Despite immense need for investments to tackle economic, health, and climate crises, G7 & EU look inward

WASHINGTON – Ahead of the G7 meeting in Italy, analysis from The ONE Campaign finds that the G7 and EU Institutions’ share of aid going to Africa is at its lowest point since 1973. Despite immense need, foreign aid, or official development assistance (ODA), is not growing to address the interconnected global crises. Instead, the development piece of these countries’ ODA pie is being cut smaller and smaller.

Worse yet, analysis also finds growing debt service payments are rapidly outpacing aid and investments in all developing countries. Developing country debt levels have more than doubled since 2009, and the cost of servicing that debt has skyrocketed.  

G7 Aid to Africa

Other key figures:

• G7 and the EU Institutions’ share of aid to Africa is at a near-50 year low of 25.8 percent in 2022 (the most recent, complete data available).
• In 2024, the EU, France, Germany, and the US have announced aid cuts totaling nearly US $9 billion. Overall, aid donors spend nearly one in five of their aid dollars at home.  
• Net financial flows to African countries dropped by 18 percent from 2020-2022, from US $56 billion to US $40 billion.
• African countries are projected to spend $81 billion on debt service between 2023-2025, with one-fifth of those payments going to China.
• More than one in five emerging markets and developing countries paid more to service their debt in 2022 than they received in external financing. This could rise to more than one in three by 2025.

“The G7 and EU say they are prioritizing stronger partnerships with Africa, but ONE’s research shows that their words don’t match their actions.” said Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, President and CEO of The ONE Campaign. “The need for increased investments that drive economic growth and healthy lives in Africa has never been more important, but many partner countries are looking inward instead of forward. G7 and EU leadership must take decisive action to unlock more low-interest financing and speed up debt relief. While expectations are low, the stakes are high for the global economy and the lives and livelihoods around the world that will be impacted by the decisions made this week.”

During this week’s meetings, ONE is pushing global finance leaders to move swiftly on reforms that could unlock hundreds of billions of dollars in low-cost lending, commit to increasing contributions to IDA by 25%, and speed up debt relief.

Background

The analysis looks at G7 country and EU Institution share of ODA to Africa from 1960 to 2022 (the most recent, complete year of data).