But they need to diversify
Though not all countries break down aid spending according to the type of contractor used, data from those that do suggest that a growing share of aid is funnelled, not through charities or non-profit foundations, but through consultancies and other private-sector contractors that profit from the work. Nearly a quarter of USAID spending in 2016 went to for-profit firms, a share that was two-thirds higher than in 2008. Britain’s Department for International Development (DfID) counts its spending slightly differently: in 2015-16, 22% of bilateral spending (as opposed to money that it paid to multilateral organisations such as the UN) went to contractors, most of them for-profit companies, up from 12% five years earlier.