2021 funding preview: A look ahead at donors' pipelines

It has been a year of adaptation and change for many development professionals, including business developers and fundraisers looking to secure long-term business continuity, diversify their donor base, and expand partnerships. At Devex, we tracked approximately 20% more specific funding opportunities this year — many of them coronavirus-related — than in 2019. But what comes next? To support business pipeline preparation as 2020 nears its end, we have compiled what we know so far about donors’ future funding plans, based on the tens of thousands of funding opportunities, tenders, grants, and contract awards published on our funding platform this year, as well as early information on upcoming projects, partnerships, and donor agreements. Keep reading for an insight into the 2021 pipelines of the U.S. Agency for International Development; Millennium Challenge Corp.; Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office; World Bank; and major regional development banks. <div class="infogram-embed" data-id="ad37cf0f-918f-45fa-bf64-5444d483d213" data-type="interactive" data-title="Funding search"></div><script>!function(e,i,n,s){var t="InfogramEmbeds",d=e.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];if(window[t]&&window[t].initialized)window[t].process&&window[t].process();else if(!e.getElementById(n)){var o=e.createElement("script");o.async=1,o.id=n,o.src="https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js",d.parentNode.insertBefore(o,d)}}(document,0,"infogram-async");</script><div style="padding:8px 0;font-family:Arial!important;font-size:13px!important;line-height:15px!important;text-align:center;border-top:1px solid #dadada;margin:0 30px"><a href="https://infogram.com/ad37cf0f-918f-45fa-bf64-5444d483d213" style="color:#989898!important;text-decoration:none!important;" target="_blank">Funding search</a><br><a href="https://infogram.com" style="color:#989898!important;text-decoration:none!important;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Infogram</a></div> A snapshot of Devex’s funding platform in 2020. Via Infogram. Who is procuring services and where in 2020? Devex tracks business opportunities from 500 organizations, but the United Nations system, with its specialized agencies, accounts for 47% of all the tenders published in our database this year. The World Bank, U.S. government, European Union, and regional development banks — including the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the African Development Bank — are also among the top donors. India, Kenya, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Iraq are where the most services, goods, and works were procured in 2020. Social and inclusive development, together with infrastructure, water and sanitation, and global health, were the sectors with the most opportunities. What can we expect in 2021 from bilateral donor agencies? We’ll focus on two of the largest donors that grabbed news headlines this year: USAID and the United Kingdom’s FCDO, which was created after the merger of the former Department for International Development and Foreign & Commonwealth Office. U.S. Agency for International Development The USAID business forecast for the first quarter of 2021 indicates that there are 227 forecast opportunities worth $29.2 billion. Forecast opportunities related to health hit a record $19.5 billion, in addition to $1.1 billion for HIV/AIDS initiatives. USAID says it will continue its drive to implement the Acquisition and Assistance Strategy and work with more local partners next year. In fiscal year 2021, the agency also plans to measure the increased use of new and underutilized partners at both prime and subaward level. USAID missions anticipate launching more than 500 New Partnerships Initiative-aligned activities globally. Nearly half of all project designs will incorporate co-creation, which implies a significant increase in the use of co-creation in recent years. Find all USAID business forecast opportunities on Devex’s funding platform, or read more analysis of its business forecast for Q1 2021. Millennium Challenge Corp. The other key bilateral development agency of the U.S government is MCC. Its board recently decided to discontinue the proposed compact for Sri Lanka but approved Sierra Leone and Kiribati as new eligible countries for grant assistance. MCC’s business forecast for the first half of 2021 includes 136 forecast procurements with an estimated cost ranging from $77.5 million to $319 million. These opportunities are procured centrally from Washington headquarters, and beyond corporate opportunities, the biggest allocation goes to the Solomon Islands with eight opportunities totaling $13 million to $34 million. Cote d’Ivoire is next with six opportunities worth a total of $3.75 million to $18 million. The Millennium Challenge Accounts also administer MCC funding opportunities, and in its latest business forecast in October, it included 82 forecast opportunities to be procured between the fourth quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2021. Morocco received the highest number of anticipated procurements at 20, followed by Cote d’Ivoire at 17, and Nepal and Burkina Faso at nine procurements each. Energy is the sector with the most procurements at 28, followed by infrastructure at 10, and land and employability at nine each. The forecast does not include the value of the procurements. Find MCC business forecast opportunities from headquarters and partner countries on Devex’s funding platform, or check out Devex’s interactive visualization of MCC’s business forecast. Foreign & Commonwealth Office The latest procurement pipeline released by the U.K government with regard to its development work was in October 2019, before DFID merged with FCO. The new FCDO has not yet released any updated information on its forecast procurement activities. However, based on the latest early market engagement events, we know that two of the opportunities in preparation are the Climate Smart Jobs Programme and the Global Evaluation and Monitoring Framework Agreement. Other framework contracts are finishing up in the upcoming months, including the Generalist Economic Development, the Independent Monitoring and Process Evaluation, and the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. What can we expect in 2021 from multilateral banks? Multilateral banks are usually the most open in terms of publishing their project pipelines for the coming year, typically in the form of long operational PDF files. Devex has analyzed the documents to provide an overview of the investments that the World Bank and three major regional multilateral development banks are planning for next year. World Bank The World Bank monthly operational summary from October contains 1,332 projects worth $164.8 billion in total — $144 billion coming from the bank and $20.8 billion from other donors. The largest allocation goes to India at $10.7 billion for 50 projects, which implies an increase of 13%, or $1.4 billion, compared with September. Following that is Bangladesh at $8.6 billion for 47 projects and Pakistan at $7.3 billion for 44 projects. Meanwhile, from a regional perspective, western Africa is still the most funded region at $4.8 billion for 28 projects, followed by eastern Africa at $2.5 billion for 16 projects and southern Africa at $1 billion for four projects. The sectoral prioritization remains the same as previous months with energy and extractives receiving $19.3 billion for 136 projects, followed by transport at $19.2 billion for 117 projects and social protection and jobs at $14.6 billion for 120 projects. Most of these projects were also in India and Bangladesh. The World Bank pipeline also includes 14 COVID-19 projects worth $1.4 billion — $1.1 billion from the World Bank and $300 million from other donors. The majority of the projects aim to strengthen the public health systems of the recipient countries. Indonesia received the largest chunk at $500 million, followed by India at $250 million — funding matched by another contribution from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank — and Cambodia at $100 million. Find all World Bank projects in the pipeline on Devex’s funding platform, or check out Devex’s interactive visualization of the World Bank pipeline. African Development Bank The latest quarterly operational summary from AfDB includes 170 projects worth $21.5 billion in total between recently approved projects and the few newly identified ones. Nigeria tops the list with a $3 billion allocation for nine projects, followed by Kenya at $2.3 billion for six projects and Rwanda at $2.1 billion for six projects. There are also 21 multicountry projects worth $381 million, a little more than one-third of which is for pandemic response projects. By sector, agriculture and rural development is the most funded at $3.3 billion for 15 projects, followed by transport at $3 billion for 18 projects and water supply and sanitation at $2.5 billion for 12 projects. The AfDB pipeline includes 50 COVID-19 projects worth $4.7 billion. Nigeria receives the largest chunk at $1 billion for two projects, followed by South Africa at $866 million for three projects and Libya at $479.8 million for one project. Find all the AfDB projects in the pipeline on Devex’s funding platform, or check out Devex’s interactive visualization of the AfDB pipeline. Asian Development Bank ADB has released its country operational business plans for 2021-2023 for 20 countries in South Asia, Central Asia, and East Asia and the Pacific. Overall, there are 1,122 projects worth $187.4 billion — of which $100.7 billion comes from ADB and $86.7 billion from other donors that work as co-funders. The largest allocation goes to India at $30.5 billion for 168 projects, followed by Bangladesh at $15.4 billion for 133 projects and Indonesia at $15.1 billion for 95 projects. By sector, the largest budget went to transport at $26.3 billion for 198 projects — investments in national rail systems, institutions, and operations, together with urban transport, are areas of growing importance in the coming years. The incorporation of emerging technologies, such as e-vehicles, and the use of data for operators and users will be a priority in ADB transport projects. Energy has the second-highest allocation of projects, with 152 worth $14.3 billion in total. Agriculture, natural resources, and finance include 104 projects for $10.2 billion. Meanwhile, 53 COVID-19 projects worth $43 billion were added to the pipeline, though just $10.3 billion of that comes from ADB, with the rest from other donors. India will receive the most from ADB at $2.8 billion for three projects. Find all ADB projects in the pipeline on Devex’s funding platform, or check out Devex’s interactive visualization of the ADB pipeline. Inter-American Development Bank IDB’s latest monthly operational summary from November includes 130 projects worth $14.7 billion, of which only 4% is from co-funders. Brazil is the most funded country at $5.3 billion for 25 projects, followed by Mexico at $1.7 billion for eight projects and Colombia at $1.3 billion for 21 projects. Meanwhile, $185.2 million will be allocated to seven regional projects. By sectoral priorities, social services received the largest chunk at $3.6 billion, followed by public sector management at $3.3 billion for seven projects and information and communication at $1.3 billion for six projects. The Social Spending Modernization Program in Brazil was the most funded project at $1.5 billion. With regard to the pandemic response, the pipeline includes 18 projects worth $1.3 billion. The two biggest projects, each worth $200 million, aim to support Brazil and Paraguay in addressing the economic effects of the pandemic. Find all IDB projects in the pipeline on Devex’s funding platform, or check out Devex’s interactive visualization of the IDB pipeline. For access to in-depth analysis, insights, and funding opportunities from over 850 sources — combined with Devex Pro news content — sign up to a Pro Funding subscription online today or get in touch to learn about our Pro Funding group options.