USAID’s Office of Acquisition and Assistance spends most of the agency’s money. It’s got a new boss, and it recently released its annual progress report, so we’ve looked in detail at what’s going on.
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Where did the money go?
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USAID’s Office of Acquisition and Assistance spent $38.1 billion in the financial year that ended in September 2023, and we’ve got the details on where it went with an interactive guide.
Want to know how much got spent via cooperative agreements in the Democratic Republic of Congo? We can tell you.
Perhaps the most interesting headline finding is that USAID moved away from spending primarily via grants, which have dominated its work in previous years, toward more rarely used direct payments, which were used to channel billions of dollars to Ukraine.
Explore the interactive analysis: How USAID spent its money in 2023 (Pro)
ICYMI: Who were USAID’s top grantees in 2023? (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 that have been viewed the most in the past 10 days.
Global Affairs Canada will be allocating CA$123 million ($90.7 million) to improve security conditions in Haiti.
UNICEF is seeking consultancy services for the development of a national online platform to connect young job seekers, especially the disadvantaged, with local and international remote work opportunities in Tajikistan.
USAID intends to award a grant to empower citizens and media to fight corruption and increase government accountability in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing a €31 million ($33.6 million) financial facility to Tajikistan to improve the reliability and sustainability of its electricity supply.
Unitaid is offering funding to help countries develop and implement programs to eliminate the spread of HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B, and Chagas disease from mothers to their babies in endemic areas.
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Star quality
One of the key planks of USAID’s localization push was to shift the strategy for acquisition and assistance. Now that office has a new boss, Jami Rodgers, who comes from NASA and seems to be viewed as having star quality. My colleague Michael Igoe spoke to him to find out what he wants to achieve.
Read: Can Jami Rodgers fix USAID's contracting crisis? (Pro)
Progress report
Rodgers may have an uphill struggle. USAID’s leaders appear to have been wrestling for some time with the procurement function within the agency, which has a lot of control over the checkbook but is notoriously understaffed. A year ago, a new strategy was put in place with a vision for change. My colleague Elissa Miolene asked around, and found that opinions are divided on how far the agency has come with its plans for change.
Read: One year in, has USAID moved the needle on its A&A strategy? (Pro)
ICYMI: Key takeaways from USAID's new multibillion-dollar A&A strategy (Pro)
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Labour pains
The Labour Party is odds-on to become the new government of the United Kingdom by the end of the year, but its strategy for aid has not been entirely clear. There’s been an internal conflict over whether to restore a separate department for aid, and how quickly to move back to spending 0.7% of gross national income on official development assistance.
Last year, Labour’s aid brief was taken over by the highly regarded Lisa Nandy, who recently gave a wide-ranging report on her party’s plans for the aid budget.
In one of our most popular Devex Pro events, U.K Correspondent Rob Merrick spoke to experts from the U.K. civil society sector to find out more about the pros and cons of Labour’s vision.
Read: Do Labour’s plans for UK aid stack up? (Pro)
Plus: Labour vows to cut number of countries receiving UK aid (Pro)
+ Check out our coverage of the U.K. aid sector.
Ones to watch
Which organizations are going to make waves in development in 2024? Who’s growing in influence, and which existing powerhouses face challenges or crises? My colleagues and I have worked together to bring you a guide to some of the key organizations we expect to see making the headlines in the next 12 months. Take a look at the list and see if you agree.
Read: 24 global development organizations to watch in 2024
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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.
