The Swiss government is ending its development aid programmes for Zambia, Albania and Bangladesh.
This decision comes after the parliament allocated less funding for foreign aid in December than the government had requested.
Parliament has cut CHF 110 million Swiss Franc around $121 million from the 2025 international cooperation budget and 321 million Swiss Franc from the financial plan for 2026 to 2028.
This move impacts bilateral, economic and thematic cooperation, as well as multilateral organisations, according to a statement.
The Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive body, was notified of the cuts to international cooperation on Wednesday.
As a result, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) will end its bilateral development programmes with Zambia, Albania and Bangladesh by the end of 2028.
From 2025 to 2028, there will also be broad cuts to country and thematic programmes and organisations.
However, humanitarian aid, peacebuilding and aid to Ukraine will remain unaffected.
This is a very serious wake-up call to the leadership and businesses. The donor honeymoon is over. We need to adopt a creative mindset rather than this dependency “trap.” Let’s focus on organic growth for lack of better term. Let’s revisit, intensify the use of local resources and twice processes to address our challenges. How can we use our minerals to addresses our NEEDS locally? What VALUE can we add to our to our natural resources?
It’s time we released that we are ABUNDANTELY BLESSED!
It’s about time we started standing on our feet and charting our own way forward. We just need to prudently manage our resources.
Zambia can donate back that $120 million to Swizerland from CDF.
How about trade – not aid ?
Considering Switzerland is the biggest buyer of mining output – a 2 % export tax to switzerland should yield roughly the same amount.
If they don’t like it – then let’s negotiate a deal with trump, as he has no loyalties to Switzerland and recognises value when he sees it.
Good journalists always find out why something is happening. Things dont just happen. They are caused. Journalism is about asking Who Why When What and How? The journalists of nowadays! So lazy they depend on press releases
Bangladesh, Albania and Zambia have one thing in common; human rights violations and misuse of donations especially the Zambian MoH. They just being polite that their Parliament voted for a low budget.
What proof do you have? Cite credible sources for your worthless assertions. Lets speak with supported facts of crdible sources not “your at a whim” notions.
It’s a privilege to be put in the same category as Bangladesh and Albania,………..
two noticeable manufacturing power houses of garments and other goods to the EU………
The Swiss are saying Zambia is going well enough to survive without our help…….
Things ain’t too shabby for Zambia then………,
FWD2031
You don’t understand anything. It’s not about what these nations produce it’s about human rights. In any case why would you ask for foreign aid if you are strong manufacturing country. By the way those garment manufacturing companies are owned by foreigners who have taken advantage of the poor wages in Bangladesh and the work is done under very poor conditions.
Those of you screaming human fights abuses by the UPND government ,please answer me hosetly.
1.How many Zambians have been shot dead by the Police Service?
2. How many people wearing green T/Shirts or Lungu printed chetenges have been attacked?.
3. How many times has Lungu been stopped from attending church services?
4. If an opposition member comits a criminal offence,should the Police look in the opposite direction.?
Please answer these questions honestly and if possible put real figures.
Katana you live in Zambia but dont see the evils being applied only on opposition party members! Police NEVER prosecute ruling party members. Nakachinda, Mmembe, Nawakwi, Mumbi Phiri etc have to be arrested and re-arrested and re-arrested and for you thats OK. You are blind to this political oppression of citizens just because they are in opposition. Even ruling party vuvuzela, Bill Kapinga can tell opposition members to go to hell but police will certainly act on anyone like Jason Mwanza and Thomas Zulu for saying anything about HH! And thats ok for you???
Deja Vu
Those same foreign textile companies are responsible for uplifting millions of lives in Bangladesh, which has very few minerals and very poor land mass with massive population…….
You are ignorant
FWD2031
Hopefully all these moves tonremove aid force us to learn to be self reliant.
How can you become self-reliant with people like Deja Foool and Emannuel Mwamba around to pull things asunder
#MuZambian. Please have a bit of decency at least. You are just showing how cheap are and how low your IQ is. Surely you are not serious with what you post unless you are just abnormal.
KK did everything to make Zambia self-sufficient but somehow things fell apart.
Deja Vu
“KK did everything to make Zambia self-sufficient but somehow things fell apart.”
That’s mainly because of tribal bigots like you who see tribe in everything and everyone……
FWD2031
This is not true. These are PF lies
Keep on dreaming it all over international news outlets.
Just start thinking of a way to survive.
Deja Vu
The thieving criminal tribal supremacists who are under pressure tried to convince foreign news outlets let’s about a tribal opposition persecution……..
They even convinced UN chola body to visit………
Only to find normalcy , and only criminals being put under pressure
FWD2031
Great that donors are leaving! Zambia is a rich country with natural resources that are mismanaged. It also has great minds who are completely ignored. Corruption is rampant in the Christian nation(where 40% of the population live under the poverty line) and the donors long know about this. Guess they have had enough which is great!
Time to put on your big girl pants – mother Zambia and run your own show!!! It is shameful that you have not realised this even after 60 years!
Be serious its a structural move to save themselves given what the US has said. Is Donald Trump a person who has even thought through his structural changes? No cause he is already walking back on some of them and the US courts are remaining him that they are illegal.
So Ba De Ja Vu follow geopolitics and stop show us how narrow you prejudiced views are. Ponder the points put to you.
I couldn’t agree more, Mwata. Zambia and Africa should have realised long ago the importance of self-reliance. It’s time to stop blaming external forces for our challenges and instead focus on empowering our own people to drive development on the continent.
Leaders should lead by example, abandoning flashy lifestyles and expensive cars. Humility and unity are essential for progress. Let’s work together to uplift our
That was realized a long time ago at independence but colonialists could not allow it so they cleared all revolutionary leaders and indirectly replaced them with puppets like our own Frederick Titus Jacob Chiluba.
I couldn’t agree more, Mwata. Zambia and Africa should have realised long ago the importance of self-reliance. It’s time to stop blaming external forces for our challenges and instead focus on empowering our own people to drive development on the continent. We already know the truth.
Leaders should lead by example, abandoning flashy lifestyles and expensive cars. Humility and unity are essential for progress. Let’s work together to uplift our communities and set a better standard for future generations.
Its business as usual for a while. And the mind set of Zambians has never changed. Always expecting Government handout and jobs. Until we change realise that the message at independence of what politicians told us of what government is and what we should expect from Government we will always think and believe in entitlements.
Just listen to the campgain speech by Nakachinda and Lubinda. To people that dont have access to information the message is true. Now what do expecr from Zambians if leaders are going to use that to buy votes? Is that even real? ECL coming back in 2026? Community house being repossessed? 12 bags of fertilizer yet donors are pulling so where will the money come from?
It should be remembered Chiluba did away with exchange control and that pointed Zambia in the right direction and he was no better or worse than KK and what has followed since
Given what you say Tikki, How do the current policies address the very issues that haunted Zambia in both eras? Chiluba and Kaunda. I dont the issues then and now have changed.
And when are we going to start giving Aid to other countries…..60 years and we still can’t manage simple water drainage system and we can’t keep our cities clean
We did that in Kind. How did all these states around us manage to gain their independence?
Was that some kind of aid? And how many looked back? ANC, SWAPO, ZANU PF and ZAPU all has their people here. Was that not aid?
This is good news for Zambia! we don’t need their fake bl00d money.