The UK’s “new Approach to Africa” 2025

In December 2025 the UK Government published its “new approach to Africa”. First announced in the Labour party’s 2024 manifesto, the document seeks to provide a framework to further UK partnerships with African states for “mutual long-term benefit”.

Announcing the framework, the Minister for Africa, Baroness Chapman, said that the UK would be a “partner, investor, and, most of all, reformer” and that “African leadership” will be at the framework’s “very centre”.

This briefing provides an overview of the framework’s priorities and the UK approach to date, and the response in parliament.

What are the seven priorities?

The framework sets out seven priorities. These include reorientating the UK’s aid relationship from “donor to investor”, collaboration on migration and climate change, supporting peace and stability, investing in health, promoting African voices in global forums, and cultural partnerships.

These echo the priorities of previous governments, which have also sought to reset the UK-Africa relationship. The 2019 Africa framework, 2021 integrated review of foreign and defence policy and 2023 white paper on international development all emphasised a shift to partnership, helping African states mobilise funding sources beyond donor aid, and supporting greater African representation and power in international forums like the UN Security Council.

The government plans to publish updates on progress under the framework “in due course”. This will include specific goals, such as the value of private capital mobilised for development and household access to electricity.

What was the response in parliament?

Both the shadow Foreign Secretary, Dame Priti Patel, and the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Foreign Affairs and the Commonwealth, Adam Jogee MP, raised concerns for the lack of references to the Commonwealth in the strategy and to challenges posed by Russian and Chinese action and investment in Africa. The Liberal Democrat spokesperson, Dr Al Pinkerton, criticised aid budget cuts from 2025 as undermining framework objectives.

The government said that the Commonwealth was “central” to the strategy and UK investment will offer a reliable competitor to Chinese loans and investment. Plans on aid spending are expected to be published early in 2026.