, and Zimbabwe, missions whose primary function has been the administration of development assistance.
Dousa said the move is intended to free up funds to significantly scale up aid to Ukraine.
“The government plans to increase aid to Ukraine to at least 10 billion Swedish kronor ($1.06 billion). This means that nearly 20 percent of our total aid budget will now be directed toward this priority,” he stated.
Over the past 25 years, Sweden has provided more than 50 billion kronor in aid to the four African nations. Tanzania alone has received over 70 billion kronor in Swedish support since 1962.
Humanitarian Aid to Continue
Despite the cutbacks, Dousa emphasized that Sweden’s humanitarian aid commitments will remain intact, noting that the restructuring aligns with the priorities of the governing coalition, which is supported by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.
The government’s reshaped aid framework is also designed to complement Sweden’s efforts to curb immigration. These measures include directing additional aid to countries near conflict zones to help them host displaced populations and requiring aid-receiving nations to accept the return of citizens convicted of crimes in Sweden.
Concerns Over Aid Effectiveness
Dousa defended the strategic shift by arguing that Swedish development support has become too unfocused and insufficiently monitored.
“For far too long, Swedish aid has been too scattered like a water sprinkler with insufficient oversight. In many cases, we do not even know if the support has had any meaningful impact,” he said.
He referenced a 2016 expert report concluding that Swedish aid had only a “marginally positive” impact on poverty reduction in Tanzania during certain periods, and at times even had negative effects, reducing incentives for economic and governance reforms.
Dousa suggested that decades of large-scale development assistance may have contributed to a form of “aid dependency” in several partner countries, reducing the urgency for reforms.
A Turning Point in Swedish Foreign Assistance
The announcement marks one of the most significant shifts in Swedish development cooperation in decades. Known globally for its generous aid policies since the 1970s, Sweden has in recent years begun recalibrating its approach previously ending development aid to Iraq and now expanding its focus on geopolitical priorities, particularly Ukraine.
As Stockholm reshapes its foreign aid architecture, the long-term implications for affected nations and Sweden’s global development footprint remain to be seen.
