USAID’s top local implementing partners

Squeezed by a dwindling operational budget, beginning in the 1990s, the U.S. Agency for International Development aggressively turned to private companies and nongovernmental organizations in the United States to carry out much of its development work around the world. In the decades since, U.S.-based implementing partners in the Beltway and beyond have largely cornered the billions in contracts and grants that USAID awards each year. Three years into USAID Forward — Administrator Rajiv Shah’s agencywide reform drive — that is beginning to change. As Devex’s recent report on USAID’s local spending found, the agency is now more than halfway (17.9 percent) toward its target of channeling 30 percent of its funding to local organizations by fiscal 2015. In our second report on USAID’s local spending, Devex ranks the agency’s 20 top local implementing partners in fiscal 2013. That year, USAID obligated $748 million in funding to local implementing partners — which we consider to include entities outside the host government such as educational institutions as well as nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Our analysis reveals that as in the case of its U.S.-based contractors, USAID has much more work to do to broaden its local partner base: the 20 organizations on this list accounted for 43 percent of the agency’s total obligations to local implementing partners in fiscal 2013. Further, USAID’s top 20 local implementing partners were skewed toward a handful of countries led by South Africa (6) and Pakistan (5). The top three are all implementers of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in South Africa — further evidence of the initiative’s aggressive transition to country ownership in the upper-middle-income country. The caveat here is that USAID local spending data only tracks the agency’s direct contracts and grants — a large portion of which eventually flows to subawardees. For instance, Philippine-based Gerry Roxas Foundation, USAID’s 20th largest local implementer, is managing a five-year, $24 million grant facility on behalf of USAID for local NGOs. 1. Right to Care Founded: 2001 Headquarters: Johannesburg, South Africa Obligated USAID funding (2013): $37.6 million For the second year in a row, Right to Care ranked as USAID’s single-largest local implementing partner in fiscal 2013. With USAID funding, the South African NGO supports and delivers prevention, care and treatment services for HIV and related diseases. Right to Care works primarily in five South African provinces: Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, Western Cape and Free State. According to Right to Care, it has recently shifted its focus from direct service provision to technical assistance — in large part because USAID’s funding strategy has also been moving in the same direction. 2. Wits Health Consortium Founded: 1998 Headquarters: Johannesburg, South Africa Obligated USAID funding (2013): $28.3 million Wits Health Consortium is a nonprofit that provides clinical support, management and research services for HIV and other diseases. In fiscal 2013, the bulk of USAID obligations to WHC were channeled toward the consortium’s maternal, adolescent and child health division called Match. WHC is affiliated with the University of the Witwatersrand, one of South Africa’s leading public research universities. 3. Foundation for Professional Development Founded: 1997 Headquarters: Pretoria, South Africa Obligated USAID funding (2013): $23.6 million The Foundation for Professional Development specializes in education and training, as well as capacity-building activities. FPD’s technical assistance cluster, which is funded by USAID, focuses on strengthening the South African government’s capacity for leadership, management and delivery of health services in the country’s district health system. FPD is 90 percent owned by the South African Medical Association. 4. Society for Family Health, Nigeria Founded: 1986 Headquarters: Abuja, Nigeria Obligated USAID funding (2013): $23.1 million Affiliated with U.S.-based PSI’s global network of country programs, Society for Family Health Nigeria is a nonprofit health organization that works in the areas of child survival, malaria prevention and treatment, HIV and AIDS prevention, and reproductive health. In fiscal 2013, USAID obligations to SFH Nigeria were entirely in support of the Expanded Social Marketing Project in Nigeria, which aims to substantially increase access to and coverage of modern contraceptives using social marketing approaches. 5. EA Consulting Founded: 1981 Headquarters: Karachi, Pakistan Obligated USAID funding (2013): $22.6 million EA Consulting is a consultancy firm with experience in the fields of architecture, engineering and project management. In September 2012, USAID awarded EA Consulting an indefinite quantity contract for the implementation of infrastructure activities across multiple sectors in Pakistan. 6. Kenya Medical Supplies Agency Founded: 2000 Headquarters: Nairobi, Kenya Obligated USAID funding (2013): $22 million The Kenya Medical Supplies Agency is a quasi-governmental medical logistics provider for public health facilities and programs in the East African country. In November 2012, USAID entered into an agreement with KEMSA to procure, warehouse and distribute up to $50 million U.S.-funded health commodities, including HIV rapid diagnostic kits. 7. Abraaj Capital Ltd. & JS Private Equity Management Abraaj Capital Ltd. Founded: 2006 Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates Obligated USAID funding (2013): $20 million JS Private Equity Management Founded: 2006 Headquarters: Karachi, Pakistan Obligated USAID funding (2013): $20 million Abraaj Capital Ltd. is a member of the Abraaj Group, a global growth markets investor with regional hubs in Turkey, Mexico, India, UAE, Kenya and Singapore. JS Private Equity Management is known for pioneering private equity investments in Pakistan in the late 2000s. In fiscal 2013, USAID obligated $20 million in seed funding for each of the private equity firms under its Pakistan Private Investment Initiative, which aims to support small and midsize businesses in Pakistan. Both Abraaj Capital Ltd. and JS Private Equity Management have committed to match or exceed USAID’s contribution. 9. Agribusiness Support Fund Founded: 2005 Headquarters: Lahore, Pakistan Obligated USAID funding (2013): $17 million The Agribusiness Support Fund is a Pakistani nongovernmental organization that provides matching grants for agribusiness activities in the horticulture, floriculture, livestock and dairy sectors. In November 2011, USAID awarded ASF a five-year, $89.4 million cooperative agreement aimed at increasing the competitiveness and productivity of Pakistan’s horticulture and livestock sectors. Interestingly, under this cooperative agreement, ASF awarded a subagreement of $5.3 million to U.S.-based Citizens’ Network for Foreign Affairs for technical assistance and other services. 10. Marie Stopes Uganda Founded: 1990 Headquarters: Kampala, Uganda Obligated USAID funding (2013): $14.8 million Affiliated with U.K.-based Marie Stopes International, Marie Stopes Uganda provides family planning and reproductive health care services across Uganda. According to Marie Stopes Uganda, it has approximately 30 percent market share of modern contraceptives in the East African country. In fiscal 2013, USAID obligations to Marie Stopes Uganda were entirely in support of a program to expand access to long-term family planning methods in Uganda. 11. American University of Afghanistan Headquarters: Kabul, Afghanistan Obligated USAID funding (2013): $12.5 million 12. Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital Headquarters: Eldoret, Kenya Obligated USAID funding (2013): $11.8 million 13. Kheth'Impilo AIDS Free Living Headquarters: Cape Town, South Africa Obligated USAID funding (2013): $10.5 million 14. Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa Headquarters: Cape Town, South Africa Obligated USAID funding (2013): $10.4 million 15. Interflow Communications Headquarters: Karachi, Pakistan Obligated USAID funding (2013): $9.5 million 16. Central Asia Development Group Headquarters: Singapore, Singapore Obligated USAID funding (2013): $9.5 million 17. Anova Health Institute Headquarters: Johannesburg, South Africa Obligated USAID funding (2013): $8.1 million 18. Salvadoran Foundation for Integrated Education Headquarters: San Salvador, El Salvador Obligated USAID funding (2013): $7.9 million 19. Dairy and Rural Development Foundation Headquarters: Lahore, Pakistan Obligated USAID funding (2013): $7.1 million 20. Gerry Roxas Foundation Headquarters: Quezon City, Philippines Obligated USAID funding (2013): $6.2 million Do you work for one of USAID’s top local implementing partners? 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