Interactive: Looking back and looking forward at EuropeAid funding priorities

Fundraisers and business developers across the industry agree that early information on donor-funded programs and activities is key in defining their strategy to win that funding. However, as in many other sectors, data transparency and accessibility are not always as strong as we would expect, given the technological possibilities. Moreover, when such data is available, its sources may be varied and its formatting is often not user-friendly. This makes finding and tracking funding opportunities more complex — but Devex is working to cut through the complexity. Consider how the European Commission releases early-stage funding information. The release of the Commission's Annual Action Programs, AAPs, and their annexes are the earliest stage of the funding cycle at which the Commission specifies activity-level funding commitments. Each AAP is a financing decision, which includes the “decision” itself — the legal text — and one or more annexes, depending on the number of programs covered. These annexes are commonly called "action fiches," and specify the type of intervention the program plans, its objectives, its management procedures, an indicative amount of financing, and other details. Compared with other donors' publicly available early-stage funding data, the action fiches are a goldmine of information for understanding EuropeAid's future plans. One challenge in making use of this data is that it is released in lengthy PDF documents. Since early 2017, Devex has been tracking the release of AAPs and action fiches, extracting the funding data they contain, and republishing it in two forms for our members: first, as individual funding activities, which are accessible, searchable, and filterable in our funding database; and second, as an interactive visualization that allows you to filter by funding instrument, sector, and implementation modality, among others variables, in order to do your own analysis. Building on our most recent analysis of EuropeAid funding, the total number of AAPs released so far in 2017 is 119, accounting for 2.47 billion euros ($2.9 billion) in planned funding. Details on the 455 activities announced in these AAPs can be found in the funding activity database. The implementation of funded actions can vary. “Budget support” actions are direct transfers of funds to the recipient government. Implementation through an “indirect agreement” means a third party is trusted to manage the Commission’s funds; and “direct management” means that the Commission will directly manage the funds, usually through calls for tenders and grants. You can refer to our EuropeAid guide to better understand these different funding management modalities and other aspects of how EuropeAid works. Exclusive: the pipeline for East and Southern Africa In addition to the funds contained in the action fiches of these 119 AAPs, Devex has learned that in the East and Southern Africa region the Commission has approved 68 other programs in 2017 worth more than 2 billion euros ($2.35 billion), whose AAPs have not yet been made public. We have fewer details about these programs, and so cannot include them in our broader analysis. However, as with the other EuropeAid activities, these 68 are included in Devex's funding database, and have been included in a smaller interactive visualization for you to explore. Of these commitments in East and Southern Africa, the three biggest, approved commitments are: the first contribution to the 2017-18 African Peace Facility, amounting to 430 million euros ($506 million), which was approved in March; followed by an addendum to the EU strategy in Somalia of 200 million euros ($235.5 million); and a recently approved sustainable agriculture program in Tanzania worth 100 million euros ($118 million) and financed under the European Development Fund. In addition to these 68 approved programs, Devex has also learned that there are 13 pipeline programs worth an estimated 255.83 million euros ($301 million) awaiting approval from the Commission, which are also included in the database and mini-visualization. Among these, the largest program is to support the sustainable commercialization of smallholder farmers in Zambia, worth 87 million euros ($102.5). Due to the lack of publicly available data, we can assume there are also EuropeAid approved projects for the rest of Africa, Latin America and Asia that have not been made public. Some argue that this lack of broader transparency affects the openness and fairness of competition for public funds, and thus the potential impact on the ground. Meanwhile, we summarize below the highlights of the EuropeAid funding that has been officially published, sometimes following delays, over the past six months. These can be found both in the interactive visualization and in the funding activity database. They offer clear examples of how policy decisions translate into funding priorities and program planning, reinforcing the importance of strategic documents and news as part of the business development workflow. EuropeAid funding trends for the first half of 2017 can be found in our previous analysis. Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace The European external aid policy framework approved last July focuses on poverty alleviation, climate change and, controversially, migration. In line with this, the European Commission and the Parliament recently approved a legal reform of the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace to include capacity-building in support of security and development in third countries. Taking this reform into consideration explains the focus areas of the IsCP AAP approved in 2017, worth 64.9 million euros ($76.4 million), in comparison to the 27 million euros ($31.8 million) approved in 2016. If last year the focus was conflict prevention, peacebuilding and crisis preparedness, this year it has shifted toward countering terrorism; fighting organized crime; protecting critical infrastructure; climate change and security; and mitigating chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear risks. It has also added an Expert Support Facility to assess global and transregional threats. European Development Fund Among the funding highlights approved under the EDF over the past six months is a 44 million euro ($51.8 million) agricultural growth program in Zimbabwe. Applications for grants worth 5 to 8 million euros ($5.9 million - $9.4 million) to improve livestock value chains are open until January 30, 2018. Another grant scheme for capacity development in the agricultural sector is scheduled to be published in the first quarter of 2018. This is part of the 88 million euros ($103.6 million) budgeted in the EU-Zimbabwe National Indicative Program, the document that formalizes the EU’s strategy in that country on agricultural improvements for the 2014-2020 period. Together with a budget support contribution to the Cook Islands and technical assistance in Samoa, the Commission has approved a 13 million euro program in the Pacific region to tackle the root cases of gender inequality and violence against women. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and UN Women, are also co-funders putting up 6.5 million Australian dollars ($5 million) and $7.5 million respectively. The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, the Pacific Community, and UN Women will manage the funds directly. In line with the aim to leverage public funds to mobilize private sector funding, a 20 million euro ($23.5 million) contribution to the Caribbean Investment Facility, CIF, was approved last November. The CIF is a blending instrument under which direct investment grants, interest rate subsidies, guarantees, technical assistance and risk capital operations can be financed. It aims to mobilize investments in strategic economic infrastructure such as transport, ICT and renewable energy, and to increase access to finance and investments for small and medium-sized enterprises and cooperatives. Development Cooperation Instrument The largest program under the Development Cooperation Instrument, DCI, approved in the past six months is the EU-Cambodia Education Sector Reform Partnership 2018-2021. The EU is contributing 100 million euros ($118 million) of the total 113.9 million euro ($134 million) budget through budget support and complementary support. The only public procurement managed by EuropeAid will be the monitoring and evaluation studies scheduled for the first quarters of 2018 and 2021 respectively. Other co-funders are the Swedish International Development Agency, offering $6.96 million; The United Nations Children’s Fund, putting up $400,000; and the Global Partnership for Education, with $6.18 million. The Commission has also approved a contribution of 50.9 million euros ($59.9 million) to the Funding Facility for Stabilization (FFS) in Iraq after having contributed 14 million euros ($16. 5 million) under a previous agreement. Established formally in June 2015 by the U.N. Development Programme, which will directly manage the funds, the FFS receives funding from more than 25 different donors. With an estimated budget of more than 413 million euros ($486 million), the fund aims to support the Iraqi government in areas newly liberated from the Islamic State group and to address immediate challenges for the safe and voluntary return of internally displaced people. The Global Public Goods and Challenges, GPGC, thematic program of the Development Cooperation Instrument has approved a 77 million euro ($90.6 million) package under the theme of human development. Among the activities that will be included is a 45 million euro ($53 million) contribution to the Global Partnership for Education. This is part of a $400 million pledge made by the EU in October 2016 for the 2015-2018 GPE replenishment. As of August 2017, the EU had approved 155 million euros ($182.5 million) from the EDF and 105 million euros ($123.6 million) from GPGC for this replenishment period. EU Trust Fund for Africa Last but not least, the EU Trust Fund for Africa, EUTF — the EU’s flagship initiative to tackle the root causes of migration — has also seen some funding activity these past months and, in particular, this past week. However, since not all the AAPs for the EUTF programs are published, despite the creation of a new site to facilitate its aggregation, the information comes mostly from funding announcements. The latest approval of projects was announced on Wednesday with 274 million euros ($322.5 million) for the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin window, one of the three windows through which the EUTF funds are channeled. According to the European Commission press release, these funds include three actions: 10 million euros ($11.8 million) to the Erasmus+ program to promote academic mobility; 15.8 million euros ($18.6 million) to support entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises; and 17.4 million euros ($20.5 million) to combat human trafficking in the Gulf of Guinea. Those funds also include commitments to the resilience of vulnerable populations, an important theme within the priorities of the EUTF, and it has assigned 65 million euros ($76.5 million) for actions in Chad, Niger, Mauritania, and Mali. The creation of jobs and economic opportunities, notably for young people, will be supported in Niger with 30 million euros ($35.3 million) and in Guinea with 65 million ($76.5 million). In Burkina Faso, initiatives against extremism and radicalization will be put in place, with a further 50 million euros ($58.8 million) to support the emergency program for the Sahel in the country. Its borders and border zones will also be reinforced. Earlier this week 13 new programs worth 174.4 million euros ($205 million) were also approved for the Horn of Africa region. This new package complements 40 previously adopted actions amounting to 665 million euros ($782.5 million) for the Horn of Africa. The pledge for this window is 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion), the second largest after the 1.26 billion euros ($1.5 billion) for the Sahel Lake Chad region. The EU is also pushing for other public and private donors to commit to development work in countries covered by the EUTF. In September they hosted a roundtable fundraising event to support the 2017-2020 National Development Plan of Chad, which saw a commitment of 945 million euros ($1.1 billion) from different donors. This past week, they held a similar event for Niger, at which they announced 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) of development assistance in basic service provision and security for the country, although some of this funding had already been approved previously. Of this total, 167 million euros ($196.5 million) will come from the EUTF; 686 million euros ($807 million) from the Commission's National Indicative Program; 49 million euros ($57.6 million) from its Regional Indicative Program; and the rest through other instruments and humanitarian spending. It remains to be seen if more public investment "roundtables" will be held to align donor interests and drum up funding for Africa's least developed nations. Do you have questions about our methodology or data insights? Reach out to our experts at analysts@devex.com for more information.