The U.S. Agency for International Development obligated contract funding for fiscal 2015 reached $4.8 billion — a $1 billion increase from its total in 2014. This 26 percent budget surge marks the first upward movement in USAID’s contract spending in the last three years.
Despite USAID’s focus on channeling more foreign aid to local organizations — most notably through the USAID Forward initiative — the agency continues to award the bulk of its contracts to American firms. In 2015, the top 20 recipients of USAID funding were all U.S.-based organizations. Combined, these transactions account for 70 percent of the total USAID spending for obligated contracts for the year, up slightly from 67 percent in 2014.
The consortium Partnerships for Supply Chain Management received the most USAID contract funding, while international development consulting firm Chemonics was second. In 2015, Chemonics secured an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity agreement, or IDIQ, with USAID to the tune of $9.5 billion — the largest USAID award to date which could lift the firm into the top place next year.
About the author
Ezekiel Carlo Orlina
Ezekiel is a Senior Development Analyst and Team Leader at Devex. His primary role is monitoring and reporting on project opportunities and trends of leading multilateral and bilateral donor agencies. A graduate of Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in Political Science, Ezekiel has extensive global development research experience having also worked at the World Youth Alliance, Asia and the Pacific (WYAAP).
