Ethiopian spice girls, a version of popular British girl band, will cost UK taxpayers $6.4 million in aid through the Department for International Development (DfID) in collaboration with the Nike Foundation, the DailyMail reported

Yegna, a group of five Ethiopian girls, have launched a radio show and released a string of videos that aim to empower women in the African country. Their twice a week radio show is said to reach nearly half of the African country’s population, but local critics say its audience is less than a quarter of the population.

Ethiopia has become one of the biggest recipients of British funds, despite being an autocratic one-party state. The new Yegna ‘entertainment brand’, established in April, is part of a $48 million scheme called Girl Hub that also operates in Nigeria and Rwanda.

The Ethiopian ‘Spice Girls’ have been given $6.4 million by the Department for International Development and $1.2 million by the Nike Foundation. A DfID spokesman told DailyMail girls in Ethiopia faced challenges such as forced marriage, violence, teen pregnancy and dropping out of school.

Like the original Spice Girls, the band members each have a nickname. Teref Kassahun, 26, plays the spoiled brat, Lemlem Hailemicheal, 26, a tomboy known as the defender, Zebiba Girma, 22, the mysterious character, Eyerusalem Kelemework, 27, is the genius and Rahel Getu, 22, the dependable one.

The Critics

The groups funding by aid money has however been strongly condemned at a wrong use of taxpayers’ money.

Last year the Girl Hub project was condemned by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact in Britain. Its report warned of serious deficiencies in governance and told of an unacceptable lack of child protection policies.

“Taxpayers are fed up of their hard-earned cash being spent on projects that don’t deliver meaningful aid to recipients,” Matthew Sinclair of the TaxPayers’ Alliance told DailyMail. “It’s time to reassess DfID spending and focus money on things like disaster relief, so that taxpayers and recipients get a good deal.”

Girl Hub has also been accused of ‘poor budgeting and financial monitoring’. In Britain, the TaxPayers’ Alliance said the $16 billion annual aid budget should not be squandered in this way.