As Rajiv Shah prepares to step down as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development next month, the latest data suggests modest movement in his yearslong push to broaden its base of contractors. In fiscal 2014, USAID’s obligated funding for its top 20 contractors accounted for 67 percent of its contract spending, down from 73 percent in fiscal 2012.
USAID awarded $3.8 billion in contracts in fiscal 2014, a 23 percent drop from fiscal 2012. Against the backdrop of budget pressures in Washington, the agency’s contract spending has now fallen two years in a row. As might be expected, USAID continues to award the bulk of its contract spending to for-profit groups.
Firms based out of the United States claimed only 6 percent of USAID’s contract spending in fiscal 2014 — just one year away from USAID’s deadline for meeting its 30 percent local spending target. That figure is up from 4 percent in fiscal 2012. USAID contracts, however, are only a subset of the agency’s total spending, which also includes grants and government-to-government funding. We’ll dig into the data on USAID’s grants later this month so stay tuned.