The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation remains one of development’s largest funders — contributing more than many government donors. Its main focus is on health. So who’s getting the money?
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Good health
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The Gates Foundation spent almost $5 billion on health funding in 2023, and public health and polio were the biggest causes it supported. But what other health causes did the Gates Foundation fund, and who received the most money?
My colleague Alecsondra Kieren Si has been hard at work breaking down last year’s data, and she brings you all the answers.
Read: Top Gates Foundation health grantees in 2023 (Pro)
ICYMI: Gates Foundation's top 10 all-time health grant winners (Pro)
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Funding activity
We publish tenders, grants, and other funding announcements on our Funding Platform. Here are some of the ones which have been viewed the most in the past 10 days.
The World Bank is inviting tenders to provide consultancy services to build a climate change-resilient infrastructure in Tanzania.
The United Nations has called for applications to a grant that will provide financial services to youth-, women-, and refugee-led agribusinesses using digital tools in Uganda.
The African Development Bank approved a $117.9 million loan to support agricultural transformation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Gates Foundation has announced $6 million funding to improve sanitation in African urban cities.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has announced a $249 million grant to fight the three diseases by improving access to treatment and prevention services in Cote d’Ivoire.
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USAID embattled in Zimbabwe
The leaders of USAID have found themselves in a diplomatic row with the government of Zimbabwe, which views the agency’s democracy and human rights work as interfering with its sovereignty.
Zimbabwe responded by subjecting USAID staff to what agency administrator Samantha Power said was overnight detention, prolonged interrogation, and forced deportation. Power labeled the treatment of staff “unacceptable.”
Zimbabwe’s actions take place against the background of a wider diplomatic falling-out with the U.S. government, after Zimbabwean leaders were sanctioned for human rights abuses.
Exclusive: USAID accused of meddling in Zimbabwe's democratic process
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Plus ça change …
Cutting aid is becoming the fashion in Europe. First, the United Kingdom reduced its budget. Then earlier this year, it was the turn of Germany, the world’s second-largest donor, which shaved several billions off its funding plans. And now it’s the turn of France, which has reduced funding by more than $800 million, with potentially more to come.
Read: French government criticized over $806M cut to aid (Pro)
ICYMI: How Germany is cutting billions from foreign aid (Pro)
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Debt-trap diplomacy?
China provides a lot of aid these days, largely via its famed Belt and Road initiative, which aims to connect the world’s second-largest economy to its customers and suppliers, and has traditionally focused on big-ticket infrastructure initiatives.
But because Chinese aid is delivered outside the official development assistance regime, it’s not at all clear where the spending goes. Last week, my colleague Michael Igoe caught up with the experts, who painted a picture of a country with fast-changing priorities.
Watch: How is China's foreign aid changing? (Pro)
ICYMI: A primer on Chinese aid (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.
