FCDO's top development contractors in 2024/25

Earlier this year, the U.K. government made a shocking announcement that it would reduce its aid spending to just 0.3% of its gross national income by 2027 — its lowest level in nearly three decades. Despite this downward trend, we saw a continued increase in development contract spending from the bilateral donor’s lead aid agency — the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, according to data from the fiscal year 2021/22 to fiscal year 2023/24. In this analysis, we looked into how FCDO spent on contracts in the fiscal year that ended in March 2025 — deep diving into which sectors were prioritized, where the projects were implemented, and who among the contractors got the largest share. How much was spent on development? Overall, the data showed that FCDO awarded 989 contracts, worth £1 billion (around $1.4 billion), in FY 2024/25. Although this is less than a third of what it spent on contracts in the previous fiscal year, which was worth £3.4 billion, the amount that went to development increased. Our analysis revealed that around £666.8 million, or 65.2% of the total, went to development-related awards — 20.5% more, in cash terms, than £553.3 million spent on development in FY 2023/24. The remaining £355.7 million went to contracts supporting FCDO’s operations, such as IT services or refurbishment works in various British embassies. In-depth: Development contracts The data did not categorize the contracts by their place of performance or the target sector, but we have reviewed the data to identify this information manually. Based on our assessment, more than half of the development-related spending, worth £350.8 million, went to activities with multiple recipient countries. Among single-country contracts, the largest sum went to Nepal, worth £74.6 million for seven contracts, or 11.2% of the total. The other top recipient countries were: Rwanda, with £36.4 million for two contracts; Somalia, with £36.1 million for three contracts; and Nigeria, with £26 million for a single contract. Sectorally, agriculture was FCDO’s priority for development contracts, receiving £216.5 million for five contracts, nearly a third of the total. The environment and climate sector ranked next, with £169.2 million, followed by governance, with £70.4 million, and health, with £61.5 million. Who’s winning the contracts? Deep-diving into the contractors, we found that most recipients are either U.K.-based or international organizations with U.K. headquarters or offices. Just five suppliers are not U.K.-based. They are: • Cowater International, based in Belgium, which won £9.6 million. • Pegasys Global Consulting, based in South Africa, which won £1.5 million. • Alinea International, based in Canada, which won nearly £192,000. • International Centre for Migration Policy Development, based in Belgium, which won £95,000. • Npontu Technologies Limited, based in Ghana, which won £63,466. The overall top 10 contractors are all based in the U.K., with their cumulative contracts amounting to £604.4 million, or 90.6% of the total development spending. Among them, six are U.K. offices or subsidiaries of international organizations headquartered in the U.S.: Palladium, DAI Global, Tetra Tech, DT Global, FHI 360, and Chemonics. The remaining four have their main office in the U.K.: Mott MacDonald, Adam Smith International, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Oxford Policy Management. Only FHI 360 is a nonprofit organization among the top 10 contractors. The other nine are privately owned for-profit organizations. 1. Palladium Location: London Total number of contracts: Four Total contract amount: £189,115,765 Palladium’s largest award, worth £129.7 million, was for two components of the multicountry Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use Phase 2, or IFSLU2, project: one to support the development of small businesses and promote a business-enabling environment, and another one to enhance the support for smallholder farmers. Palladium also won a separate contract for the third component of IFSLU2, worth £31.5 million, which focuses on business and market development in the Congo Basin. The IFSLU2 project focuses on ensuring the sustainable production of commodities that typically contributes to deforestation. The project’s total budget is £498.5 million. 2. DAI Location: Hemel Hempstead Total number of contracts: Six Total contract amount: £138,129,009 DAI won awards for contracts in the environment, economic development, and health sectors. The largest of these, worth £101.1 million, is for the provision of grant management services and other technical assistance for policy reform and other actions on the marine environment sector in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mozambique, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The contract is a component of the Climate and Ocean Adaptation and Sustainable Transition, or COAST — a multiyear project with the primary objective of promoting the sustainable use of marine resources and building climate resilience among coastal communities in several countries. 3. Tetra Tech Location: Reading and London Total number of contracts: Three Total contract amount: £62,899,858 Tetra Tech has several U.K. offices, with two offices winning development contracts from FCDO. Its largest contract, worth £50 million, will help governments and other stakeholders in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America achieve and sustain land governance reform. 4. Mott MacDonald Location: London Total number of contracts: Three Total contract amount: £52,238,607 Mott MacDonald’s headquarters in Croydon was awarded £32.5 million to provide technical assistance for the Girl in Rwanda Learn program, which aims to support marginalized girls in the African country to attain education. 5. DT Global Location: London Total number of contracts: Two Total contract amount: £44,386,339 DT Global won £25 million for the implementation of the Green Urban Growth program in Somalia, a project which aims to help the country achieve economic growth while also attaining climate change resilience. 6. Adam Smith International Location: London Total number of contracts: Five Total contract amount: £41,750,000 FCDO awarded £10.4 million to Adam Smith International for the design and implementation of the third phase of the Somalia National Security Architecture program. 7. PricewaterhouseCoopers Location: London Total number of contracts: One Total contract amount: £22,490,382 PwC’s lone development contract from FCDO was for the implementation of the Green Growth Nepal program, which aims to help boost the country’s economy while ensuring the protection of the environment. 8. FHI 360 Location: London Total number of contracts: One Total contract amount: £20,250,000 FHI 360’s U.K. office received £20.3 million for the ASEAN-UK Health Security Partnership, a five-year program that will strengthen the region’s response to health threats. 9. Oxford Policy Management Location: Oxford Total number of contracts: Four Total contract amount: £19,965,764 Oxford Policy Management was awarded £9.8 million to provide technical assistance, grant management services, and monitoring and evaluation services for the Catalytic Fund for Water Resource Accountability, a project that aims to improve water governance in Pakistan. 10. Chemonics Location: London Total number of contracts: One Total contract amount: £13,200,000 Chemonics’ London office won a £13.2 million contract for the implementation of the Yemen Flexible Funding Mechanism, a program that aims to fund projects in governance and peacebuilding in Yemen. Try out Devex Pro Funding today with a free five-day trial, and explore funding opportunities from over 850 sources in addition to our analysis and news content.