Inside USAID's plans to spend $2.7 billion on new opportunities

We are capping off our series of USAID data analyses for the fiscal year that ended last month by looking into where the agency is planning to put its money in the coming months. The U.S. Agency for International Development does not hold a fourth quarter, or Q4, business forecast call, with the next one — Q1 FY 2023-24 — expected in early December. However, the agency still updates its business opportunity portal, offering a chance to look into its future priorities. Based on the latest figures, USAID has 240 opportunities in its forecast this quarter, worth $29.2 billion — around $4.9 billion less, in real terms, compared to the same quarter in FY 2021-22. All the information is provisional and may change at any time at the agency’s discretion. The portal gets updated daily, which may explain some slight differences in figures with this piece. Which opportunities are in? Based on our analysis, 179 opportunities, worth $26.5 billion, were also included in the previous forecast. Nearly half of this, worth $12.8 billion, is accounted for by NextGen contracts — USAID’s flagship program on global health supply chain. This is discussed in more detail below. Meanwhile, a total of 61 new opportunities, worth $2.7 billion, were added to the forecast. Of this, 50 opportunities, worth $2 billion, will be procured in USAID missions, while 11 opportunities, worth $729.9 million, will be procured in Washington. Among the USAID missions, Ukraine is set to be the biggest spender on new opportunities, with $624.9 million for seven contracts. This includes $300 million to support trade and competitiveness, $100 million to increase agricultural exports, and $50 million to advance the rights of the victims of the Russian invasion. The rest will go to activities related to management and health. South Africa ranked next, with $200.1 million for three contracts — $100 million each for HIV/AIDS activities in Mpumalanga and Free State and $150,000 for operations and management. Then Uganda, with $150 million for two contracts — $100 million for monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities and $50 million to strengthen local health systems. Meanwhile, the Office of Population and Reproductive Health leads USAID’s offices and bureaus in Washington, with $500.1 million for two new opportunities — $500 million for a global project to improve health and development outcomes and $150,000 for knowledge management. The Office of Policy, Programs, and Planning ranked next, with $100 million for acquisition and assistance-related services for its global health priorities. Then, the Center for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance, with $75 million for two opportunities — $50 million to support civil society organizations and independent media in maintaining their freedom on the internet and $25 million to advance digital democracy. Overall, around 47.9% of the new opportunities, worth $1.3 billion, are for global health. Then $400 million for economic growth and trade, $325 million for HIV/AIDS — more than half of which is funded by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR — and $221.9 million for democracy, human rights, and governance. Which opportunities are out? USAID removes opportunities from the forecast for three reasons: an award has been made, planning and implementation have been halted, or funding is no longer available. Some opportunities may also get temporarily delisted if there are relevant changes being made — such as the estimated awarded date or total budget. Overall, a total of 57 opportunities, worth $5.5 billion, were delisted from the most recent business forecast data. The biggest among these is the Support Which Implements Fast Transitions, or SWIFT 6, which exited the pipeline in July. The $3 billion contract aims to support USAID in its stability, peace, and democracy activities through local initiatives. As of writing, no solicitation or award has been made yet related to SWIFT 6, although those monitoring the opportunity say it is proceeding as expected. Other large opportunities that were no longer present in the forecast portal are the following: • The Leap Global, worth $300 million — which aimed to provide long-term technical assistance to health partners in tuberculosis. There was no announcement related to solicitation or award. • REACH Malaria, worth $300 million — which aimed to support the implementation of community-based malaria services in recipient countries. A solicitation was published in February, but no award has been made yet. The other delisted opportunities ranged from $500,000 to $100 million. What’s new with NextGen? NextGen — which again is worth $12.8 billion — still accounted for the largest portion of the forecasted contracts. Three opportunities remain delisted: TA Marketplace, worth up to $500 million, QuTi Award, worth $300 million, and Strategic Risk Management, worth $50 million. According to the Q&A document that USAID released after the Q3 forecast call, both the TA Marketplace and Strategic Risk Management have been removed from the pipeline — with no further information provided. Meanwhile, there was no mention of the QuTi award. The three contracts were delisted in Q2. Meanwhile, the anticipated award dates for three contracts have been pushed back further: • PSA HIV, worth over $3 billion — from Dec. 29, 2023 to Dec. 31, 2024. • In-country Logistics, or ICL, worth $1.5 billion — from Sept. 30, 2023 to March 30, 2024. • CompTA, worth $2.5 billion — from July 23, 2023 to Oct. 31, 2023. There were no changes around the $3 billion Integrated PSA and the $2.8 billion PSA Diagnostics. USAID advises any interested parties to monitor any announcements on Sam.gov — the U.S. government’s award management website. It also has a dedicated page for NextGen-related announcements. 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.