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The U.S. Agency for International Development committed a total of $25.6 billion in fiscal year 2020, or 20% more than the previous year — the highest year-over-year increase in the past two decades.
Of the funding, 83% or $21.4 billion were allocated using acquisition and assistance mechanisms. From this amount, contracts through which the agency procures goods and services represented 29% of the commitments, while grants and cooperative agreements to provide financial support to implementing partners accounted for 70.4%. The remaining 0.6% was allocated through interagency agreements.
The rest of the funding — $4.2 billion — that was not allocated through A&A includes salaries, travel, leases, cash transfers, implementation letters, and food aid commodity costs.
According to USAID reported data, out of the $6.2 billion obligated under acquisition mechanisms, 17% or over $1 billion was new awards — including, among others, firm and individual contracts and task orders. The bulk of the acquisition commitments — $5.2 billion — were directed to previous awards.
Following previous analysis on top USAID contractors, Devex dug into USASpending.gov contract data to identify the top acquisition partners based on the agency’s obligations in FY 2020 and also uncover which of them got COVID-19 funding from the appropriation of funds the U.S Congress did early in 2020 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and other legislation.
As of March 2021, USAID had obligated $1.1 billion of these COVID-19 funds — of which 64%, or $685.7 million, has already been disbursed through 405 awards. Listed below are USAID’s top 10 acquisition partners that received more than $250 million of those obligated COVID-19 funds in 2020.
Top USAID acquisition partners
1. Chemonics
Founded: 1975.
Headquarters: Washington, with an office in London.
Obligated amount in FY 2020: $2,264,282,460.68.
COVID-19 obligations in FY 2020: $208,728,621.30.
The biggest award for COVID-19 emergency funding was under the global health supply chain project with a $203.2 million commitment, 70% of which has already been disbursed.
2. DAI Global, LLC
Founded: 1970.
Headquarters: Maryland, with offices in several European countries, Nigeria, and the U.K.
Obligated amount in FY 2020: $432,068,912.98.
COVID-19 obligated amount in FY 2020: $13,800,000.00.
Under USAID’s flagship INVEST program, DAI received the highest value award — worth $10.8 million — of COVID-19 funds, of which almost 20% is already disbursed.
Founded: 1965.
Headquarters: Maryland, with offices in Australia, the U.K., and elsewhere across the U.S.
Obligated amount in FY 2020: $276,411,258.05.
COVID-19 obligated amount in FY 2020: $12,925,000.
Under the Achieving Sustainability Through Local Health Systems Program, USAID allotted $11.9 million for COVID-19 response, 41% of which has already been disbursed.
4. Palladium International, LLC
Founded: 1965.
Headquarters: Washington, with offices in Australia, Kenya, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, the U.K., and others.
Obligated amount in FY 2020: $145,970,442.42.
COVID-19 spending in 2020: $5,500,000.00.
USAID allocated $2 million for COVID-19 response through its Catalyze Blended Capital Investment Platform, of which less than 3% has been disbursed. The Catalyze program was initially awarded in 2019 with the aim to mobilize $2 billion in blended finance for developing countries over the next eight years.
5. Tetra Tech
Founded: 1977.
Headquarters: Vermont.
Obligated amount in FY 2020: $171,410,608.
Tetra Tech subsidiary, Associates for Rural Development, received the bulk of USAID’s funding in 2020 with $132.91 million, while Tetra Tech’s parent company only received $38.97 million. Tetra Tech did not receive COVID-19 funding in FY 2020, but recent data suggests it has started to receive pandemic response funding in FY 2021.
6. Deloitte Consulting
Founded: 1845.
Headquarters: New York.
Obligated amount in FY 2020: $108,005,523.88.
COVID-19 obligated amount in FY 2020: $2,081,047.00.
COVID-19 funding received by Deloitte was $2.1 million to provide support to USAIDs workforce. The award is 100% disbursed.
7. Management Sciences For Health, Inc.
Founded: 1971.
Headquarters: Massachusetts.
Obligated amount in FY 2020: $93,071,146.29.
COVID-19 obligated amount in FY 2020: $3,700,000.00.
There are two COVID-19 funding allocations awarded to MSH. The biggest one is $2.3 million, under a $170 million overall project to strengthen medicine components and medicine-related pharmaceutical services. Out of the COVID-19 commitment, 84% has already been disbursed.
8. Kenya Medical Supplies Authority
Founded: 2000.
Headquarters: Nairobi, Kenya.
Obligated amount in FY 2020: $90,000,000.
The only prime contractor outside the U.S. is a Kenyan state corporation implementing a $650 million USAID contract awarded in 2015 to procure, warehouse, and distribute medical commodities. It has not received COVID-19 funding to date.
9. Social Solutions International, Inc.
Founded: 2005.
Headquarters: Maryland.
Obligated amount in FY 2020: $87,438,506.80.
COVID-19 obligated amount in FY 2020: $3,096,410.
The COVID-19 funding received is $3 million under the $35 million Pacific American Fund contract. Almost 6% of the pandemic response funding has been disbursed.
10. Creative Associates International, Inc.
Founded: 1977.
Headquarters: Maryland.
Obligated amount in FY 2020: $81,724,358.
COVID-19 obligated amount in FY 2020: $6,300,000.
The biggest COVID-19 funding received by Creative Associates is $2.8 million to provide technical assistance to Economic Community of West African States stakeholders in member states.
Update, June 7, 2021: This article has been updated to clarify the headquarters of Abt Associates Inc.
About the author
Raquel Alcega
Raquel Alcega leads the data research and analysis at Devex, providing advice to organizations on the latest funding and programmatic trends that shape the global development space. She also heads up the news business content strategy and designs internal knowledge management processes. Prior to joining Devex’s Barcelona office, she worked in business development in Washington, D.C., and as a researcher in Russia and Mexico.
