The World Bank spent 27% more on contracts in the fiscal year 2021 than it did the year before. We look at why there was a big increase, and which companies received the money. Don’t miss our “Packed agenda” section below either. Between WHA and Davos, this week is a busy one on the global development scene.
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Contracting expanding
The World Bank was heavily involved in the battle against COVID-19, and it shows in its expenditure on contracts in 2021. The bank spent $17.7 billion on contracts — an increase of $3.8 billion on the year before.
The 10 biggest private contractors accounted for almost a fifth of the total expenditure. Most of the biggest providers were infrastructure and construction organizations, as in previous years, but in third place this year was Moderna Switzerland, which received $352.8 million for vaccines, while sixth place went to Pfizer, which received $284.6 million, also for vaccines.
Significant spending also went to big public sector contractors. The largest was the Vietnam General Department of Land Administration, which received $296.6 million, but second place was an organization currently in the news: the United Nations Office Project Services, which received $186.8 million. You can catch up on all our coverage of the UNOPS saga here.
World Bank: Top 10 contractors in 2021 (Pro)
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Packed agenda
You could be forgiven for not knowing where to put your focus this week: with the World Economic Forum in full swing at Davos and the World Health Assembly kicking off today in Geneva. Not to mention the African Development Bank’s annual meeting, the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Indonesia, and the online Ibrahim Governance Forum.
If you are experiencing FOMO; fear not, for our Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar and Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger will be on the ground in Davos to bring you all the latest updates and insights. Follow along with our Davos Dispatch podcast.
And on May 25, we’ll be hosting a series of conversations outside of Geneva’s Palais des Nations with decision-makers, policy experts, and civil society activists from the WHA, including Dr. Atul Gawande, Loyce Pace, Precious Matsoso, Björn Kümmel, and Fatima Hassan. We’ll livestream everything for our audience. Register now.
Funding activity
AFD. $103M for drinking water and sanitation projects in Morocco.
EIB. $7.8B (€7.3B) to accelerate climate action and refugee support in Ukraine.
KfW. $160M (€150M) for aid and the rebuilding of critical infrastructure in Ukraine.
USAID. $10M for a resilience recovery program in Mozambique.
WB. $85M to promote investments and exports in Jordan.
See more funding opportunities.
Fraud alert
Featured opportunity: Bloomberg commits $242M to climate
Philanthropist Michael Bloomberg, who is currently the U.N. special envoy for climate ambition and solutions, has announced $242 million in funding to accelerate low- and middle-income countries’ transition to clean energy.
In addition to its current energy transition efforts in seven countries and the EU, Bloomberg Philanthropies is developing programs and partnerships in Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Turkey, and Vietnam.
Fraud is a big problem in development. Agencies face challenging working conditions in the field and an emphasis on minimizing costs. So how to avoid falling victim to both internal and external attempts to commit fraud?
Rebecca Root, reporting for Devex, interviewed experts in the field, and came away with some recommendations.
How to: Stop your development organization falling victim to fraud (Pro)
+ On a side note, we’re keen to build up a library of insight from experts to add value to our subscribers. I’d love to hear more about what would be useful to you in this library. Get in touch at david.ainsworth@devex.com.
Energy alliance
The battle over who should pay for a transition to clean energy has been going on for a long time. African leaders have long said that their contribution to global warming has been negligible, and they have now formed a bloc to negotiate to that effect. That bloc has laid down its position, following a series of round tables last week.
Read: African leaders present unified position on a just energy transition (Pro)
Strategy show
My colleague Will Worley got together with experts on U.K. development on Friday to discuss the country’s controversial new strategy. Head over here if you want to know what the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office plans in the future.
Watch: Understanding the UK's new international development strategy (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.
