Lender profile · United Kingdom

United Kingdom

Britain's public money reaches Africa two ways the open record can follow: aid reported to the OECD, and the export credits of UK Export Finance.

13,287: aid activities in Africa, 2018–2024: USD 19.86 bn committed, 86% of the activities grants
GBP 8.49 bn: UK Export Finance's maximum liability in Africa, 268 facilities 2015/16–2025/26, Angola first; cover and loans, not money lent
USD 47.4 bn: British direct-investment stock in Africa at the end of 2024, South Africa 69%, Egypt 10%
USD 14.75 bn: owed to UK-based creditors by 21 governments at the end of 2024, Angola first; 68 power units with a British owner in the map's layers

13,287 aid activities with an African recipient for 2018–2024, USD 19.86 bn committed: most of the activities are grants, but USD 9.42 bn, 47% of the money, is equity, fund shares and loans to companies, mostly British International Investment's. The largest purpose is Formal sector financial intermediaries, USD 2,764 m; Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt receive the most. UK Export Finance issued 268 guarantees, loans and insurance policies for African destinations from 2015/16 to 2025/26, GBP 8.49 bn of maximum liability, 75% of it where a ministry is the borrower or buyer; Angola, Ghana and Egypt come first.

British direct-investment stock in Africa stood at USD 47.4 bn at the end of 2024, South Africa 69% of it; the map's own layers carry 68 power units with a British owner, 30 of them Globeleq's, 19 pipelines with Shell, BP, Tullow, Savannah Energy or Helios Investment Partners among the owners, and 6 submarine cables with Vodafone or BT. What African governments owe UK-based creditors, the state and banks resident in the UK together, is USD 14.75 bn at the end of 2024, Angola first; USD 1,023 m of it, 7%, is owed to the British state, the rest to banks and other private lenders based in the UK.

OECD CRS activities 2018–2024 and DAC2a net ODA 2010–2024 and FDI positions 2015–2024, fetched 1 Nov 2026 · UK Export Finance lists 2015/16–2025/26, read 1 Nov 2026 · World Bank International Debt Statistics to 2024, release of 3 Dec 2025 · Global Energy Monitor and TeleGeography as on the map

USD 14.75 bnowed to UK-based creditors by 21 African governments at the end of 2024, down from USD 15.88 bn in 2014. Angola owes the most, 26% of it.

Where it is on record

Aid is drawn at each country's interior point, sized by seven years of commitments; the CRS carries no coordinates, so a country point is the honest place. UK Export Finance's business is an inverted triangle at the same point, sized by its maximum liability: the lists name the destination country and nothing finer. Shell's, BP's and Tullow's pipelines are drawn as routes, Vodafone's and BT's cables as dotted lines, power units in the map's status colours. Debt owed to UK-based creditors is off until switched on.

Aid activities by country (OECD CRS) UK Export Finance by country (UKEF lists) Pipelines with a British owner (GEM) Power units with a British owner (GEM) Cables with a British owner (TeleGeography) Debt owed to UK-based creditors (World Bank IDS)