DFID funding opportunities for 2020

With recent leadership changes at the U.K. Department for International Development, the future of U.K. aid is under increasing scrutiny. The department is under more pressure than ever to show it is providing taxpayers with value for money. Part of that has involved a transformation of its procurement and commercial practices over the past few years. The reforms promised to boost competition for DFID contracts, to bring more value for money, and to enhance their supply base through increased transparency, accountability, and competition. However, some contractors have complained that the added burden is squeezing profits and pushing smaller firms out of the market. As part of the changes, more attention is also being paid to communication around DFID’s pipeline of funding opportunities and the announcement of Early Market Engagement schemes for DFID programs. These are released twice a year, at the end of Q2 and Q4, via the DFID supplier portal, which can be also found on Devex’s funding platform. Devex has analyzed DFID’s newly released future procurement pipeline data for programs starting in 2020, many of which are expecting their approach to market as soon as Q3 2019. The data offers you and your organization an exclusive overview of what DFID is funding next year, following in the footsteps of our previous analysis of 2019 future funding opportunities. There are a total of 49 funding opportunities included in the pipeline data, worth around £1 billion ($1.2 billion). Although the number of opportunities has more than doubled since the 2019 report, which only included 23 opportunities, the total value of the opportunities has remained roughly the same. Eight projects from the 2019 pipeline were adjusted and moved to the 2020 list, including the Nepal in Business Programme and Security and Justice. The average contract value for the 2020 pipeline amounts to approximately £20 million. There are, however, six contracts worth between £2 million and £3 million each for an independent evaluation component of an existing program. Those are: Agri-business (M&E); Better Health in Bangladesh (M&E); Building Resilience in the Sahel through Adaptive Social Protection, Pathways to Prosperity for Extremely Poor People in Bangladesh; Zimbabwe Livelihoods and Food Security Programme; and Maternal Health Programme. In line with 2019, the funding is still primarily focused on Africa and Asia. The top funding allocations are for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nepal, Zimbabwe, and Myanmar. However, contracts worth a collective £500 million ($607 million) are tagged as global or regional without further details of specific recipient countries. DRC is allocated the largest amount of funding, amounting to £160 million. The majority of this is for a new project supporting the health system, with the contract value ranging from £100 million to £150 million. There is also a £5 million to £10 million contract for the ongoing Private Sector Development Programme. The country with the least amount of financing is Afghanistan, with a £3 million contract for the Country Research Fund, which is also being implemented in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. Among contracts focused on a specific country, there are three for Nepal totaling £83 million: Nepal in Business Programme, Security and Justice, and South Asia Country Research Fund. The latter is also a pioneer project in Myanmar, alongside Cities and Infrastructure for Growth, which together amount to £78 million of funding. This is followed by five projects in Zimbabwe also worth £78 million: Health Programme; TEACH - Education Programme; ZEST 2; ZIMACE; and Zimbabwe Livelihood and Security Programme. Among the 13 thematic areas categorized by DFID, more than half of the £1 billion 2020 budget is allocated to three categories: research, health, and economic development. The research category, with 11 projects, received the biggest chunk of funding at £223.5 million. It is followed by the health sector with five projects amounting to £191 million, including the large DRC health project. Lastly, the economic development category has £110 million. This is despite the fact that DFID’s strategic objectives at the time of the pipeline release concentrated on global peace, response to crises, and global prosperity. The corresponding governance and security category has only five contracts, worth £79 million in total. However, policy goals often take a long time to work their way through the system. Since Q3 and Q4 2019 are fast approaching, interested bidders who wish to compete for these funding opportunities should look out for 28 contracts that will approach the market from through the rest of the year. Most of these projects will take effect in 2020, and then nine projects expected to kick off in 2021 and 2022. During the period of approaching the market, we can expect DFID to release information on upcoming Early Market Engagement, which serves to debrief prospective bidders on the opportunity or a program of interest and allow for additional questions. Devex instantly sources any new updates on upcoming EME. Using implementer information on DevTracker from past phases of programs and ongoing programs that relate to the published future opportunities, Devex also provides a breakdown of the top recipient organizations with at least two contracts and their sectors of expertise. It is worth noting that this information is based on 31 out of 49 programs, as some may not have the implementer data available. There are five organizations with more than three contracts for either past phases of a related program or ongoing programs: Oxford Policy Management, World Bank, Coffey International Development, UNICEF and IMC Worldwide. However, when assessing the most relevant partners, volume should not be the only deciding factor. Oxford Policy Management, for example, has been primarily implementing programs in the fields of research and education; World Bank in economic development; and UNICEF in health. Devex Analytics is a team of analysts, data scientists, and engineers delivering actionable solutions on development issues through structured datasets, official reports, press releases, and community-sourced information. Do you have questions about our methodology or analysis? Reach out to our experts at analysts@devex.com.