WASHINGTON — In 2015, the development contractor Chemonics International sent shockwaves through the U.S. aid community when it captured the largest U.S. Agency for International Development contract ever awarded and took control of a global health supply chain that undergirds the U.S. government’s largest health programs.
Two years later, Chemonics’ success appeared to have turned against it. By the spring of 2017, as Devex first reported, the indicators used to track the performance of the supply chain had declined precipitously, prompting an intervention by USAID, a U.S. congressional hearing, and intensive corrective action by the contractor itself.
Today, Chemonics’ leaders say they have delivered the kind of supply chain they originally imagined — and promised to USAID — and they say the supply chain is now delivering commercially-competitive results month after month. According to Chemonics, as of March 2019, the project had achieved $90 million in cost savings.