Bureau of African Affairs

The Department of State Bureau of African Affairs is a civilian sub-agency that executes U.S. diplomatic and development strategy in sub-Saharan Africa, primarily through contract awards and grants that support foreign investment, commercial engagement, and governance capacity in the region. The Bureau manages both contractual services and direct grants to advance strategic economic and political objectives across the continent.

The Bureau's contract footprint spans 87,059 awards totaling $14.07 billion in combined potential value, with $6.35 billion currently obligated. Contract award volume has declined sharply: the Bureau issued 3,219 awards in 2022, 3,450 in 2023, 2,866 in 2024, 1,836 in 2025, and 888 year-to-date in 2026. The most recent award closed on October 28, 2026. The competitive base is highly fragmented by award count but tightly concentrated by potential value. Over the last five years, miscellaneous foreign awardees account for 53 percent of recent awards by count, while the top five primes by potential value cover only 2 percent of combined potential value—a disparity driven by heavy reliance on foreign entities and scattered small-dollar awards. New TECH Solutions, Inc., Ethan Allen Retail, Inc., and Puma Energy Zambia PLC rank among named domestic and regional primes, though the overwhelming majority of awards flow to miscellaneous foreign recipients whose individual potential values are unreported in source data. Set-asides are negligible: 98 percent of awards carry no set-aside designation, while total small-business awards account for 2 percent.

The Bureau awarded 7,859 grants totaling $311.2 million in federal dollars obligated since 2012. Grant issuance has contracted sharply from 1,221 awards in 2022, 1,089 in 2023, and 1,074 in 2024 to 25 in 2025 and 22 year-to-date in 2026. The most recent grant award closed on September 14, 2026. Grant recipients are fragmented by award count but highly concentrated by federal dollars. Miscellaneous foreign awardees dominate, covering 44 percent of recent awards by count but only 11 percent of federal dollars by value—indicating that named U.S. and international recipients capture larger individual grants. Greenlight Development Centre and International Center For Journalists Inc. appear among recent named recipients. Grants are predominantly Project Grants (95 percent) with a smaller Cooperative Agreement component (5 percent).

Two Cooperative Agreement opportunities are currently open. The U.S.-Africa Strategic Investment Program (DFOP0019410) solicits market-based solutions across Critical Minerals Investment and Commercial Diplomacy Acceleration targeting sub-Saharan Africa, with eligibility for small businesses, nonprofits, for-profit organizations, higher education institutions, and other entities; the due date is May 31, 2027. Supporting Implementation of the Regional Economic Integration Framework in the Great Lakes Region (DFOP0019574) offers targeted technical and advisory support for mining governance in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda, with a September 9, 2026 due date now closed.