Lapis Middle East Africa
UAE free-zone communications company; CSSF contractor
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Lapis Middle East & Africa is a contractor to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) under the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF). It is not among the named suppliers on Lots 1 and 3 of the CSSF Framework Agreement 2023–27; the 37 Lot 2 suppliers were "redacted on National Security grounds".[1] Contracts Finder lists 1 published CSSF award(s) to the organisation with a combined stated value of £979,708. FCO and FCDO payments to it over £25,000 recorded in published departmental spending data total about £3,049,970; these figures cover all FCO/FCDO (and, after September 2020, former Department for International Development) programmes and are not limited to the CSSF.[2]
Overview
Lapis is a Dubai-based communications agency within the MOBY Group.[3]
MOBY Group describes Lapis as "a full service, strategic communications agency" founded in 2004 that "specializes in shaping perceptions, attitudes and behaviors", focused on the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, with themes including "nation-building", "conflict resolution" and "irregular migration". Its listed address is in the Burj Daman building in Dubai's DIFC.[3]
CSSF/ISF and other UK government work
In 2016 the mobile survey firm GeoPoll described a partnership with Lapis to gather community feedback in Kandahar, Afghanistan, for the USAID-funded Kandahar Food Zone programme.[4] Public sources give few details of Lapis's specific CSSF programmes, beyond the Contracts Finder and spend records summarised below.
The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) reviewed the CSSF's aid spending in March 2018 and gave it an amber-red score, finding the fund responsive to National Security Council priorities but with weak results management and inadequate evidence of outcomes and value for money.[5] ICAI published a follow-up review in 2019.[6]
Controversies and criticism
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported in 2018 that a US Foreign Agents Registration Act filing showed Lapis had hired Andreae & Associates, run by former Bell Pottinger USA chief executive Charles Andreae, in August 2017. The contract was to produce "six multimedia products" on Qatar's alleged "connection to global terrorism", at the height of the Saudi- and UAE-led blockade of Qatar. Andreae also registered as a lobbyist on Qatar–US relations on Lapis's behalf. The Lapis employee named in the filing had previously worked for Bell Pottinger. Neither Andreae nor Lapis responded to the Bureau. The Bureau described Lapis as owned by "an Afghan-Australian entrepreneur".[7] Monocle described Lapis advertising campaigns for the Afghan National Army, quoting Moby Group chairman Saad Mohseni.[8] O'Dwyer's reported in 2013 that Lapis had won a six-figure UN contract to promote biometric voting in Yemen's 2014 elections.[9]
Published CSSF contracts
| Award date | Contract | Value (£) | Supplier name as published | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-08-08 | CSSF Lots A&B: Pakistan - Supporting Strategic Communications | 979,708 | Lapis Middle East & Africa FZ LLC | [10] |
FCO/FCDO payments
| Year | Amount (£) |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 1,951,078 |
| 2017 | 557,767 |
| 2018 | 331,997 |
| 2019 | 209,129 |
| Total | 3,049,970 |
See also
Notes
- ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) Framework Agreement (2023-2027): contract award notice 029743-2023 Find a Tender Service, 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Foreign and Commonwealth Office, FCO departmental spending over £25,000 GOV.UK, 2010–2020; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, FCDO: departmental spending over £25,000 GOV.UK, 2020–2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 MOBY Group, Lapis Communications MOBY Group, accessed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ GeoPoll, GeoPoll gathers community feedback for USAID Food Zone program in Kandahar, Afghanistan GeoPoll, 2016.
- ↑ Independent Commission for Aid Impact, The Conflict, Stability and Security Fund's aid spending ICAI, March 2018.
- ↑ Independent Commission for Aid Impact, ICAI follow-up of: The Conflict, Stability and Security Fund's aid spending ICAI, 2019.
- ↑ Jessica Purkiss, Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Executive who oversaw "black ops" in Iraq hired for anti-Qatar documentary TBIJ, 23 April 2018.
- ↑ Monocle, A Hard Sell: Inside Afghanistan's Wartime Advertising Boom Monocle, accessed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Greg Hazley, O'Dwyer's, UN Gives Afghan Firm Yemen Vote PR Pact O'Dwyer's, 9 October 2013.
- ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, CSSF Lots A&B: Pakistan - Supporting Strategic Communications Contracts Finder, 2017-08-08.