Top AFD contractors: A primer

France is the fifth-biggest donor in the world in terms of official development assistance. In 2020, the country’s ODA reached 0.53% of its gross national income. The Agence Française de Développement, both a public agency and a development bank, is the country’s main institution disbursing foreign aid. Its financing has been untied since 2002, meaning all procurements are eligible for AFD financing, regardless of the provider’s country of origin. Between 2019 and 2020, the agency supported over 1,000 development projects across 115 countries. The largest commitments were in Africa, with an annual commitment of €6.5 billion ($7.8 billion). Asia came in second with an annual commitment of €3.3 billion. In 2019, the top-funded sectors were infrastructure and urban development with €4.7 billion, productive sectors with €3.2 billion, and water and sanitation with €1.2 billion. With a growing ODA commitment and thousands of consultants and contractors implementing projects, Devex identified AFD’s major contractors and projects implemented based on available data from 2018 to 2021. AFD’s top civil works contractors 1. Vestas Wind Systems Headquarters: Aarhus, Denmark Year awarded: 2020 The New and Renewable Energy Authority of Egypt contracted Vestas Wind System, a Danish manufacturer and service provider for wind turbines with more than 110 years of experience, to construct a 250 megavolt wind farm in the Gulf Suez. The €228 million project is co-funded by the European Investment Bank and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau. 2. KEC International Limited Headquarters: Mumbai, India Year awarded: 2018 KEC International is the flagship company of RPG Group — an industrial conglomerate in India — with over 75 years in the engineering, procurement, and construction business. KEC was awarded 12 billion Central African CFA francs, or XAF, ($22 million) for the design, supply, and construction of the AFD-funded power transmission project between Saint-Louis and Tobene in Senegal. KEC is also a major contractor of multilateral banks such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, and EIB for the design and implementation of civil work projects in Asia and Africa. 3. GEOCEAN Entrepose Headquarters: Paris, France Year awarded: 2019 In 2019, GEOCEAN Entrepose, the offshore subsidiary of Entrepose Group, an international engineering, procurement, and construction contractor, was awarded 2.17 billion Central Pacific francs ($22 million) to handle maritime works for the Sea Water Air Conditioning system project in French Polynesia, a program co-funded by the EIB. The program is part of the 2030 energy transition process of the French Polynesia Government, which aims to reduce electricity consumption and emission reduction. The main priority is to install the SWAC system in the Papeete Hospital in Tahiti. As part of the SWAC project, the AFD also awarded three other contracts to Polynesian suppliers. A 270 million CFP civil engineering contract for the technical room of the SWAC system was awarded to Cegelec Polynesie — one of the sub-companies of Ceglec, a French engineering and energy company that was acquired by VINCI Energies in 2010. Cegelec has previously worked with other multilateral development banks and donor agencies, such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, and EIB, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and Millennium Challenge Corporation for energy, electricity, health, and water projects. The engineering firm Interoute SA was awarded a contract worth 249 million CFP to develop a secondary network for the project, while BOYER Construction was awarded 156 million CFP to handle the projects’ processes. BOYER Construction specializes in a wide range of services from maritime works, civil engineering, structures, and constructions across French Polynesia and some Francophile countries. 4. Enterprise March Arthur CI (EMA CI) and M’Bafouet Techno Design (MTD) Headquarters: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire Year awarded: 2021 The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, or MESRS, in Côte d’Ivoire managed the rehabilitation of Félix Houphouët-Boigny National Polytechnic Institute, or INP-HB, in Yamoussoukro with financial support from the AFD. Two local Ivorian engineering companies were awarded contracts for the civil works of the center, EMA CI’s contract was for 5.7 billion XAF and MTD‘s 3.2 billion XAF. The French consulting and supplier company, GECI International, in consortium with Grande Cuisine Export, were awarded 1.2 billion XAF in two contracts for the rehabilitation of the center’s kitchen. 5. Midnight Sun Group Headquarters: Lomé, Togo Year awarded: 2021 MNS Group is a construction company in Togo founded in 1996 working on the construction of buildings, public works, and hydraulic development. It has been a partner of AFD since the early 2000s and was recently awarded 4.26 billion XAF for civil engineering works and electromechanics in urban and semi-urban areas in Togo. Other AFD partners Aside from civil works, the AFD also procures goods and consulting services. However, there is limited data available on contracts awarded. Across the contracts analyzed, the leading good supplier was the Chinese company Shenzhen Clou Electronics Co., Ltd, a manufacturer and high-tech enterprise for sustainable smart grid and energy-saving projects that has also worked with major infrastructure development donors, such as the WB and AfDB in Africa, and with EIB in Paraguay. In 2018, Shenzhen Clou was awarded €17.5 million to supply 10,000 monoblock meters for an AFD-funded energy project in Senegal. European consulting firms such as GFA Consulting Group, Linpico, and Euro Consultants have also been awarded contracts by the AFD. For the last four years, GFA Consulting Group has been implementing several energy, environment, and health projects totaling a minimum of €9.5 million. Among the highest value contracts is €4.6 million for the Joint Health Program in Cameroon co-funded by KFW to support hygiene conditions of women and children through construction and management of health care facilities. This is followed by a €3.6 million contract for technical assistance to support SMEs in energy efficiency and renewable energies in Lebanon. It also received €524,000 technical support contract in Côte d’Ivoire for electricity and renewable electricity production and €877,000 contract to aid Agrobanco, a small farmer’s bank, to strengthen its institutional capacity. Current exchange rates were applied in all currency conversions. Update, May 7, 2021: This article has been updated to clarify that France's ODA reached 0.53% of its GNI. Try out Devex Pro Funding today with a free 5-day trial, and explore funding opportunities from over 850+ sources in addition to our analysis and news content.