| Overview : The development sector is changing very quickly, and innovation is becoming the central ingredient in any development intervention. Business as usual no longer has a place in development. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is at the forefront of deploying innovative solutions to development challenges to help nations achieve sustainable development goals. One of those initiatives is the integrated innovation ecosystem support programme, the Funguo Innovation Programme (also simply referred to as FUNGUO). The aim of FUNGUO is to increase the number of successfully scaled impact-driven startups and innovative SMEs to contribute to the national development goals and the SDGs in Tanzania. This will be achieved through the programme’s contribution in addressing the obstacles and gaps in the innovation ecosystem that hinder innovative impact ventures from scaling while promoting an environment that empowers innovators and enablers. The three main pillars of the programme are: • Innovation Financing: This includes building a viable pipeline of startups and innovative SMEs, working with partners to provide relevant and flexible financial and technical support to selected ventures, and ultimately setting up an autonomous Funguo Innovation Facility that will leverage public funding to unlock private/third party financing and investment. • Innovation Service Delivery: Contributing to strengthening the capacity of service delivery institutions (hubs, incubators, accelerators, professional business development services providers, etc.) in order to support and lead innovative start-ups to a stage where they could attract impact and/or commercial investments. • Innovation Enabling Environment: working with and supporting policymakers and other innovation stakeholders to promote strategic dialogues, policy influencing and engagement across the innovation ecosystem. The programme is initially being funded by UNDP, the European Union and the British Government through Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO). The implementation is being led by UNDP Tanzania in partnership with the United Nations Capital Development Fund, UNCDF. In a bid to sustain and scale the objectives of the Funguo Innovation Programme, UNCDF and UNDP intend to support the establishment of an autonomous Funguo Innovation Facility (the Facility) that will leverage public funding to unlock private/third party financing and investment. This will be achieved through the partnership with UNCDF and the Funguo Innovation Programme Team. To that end, UNCDF seeks to procure the services of an experienced and agile legal advisory firm to support the registration and initial operationalization process of the Facility. The overall objective of this assignment is to legally register the Facility in Tanzania, develop all initial documents that are required for the process and advise on the optimal governance and management structure of the entity. The consultant firm will undertake the following activities: 1. Facility Registration • Review the existing documentation and previous consultants’ work on establishment of Suitable Business Entity for the UNDP Tanzania Innovation Facility to better understand the background and advise on any required change of course where necessary. • Advise on the best taxation set up of the Facility based on the most tax-efficient and best legal registration for the Facility • Advise on all registrations across different government agencies required • Initiate and complete the process of registration of the facility. This includes conducting all follow up actions with the relevant government authorities. 2. Facility structures, process and operational platforms and manuals • Advise on and develop initial institutional by-laws for the facility , in addition to any required documentation for registration. • Advise on the governance structure of the facility, including but not limited to the nature of the oversight body, its members, and their roles. • Advise on and develop initial facility operational policies and procedures (HR, Code of Conduct, etc) • Develop a portfolio management digital platform that will handle funding applications, reviews, approvals, and subsequent reporting requirements. • Establish accounting systems with ledger reconciliation and cost allocation • Prepare and moderate a workshop to engage key partners (mainly UNDP, UNCDF and the Funguo Programme team) on the operational, legal, and regulatory expectations for the optimal operationalization of the Facility. For full details about the RFP and application process please refer to the attached Request for Proposal document | 
