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Working in partnership with donors to support international development

Development Partners by McKinsey helps tackle some of the world’s most pressing social and economic challenges by working in partnership with governments and donors on official development-assistance programs.

We draw on McKinsey’s capabilities, technical expertise, and tools to deliver tangible results that improve the lives of millions worldwide by enhancing access to learning, generating jobs across sectors, facilitating public-private partnerships, and increasing sustainable investment to help grow economies for the long term.

What we do

Our geographic reach—combined with the skills and experience gathered over decades spent serving governments, donors, and aid agencies—enable us to deliver impact on the ground across multiple sectors including education, finance, public health, and sustainability. Our development work is led by our country offices, who partner with local experts to provide strategic and technical support to donors, helping them meet their development goals.

Improving access to education

Supporting programs to increase the number of children in schools; improving the quality of education by upgrading facilities, school buildings, and teaching resources; training teaching staff

Investing in sustainability

Catalyzing investment in forests and sustainable land use to halt deforestation and promote sustainable land management

Advancing economic development

Leveraging investment that boosts industries and creates jobs; and supporting governments by designing and implementing strategies to grow sustainable economies

Enhancing public-health systems

Addressing systemic challenges that prevent access to high-quality healthcare by designing and embedding initiatives that improve patient outcomes

Examples of our work

Better Health Programme Brazil

Funded by UK Aid, the Better Health Programme will run from 2019 through 2022 and aims to equip public-health authorities and leading institutions with the capacity to address some of Brazil’s most pressing public-healthcare challenges. This includes implementing a pilot to provide teleconsultations to health posts without doctors in remote areas; designing an ambitious digital health strategy for the leading public hospital in Latin America; and designing three data portals for citizens, healthcare professionals, and local managers to easily access health indicators.

Manufacturing Africa

A UK Aid-funded program running from 2019 until 2026 covering East and West Africa, Manufacturing Africa aims to reduce poverty by attracting £1.2 billion of foreign direct investment into the manufacturing sector and creating 90,000 jobs. The program has supported the delivery of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Summit, which brought together donors, investors, and manufacturers to accelerate vaccine manufacturing on the continent. Manufacturing Africa also worked with Edo State’s investment promotion agency in Nigeria to improve investor outreach processes and strengthen their manufacturing deal pipeline.
Visit Manufacturing Africa

Featured experts

Tracy Francis
Senior Partner and Chief Marketing Officer, São Paulo
Advises clients and serves as our global chief marketing officer; leads the firm’s environmental, social, and governance initiatives
Kannan Lakmeeharan
Partner, Johannesburg
Brings years of experience in the energy sector and economic development to serving clients on energy transition, electricity...

Featured insight

Article

Africa’s green manufacturing crossroads: Choices for a low-carbon industrial future
– In Africa, the decarbonization of the manufacturing sector and economic growth and industrialization can go hand in hand; the choices the continent makes now will be critical for its future success and prosperity.

Keep exploring

Sustainability
Learn how we work with private- and public-sector institutions on challenges created by growing pressure on resource systems and increasing environmental risk.

Philanthropy
We help private and corporate foundations, as well as individual philanthropists to develop strategies for achieving systems-level social impact.

Downloads

Carbon Reduction Plan

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