In February 2025, over 5,000 open tenders were available on the world’s largest aid-related database, www.developmentaid.org . We analyzed these to draw key insights into their location, type, and sector and now share the information to help our members to refine their bidding strategy. Several of the major findings reveal that most development aid tenders sought consulting services, with the IT and engineering sectors being most in demand.
Global development focuses on the pursuit of a more just and healthier future for people around the world. This quest is guided by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
At DevelopmentAid, we actively contribute to the progress of this by providing a range of information, including funding opportunities and the latest development news. Our tender database has details of over one million tenders which includes over 5,000 open tenders, 28,000 forecasted announcements, and 37,000 entries at an early intelligence stage.
Most tenders in the database have already closed, or have been executed so therefore no longer accept proposals. However, information about them will help to gather insights into development procurement because ultimately information is key when trying to master tender bidding processes.
For this article, we analyzed the database focusing on those tenders open in early February 2025 from which we gained five key insights to help you to refine your bidding strategy.
Insight #1: Over 60% of open tenders target Asia and Africa
If you are looking for global development tenders, most opportunities nowadays are located in Asian, African, and European countries. These regions are targeted by 82% of aid-related tenders while Latin America and the Caribbean is the fourth region with most open tenders, representing 10% of total calls.
Table I – Number and percentage of open tenders per continent. Data collected by Sofia Oliveira from the DevelopmentAid’s database during February 2025.
Insight #2: Most open tenders seek consulting services
In February 2025, tenders in the development sector mainly sought to secure consulting services, such as the evaluation of projects focusing on blue carbon and nature-based solutions. The supply of goods was also a common target. For instance, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development was looking for two solar refrigerator fridges for South Sudan at the beginning of the year. The procurement of work and non-consulting services fell at the bottom of priorities although each still represented over 10% of open tenders. World Vision International, for example, was accepting work proposals for the rehabilitation of several schools and other community areas in Palestine, while the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas required maintenance services for wastewater collection and treatment systems.
Table II – Number and percentage of open tenders per need category. Data collected by Sofia Oliveira from the DevelopmentAid’s database during February 2025.
Insight #3: 85% of open tenders seek organizations
The majority of tenders – 85% to be precise – accepted proposals from organizations, while only 18% were open to applications from individual consultants. The percentages exceed 100% because certain tenders permit applications from both organizations and individuals.
By delving into the data further, it is clear that while some tenders sought consulting services exclusively from single consultants, other considered tenders from organizations.
Insight #4: IT & engineering, the environment, and transportation are the sectors with the highest demand
An astonishing 37% of all open tenders related to procurement in the IT & engineering sector. Some examples are the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority in Liberia which was looking for a call center and communication system provider and the German non-profit Welthungerhilfe which launched a call for the construction of a flood protection wall and an irrigation water pond in Pakistan.
The environmental sector was also a popular sector, accounting for 16% of open tenders. This included the analysis of poison use in remote habitats which the United Nations Development Programme was seeking. Similarly, transportation was in high demand, with over 500 open tenders available during February 2025. In Switzerland, the city of Adliswil needed school transportation services for a period of four years.
The database also contained more than 400 tenders seeking extensive knowledge assessments or other research-related needs, making these rank in fourth place in our analysis. Education and Food each represented 7% of open tenders, closing the top 5 sectors. The development of school curricula and the supply of solar-powered irrigation systems are two examples of what development organizations were looking for within these sectors.
Table III – Number and percentage of open tenders per sector. Only the 5 sectors with the most tenders are displayed. Data collected by Sofia Oliveira from the DevelopmentAid’s database during February 2025.
Insight #5: Fundraising & grants is the sector with the least demand
On the opposite side of the spectrum, the sector with the least number of open opportunities with less than 1% of tenders is Fundraising & Grants. The Youth sector ranked just a little above this with 1% of open tenders. Conflict, local development, and human rights* followed, accounting for 4% or 5% of open tenders each.
Note: Tenders available on the DevelopmentAid platform are classified into 85 sectors.
*and their respective similar fields as described in table IV
Table IV – Number and percentage of open tenders per sector. Only the 5 sectors with the least tenders are displayed. Data collected by Sofia Oliveira from the DevelopmentAid’s database during February 2025.
Final thoughts: how to leverage tender-related data
One of the first steps in bidding for tenders is to constantly screen these and select appropriate projects. This analysis shows the global landscape of current needs in development organizations, which can be leveraged to prioritize certain sectors or categories in an effort to maximize bidding efficiency and success.
Are you a newcomer looking to enter the global development bidding space? The DevelopmentAid database offers you thousands of opportunities in sectors ranging from the popular IT & engineering sphere to the less in-demand fundraising & grants.
See also: What documents do you need to apply for a tender?
Do you want to bid as an individual? The option of setting-up alerts for tenders for individuals is also available on www.developmentaid.org. One piece of advice based on this analysis is that you should probably focus on consulting services, as there are very few other opportunities you could be eligible for.
These are just a few ideas on how you can apply this data to better strategize. On developmentaid.org you will find more articles and advice on how to tender and thus help the global aid community to achieve common development goals.
