Hapless eurocrats have been accused of squandering taxpayers’ money after buying a blender for a school in African even though it has no electricity, and funding a “conflict prevention” radio station which only plays music.

The European Union green-lit the purchases as part of a(£4.1 billion (€5billion) trust fund for Africa, according to a report from the European Court of Auditors (ECA).

Dozens of similar initiatives were flagged as a misuse of public funds, being described as “activities that were no longer sustainable, difficult to implement or with no direct connection to the most urgent aspects of the migration crisis”.

The 66-page document reveals many of these projects, some of which date back to a time when the UK was still a member of the bloc, were described as “a poor use of funds”.

It also highlighted concerns that criminal gangs and people smugglers could have benefited from billions of euros spent by Brussels in Africa, intended to curb illegal migration to Europe.

Frank Furedi, executive director of conservative think tank MCC Brussels told the Daily Telegraph: “The EU has turned wasting taxpayers’ money into an art form. When it comes to wastefulness, its €5bn EU Trust Fund for Africa is in a class of its own.”

As the auditors put it, “The Commission is still unable to identify and report on the most efficient and effective approaches to reducing irregular migration and forced displacements in Africa.”

The EU Emergency Trust Fund was launched by the European Commission in 2015, during the height of the migration crisis, when millions of people entered the bloc illegally, and before Brexit.

The cash been invested in projects aimed at “stability” and addressing the “root causes of irregular migration and displacement” in Africa.

However, on a visit to one project, auditors found “a school with no access to electricity received a blender to complement training in food preparation and conservation”.

The report went on to criticise such allocations as “activities that were no longer sustainable, difficult to implement or with no direct connection to the most urgent aspects of the migration crisis.”

Other notable projects included EU-funded investments in the Al Shabbi seafront in Benghazi and a Roman theatre in Sabratha.

The European Commission claims to monitor the success of its overseas initiatives, but has no way of measuring whether they actually help curb illegal migration.

In their findings, the auditors noted that “the Commission is still unable to identify and report on the most efficient and effective approaches to reducing irregular migration and forced displacements in Africa”.

The EU has sought to justify such projects as efforts to create jobs in Africa, supposedly reducing the incentives for people to flee to Europe. Nevertheless, the auditors found little evidence of success.

One example was a poultry farm in Ethiopia, built with EU funds and featuring a solar-powered chicken shed and slaughterhouse. The report commented: “At the time of our visit, the beneficiary explained it was not economically viable to operate the business. The premises were empty.”

In the Sahel, a radio station was set up with EU funding to promote “youth expression” and “conflict prevention”. However. the auditors found it “only played music,” with “no link to the project’s stated aims.”

A maritime rescue centre in Tripoli, Libya, was aimed at monitoring asylum seekers attempting to cross to Europe. However, despite the delivery of equipment in December 2021, the facility, built from containers, remained “locked up and unused”.

The EU’s Africa Trust Fund is set to be phased out in 2025, when it is set to be replaced by a much larger budget from the bloc’s foreign aid and development fund.