CARDIFF, United Kingdom — Separated by thousands of miles of ocean and land, it is easy to overlook the cultural and economic ties that connect the Welsh nation and Africa’s 54 sovereign states. The U.K.’s complicated colonial history and continued cross-cultural connections have enmeshed both the country and the continent in a lasting, interconnected relationship. Hub Cymru Africa partnerships aim to strengthen this relationship by facilitating global development through collaboration and shared initiatives.
Working alongside the Welsh government, Hub Cymru Africa operates as a global organization that fosters links with African establishments. Its vision centers on international responsibility and building mutually beneficial connections. The organization is a member of a U.K. alliance that coordinates with Bond in England, the Scottish International Development Alliance (SIDA) in Scotland, the Coalition of Aid and Development Agencies in Northern Ireland and the South West International Development Network (SWIDN) in South West England. Together, these charities help fund development initiatives in Africa, support African refugees and advocate for African issues.
To learn more about Hub Cymru Africa’s integral role, The Borgen Project spoke with communications manager Peter Gilbey, who shed light on the impact of the organization’s work. Gilbey highlighted the primary themes underpinning Hub Cymru Africa’s partnerships, including Fair Trade, the African diaspora, global citizenship and global health. These themes collectively work toward a mutually advantageous collaboration between Wales and Africa.
Building a Bidirectional Relationship
According to Gilbey, the importance of building a “bidirectional relationship” between countries has historically been shaped by inequality. Even as a colonized nation, Wales has long benefited from the U.K.’s broader imperial endeavors, complicating its colonial past. Hub Cymru Africa aims to help navigate this complex history by reshaping narratives to amplify African stories. By building on personal connections and individual experiences, Hub Cymru Africa partnerships demonstrate how close collaboration can foster global development, reduce poverty and improve lives worldwide.
Establishing a bidirectional relationship between nations, rather than one built on inequality, helps challenge paternalistic perceptions of African experiences. Gilbey noted “a huge lack of awareness” in Western media and an “immature and underdeveloped media landscape in Wales.” One example he cited was the tendency of the BBC to overlook the expertise of a Sudanese civil war expert, focusing instead on personal trauma rather than policy insights. In this context, Hub Cymru Africa, through platforms such as its podcast, works to challenge reductive narratives.
Love Zimbabwe
Among the charities affiliated with Hub Cymru Africa is Love Zimbabwe, founded in Abergavenny by Martha Musonza Holman. Love Zimbabwe works with the Chinamhora Community Center in Zimbabwe and supports community development by encouraging sustainable livelihoods and improving education. Given the severe poverty faced by many Zimbabweans, with 49.22% of the population living on less than $3 a day in 2019, this relationship has played an important role in improving lives at the local level.
In Wales, the charity collaborates with Fair Trade Wales to promote fair trade practices that support sustainable incomes and help address some of the underlying drivers of global poverty and inequality. The impact of poverty and deprivation falls most heavily on women and mothers in Zimbabwe, who are often responsible for the unpaid work that sustains families and villages. In 2024, the Health Law and Policy Consortium, alongside other organizations, found that the unequal burden of unpaid labor disproportionately affects women’s opportunities for employment and education.
Drawing from her lived experience, Holman is passionate about raising awareness of the struggles faced by African women. She has highlighted the stigma faced by divorced women in particular, sharing how she was condemned as a prostitute after her own divorce. Through initiatives like this, Hub Cymru Africa partnerships demonstrate the value of moving beyond traditional aid models in global development by empowering communities through collaboration and shared purpose.
Intersectional Poverty
Hub Cymru Africa operates on the understanding that poverty and injustice are intersectional issues shaped by overlapping social and economic disparities. As such, the organization partners with charities that directly address climate instability as one of the key drivers of economic hardship. It is vital to recognize that high-income countries have contributed more to greenhouse gas emissions, while lower-income countries bear a disproportionate share of the consequences.
For example, the Philippines’ GDP is expected to fall by 1.3% with just a 1.4°C rise in global temperatures. Those living in rural areas are particularly affected by natural disasters such as wildfires and floods. Gilbey also referenced a working relationship with Size of Wales, a charity that encourages indigenous and rural communities to plant trees in ways that both support livelihoods and reduce deforestation.
Addressing climate shift as a structural driver of poverty is just one example of Hub Cymru Africa’s broad approach to global development.
The Pressures on Global Development Efforts
The work of Hub Cymru Africa partnerships, alongside that of many other charities across the U.K., has been limited by the Lobbying Act. Although intended to regulate political activity, Gilbey noted that the act often serves as a form of intimidation against charities. It limits the scope of their public advocacy and policy discussions, even on issues directly linked to their programs. As the umbrella network for U.K. organizations working in international development, Bond was among the establishments that opposed the introduction of the act and continues to advocate for its repeal.
Recent ODA cuts have also constrained the operations of organizations working in international development. For years, the U.K. has provided vital aid abroad, supporting economic growth and political stability. The decision to reduce foreign aid spending from 0.5% to 0.3% is expected to have severe and potentially life-threatening consequences. Estimates indicate that the cuts could result in millions of excess deaths by 2030, largely due to decreased access to food, health care and humanitarian support. For those focused on these issues and reliant on international development funding, the cuts have significantly disrupted their capacity to support global poverty-reduction initiatives.
Conclusion
Stories like Holman’s illustrate how personal connections born out of hardship can be transformed into meaningful partnerships that address the structural drivers of poverty. In this way, the bidirectional relationship between Wales and Africa continues to demonstrate how collaboration grounded in mutual respect and shared purpose can help shape a more equal international future through sustainable global development.
– Polly Laws
Polly is based in Cardiff and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.
Photo: Flickr