This has been a year when aid organizations have looked to philanthropy increasingly for funding. But which organizations are giving — and how much? The OECD has released preliminary data that offers new insight.
Also in today’s edition: What the U.S. presidency means for the G20.
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Who’s giving?
The Gates Foundation remains by far the biggest funder in the world of development, according to new data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. In 2023, Gates gave a total of $5.5 billion, followed by the Mastercard Foundation, with $1.3 billion, and Wellcome, with $887.7 million.
Africa received the most philanthropic funding. Among countries, Kenya, Ethiopia, and India received the most support. For more information, check out our exclusive analysis of the figures.
Read: Which countries did Gates and other philanthropies fund the most? (Pro)
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Funding activity
We publish tenders, grants, and other funding announcements on our Funding Platform. Here are some of those viewed the most in the past 10 days.
The African Development Bank has approved a $500 million loan to support economic governance and energy transition in Nigeria.
The Asian Development Bank has approved a $100 million loan to strengthen public financial management and devolved service delivery in Nepal.
The European Union is seeking consultancy firms to enhance media institutions’ role in promoting gender equality in Moldova.
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has signed a new agreement to enhance vaccination access worldwide.
The Inter-American Development Bank is inviting companies to support the technical development of a digital data platform in Brazil.
The World Bank has launched new projects to improve learning outcomes and increase farmers’ incomes using digital solutions in India.
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A change of direction
The Group of 20 largest economies has in recent years been a hugely influential forum to make progress on issues that the global south cares about. Under India, Brazil, and South Africa, we’ve seen moves to tackle issues such as inequality, tax, and debt, as well as moves to shift how international decisions are made. The last few years have seen a rise in the involvement of civil society, and a broad range of smaller nations allowed to have their say.
Now, the presidency moves to the “America First” administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. After refusing to attend the recent summit in South Africa, it appears likely that Trump will now refuse to allow South Africans attend the next one in the United States.
My colleague Elissa Miolene breaks down how progress on development issues may stall or reverse under Trump.
Read: What does the United States' G20 presidency mean for the world?
Droning on
The first major new development initiative to emerge from the U.S. State Department has been a global health strategy. And we’re beginning to see what that will look like in the future.
In an early sign of things to come, the State Department approved a grant of up to $150 million over three years to Zipline, the American robotics and autonomous drone delivery company, to significantly expand its health care operations in five African countries.
State Department officials have portrayed the partnership with Zipline as an early example of the new direction of U.S. global health assistance, my colleague Michael Igoe writes.
Read: State Dept grants $150M to Zipline to triple African drone operations
See also: US health strategy aims to position African governments as customers
Related opinion: Hopeful signs are emerging from the US global health strategy
Special agency
Over recent weeks, we’ve been looking hard at funders who are doing new, different, and interesting things, and one organization that certainly qualifies is The Agency Fund.
The fund’s focus is on people, rather than systems, capital, or technology. And it’s not a hands-off grant giver but an active partner with a team of people offering support.
It’s backed not by a single pot of money but by a large group of different organizations.
Read: How The Agency Fund is supporting programs focused on people (Pro)
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About the author
David Ainsworth@daveainsworth4
David Ainsworth is business editor at Devex, where he writes about finance and funding issues for development institutions. He was previously a senior writer and editor for magazines specializing in nonprofits in the U.K. and worked as a policy and communications specialist in the nonprofit sector for a number of years. His team specializes in understanding reports and data and what it teaches us about how development functions.
