Top GIZ contractors: A primer

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, or GIZ, which was created through a merger between three government agencies focused on development and technical cooperation. Over the decade, procurement has risen from being 36% of the agency’s total business volume in 2011 to 55.3% in 2020, according to GIZ figures. Devex dived into the GIZ service contracts with institutions, companies, and suppliers of goods over the last year and a half to identify its top partners and explore their latest projects. Unsurprisingly, the top 10 list is made of private, German consulting firms with decades of experience in the development sector. GIZ awarded over half a billion contracts to 1,519 firms between January 2020 and July 2021 according to the Devex funding platform. Three out of the six major consulting companies of the GOPA Consulting Group — one of GIZ’s long-standing, top consulting partners — made it in the top 10 list — with a total of €62 million ($72.7 million) in contracts. 1. GFA Consulting Group Headquarters: Hamburg, Germany Total amount awarded: €63,627,517.40 One of GFA Consulting Group’s biggest awards in 2020 was for the implementation of a food security and resilience project that aims to address global hunger, worth €6.2 million. In addition to the 86 contracts solely awarded to it, GFA also won 13 other contracts worth €12.5 million in consortium with other contractors such as HEAT, SustaiNET, and WINS Global Consult. The consulting firm works with agencies such as GIZ, KfW Entwicklungsbank, and the European Commission on a wide range of programs — from youth skills development in Nigeria to water resource conservation in India. 2. GOPA Worldwide Consultants Headquarters: Frankfurt, Germany Total amount awarded: €38,491,036 GOPA Worldwide Consultants’ biggest contracts were all consulting services related to improving employability: €3.4 million in Nigeria; €3.3 million in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and €2.6 million in Niger. As part of the GOPA Group, GOPA Worldwide Consultants focuses on six core areas: education and employment promotion; governance and economic development; rural development and environment; health and social development; statistics; and monitoring, evaluation, and learning. 3. INTEGRATION Consulting Group Headquarters: Frankfurt, Germany Total amount awarded: €18,324,723 INTEGRATION Consulting Group is composed of two independent consulting companies — INTEGRATION International Management Consultants and INTEGRATION Environment and Energy. From 2020 to July 2021, 65% of its total contract amount was for project management focusing on economic development and capacity-building — implemented by INTEGRATION Management Consultants. Among its biggest contacts were €3.5 million for a vocational training program in Mozambique and €1.7 million for a capacity development program in the transport sector in Liberia. The contracts awarded related to the environment ranged from renewable energy, green energy, and energy infrastructure, to rural electrification consultancies. The biggest contracts in this category were a €3.8 million consultancy in Pakistan and a €1.6 million one in Uganda on renewable and efficient energy. 4. AFC Agriculture and Finance Consultants Headquarters: Bonn, Germany Total amount awarded: €17,804,752 One of GIZ’s biggest contracts in 2020 was awarded to AFC — €6.8 million for sustainable employment through agribusiness in Ghana. Most of its other contract awards were related to agriculture and rural development. The consulting company also won $10.4 million for contracts in consortium with other firms such as Aide au Développement Gembloux, Business & Strategies in Europe S.A., ECO Consulting Group, GOPA Worldwide Consultants, and Helvetas. AFC — another GOPA Group company — provides consultancy on agricultural, agribusiness, and financial sectors. 5. AMBERO Consulting Headquarters: Kronberg, Germany Total amount awarded: €10,009,970 Most of AMBERO’s awarded contracts were for governance and social services. Among the biggest contract awards were €2.1 million for the peace program in Colombia, €2 million for a decentralization and social cohesion program in Burkina Faso, and €1.3 million for a livelihood improvement program in Chad. Established in 2003, the engineering and consulting company had also implemented numerous projects funded by other donors such as Agence Française de Développement, KfW, the EU, and the World Bank. 6. NIRAS - IP Consult Headquarters: Stuttgart, Germany Total amount awarded: €9,105,036 NIRAS - IP Consult was awarded its biggest contract worth €4.4 million together with NIRAS Finland for a water and energy project to support a sustainable agriculture sector in several countries. Its contracts ranged from agricultural and food industry to energy and power supply. In 2012, IP Consult was acquired by the Danish engineering consulting company NIRAS Group. 7. ICON-INSTITUT Consulting Group Headquarters: Cologne, Germany Total amount awarded: €7,073,029.00 Of the 19 projects worth €7 million awarded to ICON-INSTITUT in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe, the biggest contract was for the promotion of trade for employment in Jordan, worth €1.4 million. It also won awards in consortiums with ACSET, NIRAS International, and AMBERO Consulting. ICON-INSTITUT launched in 1975 as a private consulting company dealing with international projects in the development sector. It has worked with different donor agencies and multilateral development banks such as the Directorate-General for International Partnerships, or DG-INTPA, World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, African Development Bank, and Asian Development Bank. 8. GOPA Infra Headquarters: Frankfurt, Germany Total amount awarded: €6,152,715.10 The contracts awarded to GOPA Infra, another member of GOPA Consulting Group, ranged from consultancy services for basic supply, water reform, to sustainable industrial production. The biggest ones were €2.4 million for the improvement of basic supply in Iraq in 2020 and €194,000 for the Zambian water sector reform program in 2021. The international infrastructure consultancy firm also works with the European Investment Bank, DG-INTPA, EBRD, ADB, and KfW. 9. UNIQUE Forestry and Land Use Gmbh Headquarters: Freiburg, Germany Total amount awarded: €4,815,030 UNIQUE’s consultancy services focus on forest management and sustainable land, with contracts that were mostly for the preservation of biodiversity, ecosystem, rural development, and climate change programs. Some of the biggest contracts include €928,000 for worldwide soil protection and €756,000 for biodiversity preservation and sustainable management in Ethiopia. In addition to the 18 contracts it was solely awarded, it also won contracts worth a total of €965 thousand to reduce Bolivia’s deforestation in consortium with the Support for the Peasant-Indigenous of the Bolivian East, a local Bolivian non-governmental humanist organization. 10. GITEC-IGIP GmbH Headquarters: Cologne, Germany Total amount awarded: €4,631,647 Its biggest awards — all awarded in 2020 — include a €2.5 million contract for protection and sustainable use of natural resources in Ecuador and a €1 million for the identification and demarcation of protected areas in Colombia. GITEC-IGIP GmbH is a member of GITEC-IGIP Consulting Group, which also worked with key donors and development banks like the Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank, DG-INTPA, ADB, EBRD, and EIB. Raquel Alcega contributed to this article. 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.