The Swedish government will phase out development aid to at least five countries in 2026 as part of an effort to significantly increase assistance to Ukraine. This announcement was made by Sweden's minister for international development cooperation and foreign trade, Benjamin Dousa, at a press conference on Friday.
The funding shift will see aid to Ukraine increase to at least SEK 10 billion ($1 billion), Dousa confirmed. To balance the budget, aid will cease entirely for Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique, Liberia, and Bolivia. The Swedish embassies in Bolivia, Liberia, and Zimbabwe will also close.
“The money has to come from somewhere to balance the budget,” Dousa said. He also noted that, in the government’s view, aid has not always had the desired effect, sometimes creating dependency rather than development.
About the author
Jesse Chase-Lubitz
Jesse Chase-Lubitz covers climate change and multilateral development banks for Devex. She previously worked at Nature Magazine, where she received a Pulitzer grant for an investigation into land reclamation. She has written for outlets such as Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and The Japan Times, among others. Jesse holds a master’s degree in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics.
