The World Bank’s top 10 contractors in 2023

The World Bank serves the world's poorest through financing government projects that aim to end extreme poverty and promote sustainable and inclusive development. Based on its most recent annual report, the World Bank Group — consisting of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Development Association, International Finance Corporation, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes — disbursed a total of $91.4 billion in the fiscal year that ended in June 2023. This is up 36.3%, in cash terms, from the previous year, with the increase largely driven by a spike in the amount disbursed through the World Bank trust funds. How accurate are the figures reported? Based on data published on its website, the World Bank awarded $26.7 billion in contracts in FY 2023. These were financed through the Investment Project Financing — the bank’s main funding vehicle for its social and development activities across the globe. This represents a 50.4% cash-term increase from the previous year. However, a closer look suggests that the three biggest contracts contain significant errors. The biggest among these was awarded to Sinohydro for the rehabilitation of the roads connecting Hell-Ville and Andilana in Madagascar, worth $9 billion. Upon checking the project under which the contract was financed, we found out that the total estimated project cost is only $150 million. We also found the contract announcement, which shows a U.S. dollar conversion rate, worth $9 billion. However, the evaluated bid price shows a different amount — 44.9 billion Malagasy ariary, or around $9.8 million, based on the current exchange rates. We also found a similar case with the next two biggest contracts: • $2 billion was awarded to the ​​Consortium of Karat Asadbek Qurilish and Obi Hayot Association for the reconstruction of the water supply system in the Toshkurgan Pop District in Uzbekistan. A closer look revealed that the project under which the contract was financed was worth only $182 million. • $1.6 billion was awarded to Supreme Distributors for the procurement of tablets with keyboards in Guyana. However, the contract’s main parent project only costs $6.7 million, based on World Bank project data. We reached out to the World Bank to confirm the amounts of the three contracts but received no response. We have excluded them from the analysis for the time being and will update if new information becomes available. We applied a similar level of scrutiny with the rest of the awards received by the other top suppliers and found no anomaly with the figures. However, this does not guarantee that all the other smaller contracts have the correct amounts. Where did the money go? Excluding the three contracts, our analysis shows that the World Bank’s total major contracts in FY 2023 amounted to $14.1 billion — 20.5% less, in cash terms, than the previous year. Among the contracts, more than half of the total, worth $7.5 billion, went to civil works. Over a quarter, or $3.6 billion, went to the procurement of goods. Then $1.8 billion went to consulting services, while $1.1 billion was awarded to nonconsulting services. Among supplier countries, China received the largest portion, worth $2.6 billion — 18.7% of the total. Other top supplier countries include India, with $735.4 million; Indonesia, with $650.9 million; Turkey, with $502.3 million; Pakistan, with $489.1 million; and Ethiopia, with $390.8 million. Meanwhile, around $1.2 billion went to multilateral organizations and individual consultants. The World Bank labels the HQ of these awardees as “world.” Top 10 contractors in FY 2023 Overall, around 16.2% of the total, worth $2.3 billion, went to the top 10 contractors. This is significantly lower than the amount awarded to the top 10 suppliers in FY 2022 — $4.3 billion, or 24.2% of the total. The current list suggests that the World Bank has returned to its traditional priorities — infrastructure and development projects — in contrast to last fiscal year when most of the awardees were U.N. agencies and pharmaceutical companies winning contracts for pandemic-related response. Overall, three of the awardees in FY 2023 are U.N. agencies. UNOPS and UNICEF remained in the top 10, while IOM replaced WFP. The rest of the top 10 suppliers were not included in the previous list. Among them, five organizations are working in the field of construction, engineering, and energy —- Sinohydro, KLV İnşaat A.Ş Kazakhstan, Putra Masindo Utama, Harbin Electric Corporation, and SEPCO1 Electric Power Construction Corporation. The other two are suppliers of goods — Grainflower DMCC and Holley. 1. Sinohydro Headquarters: Beijing, China. Total contract amount in FY 2023: $427,642,003.16. Sinohydro is a hydropower engineering and water conservancy construction company composed of 16 bureaus — each of which ​​can individually bid for and carry out contracts. It received $427.7 million in FY 2023 for contracts mostly in the road construction and energy sectors. The largest was for the construction of 157 kilometers of transmission lines that will run from Dasu to Mansehra, in Pakistan, worth $279.1 million. Sinohydro was the 7th biggest supplier in FY 2021, but it dropped out of the top 10 in FY 2022 due to the Bank’s prioritization of COVID-19 vaccine procurement over infrastructure projects. 2. UNOPS Headquarters: Copenhagen, Denmark. Total contract amount in FY 2023: $320,990,061.4. UNOPS is the U.N.’s lead agency for infrastructure, procurement, and project management services. Up four notches from the previous year, it received $321 million for 67 contracts. The biggest was for the Community Demand Driven Fund rollout, worth $41.1 million. The contract is part of the World Bank’s $150 million Rural Resilience Project in northern Mozambique, which aims to provide opportunities to vulnerable communities and protect natural resources in the region. The rest of the contracts included procurement of goods, such as agricultural products, medical equipment, computers, and vehicles, and implementation of projects in different sectors, including gender and climate. 3. Grainflower DMCC Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Total contract amount in FY 2023: $267,285,000. Grainflower DMCC is a grain importer and distributor, which was awarded $267.3 million for four contracts — all for the procurement of wheat for bread subsidy in Egypt. These contracts are part of the World Bank’s $500 million Emergency Food Security and Resilience Support Project in the country. 4. KLV İnşaat A.Ş Kazakhstan Headquarters: Almaty, Kazakhstan. Total contract amount in FY 2023: $265,077,970.97. Construction company KLV İnşaat A.Ş’s office in Kazakhstan was awarded $265.1 million for the reconstruction of the Kurty-Burylbaytal section of the Western Europe — Western China International Transit Corridor Project — a $2.5 billion project that aims to improve the overall transport efficiency in Kazakhstan. 5. IOM Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland. Total contract amount in FY 2023: $220,627,764.49. U.N.’s migration agency was also among the top awardees, with $220.6 million for several contracts in conflict and emergency response. Its biggest award, worth $109.4 million, was for the implementation of the second phase of the Enhancing Community Resilience and Local Governance Project in South Sudan. 6. Putra Masindo Utama Headquarters: Palembang, Indonesia. Total contract amount in FY 2023: $184,427,136.54. Another construction company, Putra Masindo Utama, received a single contract, worth $184.4 million, for the construction of a pipeline network in Palembang, Indonesia. The contract is funded under the $602.6 million National Urban Water Supply Project. 7. UNICEF Headquarters: New York, U.S. Total contract amount in FY 2023: $174,682,625.28. UNICEF is the U.N.’s lead agency for the protection and promotion of the rights and welfare of children. It was awarded $174.7 million for 28 contracts, many of which are for the purchase of health commodities. Around 28.1% of its total contract, worth $49 million, was for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines to Mali. UNICEF was the top supplier in FY 2022, with $1.1 billion — of which $970.6 million was also for COVID-19-related procurements. 8. Harbin Electric Corporation Headquarters: Harbin, China. Total contract amount in FY 2023: $171,312,545. HE is a state-owned enterprise that specializes in the supply, construction, and research and development of equipment used in power plants and power generation. It received a single contract, worth $171.3 million, for the design, supply, and construction of a 97.6-kilometer transmission line from the Mansehra substation to the Islamabad substation. HE ranked 8th in FY 2021, then exited the list of top contractors the following year. 9. Holley Technology Headquarters: Hangzhou, China. Total contract amount in FY 2023: $129,461,903.4. Holley is a manufacturer of electricity meters with a presence in over 60 countries. It received $129.5 million for the supply and installation of electrical materials and equipment, which was funded under the World Bank’s Least-Cost Electricity Access Development Project in Madagascar. 10. SEPCO1 Electric Power Construction Corporation Headquarters: Harbin, China. Total contract amount in FY 2023: $121,270,981.15. A part of POWERCHINA — a state-owned construction and engineering corporation consisting of nearly 800 companies — SEPCO1 offers a range of engineering and construction services in the fields of infrastructure, power plants, power transmission, and substations. The company completes the list of biggest contractors, with a $121.3 million contract for the design and installation of the 765/220-kilovolt Mansehra substation. The contract is part of the first phase of the $4.7 billion Dasu Hydropower Project in Pakistan. 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