Tenders for the development sector: exclusive insights from February 2025

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.

What are Tenders?

Tenders are requests for participation in a project. Tendering is the process organizations use to find stakeholders who are able to satisfy a specific need, such as certain services or goods. Interested stakeholders are invited to bid for projects if they can meet specific requirements and timelines.

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.