Procurement Notices

Background

The UN Capital Development Fund makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 46 least developed countries (LDCs).  UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development.

UNCDF’s financing models work through three channels: (1) inclusive digital economies, which connects individuals, households, and small businesses with financial eco-systems that catalyze participation in the local economy, and provide tools to climb out of poverty and manage financial lives; (2) local transformative finance, which capacitates localities through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance to drive local economic expansion and sustainable development; and (3) investment finance, which provides catalytic financial structuring, de-risking, and capital deployment to drive SDG impact and domestic resource mobilization.

The work of UNCDF will be: (a) To support countries to achieve three strategic game-changers:  (i) Catalyze capital; (ii) Strengthen market systems and financing mechanisms; (iii) Accelerate inclusive, diversified, green economic transformation; (b) Through the use of capital and development triggers, i.e., financing, investment and development support; (c) Applied across five priority areas comprising two well-established flagship areas of inclusive digital economies and local transformative finance and three emerging areas of women’s economic empowerment; climate, energy and nature asset finance; and sustainable food systems finance.

UNCDF will increase resilience in LDCs by supporting an energy transition agenda that emphasizes decentralized, renewable and clean energy projects and products that drive green growth. Net-zero emissions energy solutions that expand energy access and value addition are key elements of this approach. UNCDF promotes access to finance across energy value chains, from customer to enterprise to larger investments. UNCDF helps fill the energy SME financing gap through use of its financial instruments. It increasingly supports both solar and improved cooking business models with digital and other technologies to increase their bankability and to reach excluded populations. By 2025, UNCDF aims to support investments that allow 6 million people in at least 10 countries to access and benefit from clean energy. UNCDF investments will also contribute to wider energy market development, with an increased focus on productive use and local economic resilience and with strong connections to other key sectors.

UNCDF has adopted four pillars to improving the energy access market. An (1) investment component (in collaboration with UNCDF’s BRIDGE Facility and other off-balance sheet funds); (2) providing technical and business advisory support to help enterprises investment-ready, as well as general advice and linkages to non-financial resources such as experts and business development opportunities during the life of the partnership; (3) knowledge and learning through customer insights research and Think-Shops to discuss trending market topics; and (4) policy advocacy, global communication campaigns and partnerships with strategic partners, including the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association and Clean Cooking Alliance, to jointly support the strengthening of decentralized energy markets and links to the wider climate finance ecosystem so that business models can thrive and scale.

UNCDF’s vision for energy access, transition, efficiency and productive use is to dramatically expand financing in the decentralized energy market.  To make this happen UNCDF partners with governments, investors, financial institutions, energy service providers and energy supply chain enterprises – providing financial solutions and advice – to test innovative and scalable business models in varying market conditions. The use of digital technologies and innovative finance solutions play essential roles in strengthening decentralized energy markets, particularly in reaching remote and marginalized client segments, and to understand the demand-side of and impact in these markets.

UNCDF’s energy access market development work is  active in Africa, Asia and Pacific Region. UNCDF is implementing key interventions in countries to promote decentralized energy solutions (including a range of decentralized solar solutions, modern clean tools and fuels for cooking, mini-grid/hydro, and advanced biogas/biomass solutions) and selectively deploys these depending on market needs and where UNCDF can add most value:

• Support financial service providers on energy (and other utility) lending and financing, through risk capital (grants, loans and guarantees—as per UNCDF’s investment continuum) and technical assistance;
• Support energy service companies and other energy supply chain enterprises (generation, distribution, usage) to pilot new business models, expand into new geographies or to test innovative partnerships with financial institutions (local and international) through catalytic funding;
• Support energy (and other utility) enterprises (including MSMEs), and energy supply chain enterprises (as off-takers or suppliers—for example fuel suppliers), which have viable business models to achieve market breakthroughs and scale, including for vulnerable last-mile consumers.  An important element here will be investment support (with colleagues from the UNCDF BRIDGE Facility) through risk capital (grants, loans and guarantees);
• Support enterprises with investment readiness preparations, including business planning, financial projections, feasibility studies, market scoping and baseline studies.
• Provide other forms of Technical Assistance and institutional capability development, to prepare these for semi-commercial/commercial financing (debt, equity) and make them bankable/investment ready;
• Support the development of guaranteed mechanism and credit enhancement tools to micro-finance and other financial institutions lending to MSMEs, in close collaboration with colleagues from the UNCDF BRIDGE Facility;
• Support the development of innovative digital services and financing solutions (e.g. business models using PAYG technology, alternative credit scoring, smart subsidies, mobile banking, value stacking) to enable upscaling and reaching more vulnerable people.  This would also include making connections to sectors such as agriculture, forestry, WASH, and various service industries including mobility/logistics.
• Support the crowding in of (commercial) financial service providers (national and international) by de-risking transactions with energy and related enterprises ( e.g. via guarantees or loans) and support innovative finance solutions to increase wider financing flows into the sector (including but not limited to carbon finance, Results-Based Financing schemes, nature solutions services financing, impact/outcome financing, receivables finance, application of blockchain and D-RECs and setting up of SPVs for energy financing).;
• Engage closely with government, strategic partners and regional/global initiatives, including those from UN Energy, SEforALL, CAFI, REDD+, GEF, GCF, UNDP and the wider UN System. This will also include industry associations/networks such as the Clean Cooking Alliance and the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association and various donor and impact investment initiatives. These partnerships aim  to influence high-level dialogue and policies that help create an enabling environment for low-income energy markets to flourish and for both public and private financing flows to increase.
• Strengthen capacities of private sector industry associations, such as national solar energy or clean cooking associations, to enable them act as an effective intermediary between individual energy companies, government and influence policy discussions.
• Strengthen market diagnostic capabilities, supply chain tracking, unit economics analysis, resource and payments flows tracking, and Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) frameworks--enhanced by digital technology (including block-chain)--to access new sources of climate finance.

Information on the Contract Modality:

UNCDF would like to enter into a non-exclusive Framework Agreement, also known as Long-Term Agreement (LTA), with a roster of consultants that will perform the services described in this TOR on a need-basis. In UNCDF, an LTA is a framework agreement by and between UNCDF and a company or individual where the latter may, at any time within the duration of the LTA, be required to render the agreed services at agreed and fixed unit prices. An LTA can be valid for a minimum period of 12 months, with potential extension for up to two (2) additional years, depending on satisfactory performance of the individual / company.

Where a request for service arises, UNCDF can engage the individual holding an LTA through a “call-off” process of the LTA. Every call-off shall have specific tasks, scope of services and outputs to be delivered within a specific period. For this work, the call-off shall be formalized through the issuance of a Purchase Order, attaching thereto the TOR, and any other document relevant to the call-off. Financial commitments will only be established each time a Purchase Order for the specific services/TOR for Individual Contractor is issued.

The LTA shall have a cumulative ceiling amount that may accrue during the life of the LTA, but said amount shall remain as an upper limit, and must not and cannot be interpreted nor understood as either a financial commitment or guarantee of business . It is important to note that, under an LTA, UNCDF does not guarantee that any specific quantity of services shall be made during the term of this agreement. The LTA is not a financial obligation nor commitment from UNCDF. 

Duties and Responsibilities

UNCDF IDE Energy is looking to enter into a Framework Agreement, also known as Long-Term Agreement (LTA), with up to six (6) Consultant(s), to contribute to UNCDF’s financing for decentralized energy and technical assistance in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. This LTA requires fluency in written and spoken English and French languages in the case of West and Central Africa.

Specific areas of work include:    

• Funding and investment launch activities in selected countries: The objective is to launch inception and preparatory activities in new markets. This includes market scoping, needs assessments and financing gap analysis of decentralized energy enterprises, and stakeholder constituency building with government and local funders to tailor UNCDF tools, support and financing approaches to the context of local markets.
• Fund and pipeline development and partner management: The objective is to be part of the local fund management teams  responsible for the evaluation and selection of enterprises and financial institutions who require financing and are identified through a competitive selection process. The enterprises selected by the fund management team are then referred to an independent investment committee (or in the case of the BRIDGE Facility, the Impact and Investment Committee) to be considered for funding.
• Business and finance technical assistance: The objective is to provide technical assistance to enterprises within the UNCDF portfolio. The aim of technical assistance overall is to improve implementation of funded projects, review business operations strategies, financial management, planning and projections, and to prepare companies for scale up and for investment readiness as to crowd in external funders via business development services and advisory support. 
• Brokering investment partnerships and exploring further financing streams (such as climate finance): The objective is to work closely with external funders (local and international) to complement UNCDF’s financing instruments (loans, guarantees and grantsto de-risk investments) in addition to bringing visibility to a pipeline of investible enterprises. This aims to enable enterprises to attract investment to further scale up expansion and for investors to access clean and renewable energy investment opportunities previously deemed too risky. 
• Knowledge management and results sharing: The objective is to contribute good practice in clean energy investment and technical assistance.  This could involve presenting at events and/or putting together policy advocacy and global communication pieces on lessons learned from our market development activities.  This also includes providing feedback to improve UNCDF’s tools and methodologies for selecting partners and implementing technical assistance.

Scope of Work.

Theme 1: Fund and Investment launch activities in selected countries

Key work areas include:

• Completing market mapping and scoping assessments and diagnostic including meetings with stakeholders and needs assessments for energy enterprises, pipeline scoping and financing gap estimations,
• Designing competitive process (challenge fund or other competitive call process; competitive incubation programme) for financing (performance grants or other instruments) guiding documents, including Call for Expression of Interest/Request for Proposal documents appropriate for market situations (including process, eligibility and scoring criteria and overall management framework);
• Disseminating calls among key institutions/people to generate high submission rates;
• Organising group and one-on-one sessions with potential applicants to improve the quality of individual business and financial proposals and encourage organizational interest;
• Organizing information sessions in different regions to promote and market the financing mechanisms on the ground
• Leading incubation workshops and other inception activities to provide early feedback direct technical assistance to enterprises interested in applying for support from UNCDF.

Theme 2: Pipeline Development for Investment and Partner Management

Key work areas include:

• Systematically reviewing long and short-list business and financial proposals submitted, and assess proposal eligibility;
• Conducting due diligence on potential partners; drafting due diligence report with specific recommendations on how UNCDF can best support the institution;
• Aligning innovative and appropriate UNCDF finance instruments for prospective investee partners through appropriate capital and  revenue stack.Advising the Investment Committee (IC) or UNCDF Impact and Investment Committee through analytical documentation and presentation during the IC so that IC members can make informed investment decisions;
• Facilitating the negotiation of financing agreements (grants, loans, guarantees or other) and roadmaps with selected partners and other funding providers, including setting up performance indicators, milestones and payment schedules.
• Monitoring performance of partners as per financing agreement.

Theme 3: Technical Assistance

Key work areas include:

• Pre-investment technical assistance to enterprises’ submission to the competitive funding processes;
• Evaluation of company reports (KPI and narratives) to assess progress against roadmaps and agreement milestones and to global reporting platforms (such as PAYGo PERFORM);
• Implementing additional needs assessments and spot checks with enterprises to strengthen monitoring and evaluation capabilities;
• Providing support for institutional strengthening of enterprises, including financial management, planning and projection capabilities;
• Preparing plans for direct technical assistance implementation;
• Implementing technical assistance over a set period of time as determined by roadmaps/business plans;
• Monitoring and reporting on progress of technical assistance for enterprise milestone checks;
• Executing investment readiness technical assistance to help enterprises prepare for external investment as part of pathway to sustainability.

Theme 4: Brokering investment partnerships

Key work areas include:

• Working closely with BRIDGE Facility colleagues, where relevant, to ensure a common approach to investment, as according UNCDF’s Investment Continuum, with the aim to de-risk investment opportunities for other investors;
• Guiding the financing evaluation of enterprises and carrying out due diligence assessments;
• Work with external funders to structure appropriate blended finance arrangements in different markets;
• Alerting partners to funding opportunities, including from UNCDF and strategic partners.

Theme 5: Knowledge management and results sharing

Key work areas will include:

• Documenting and synthesizing key lessons/insights from engaging with various stakeholders throughout the business opportunity identification, strategy development, partner selection, investment cycle and collaboration stages.
• Refining partner selection tools and financing agreements for risk capital & technical assistance; 
• Contributing to the development of user tool-kits focused on decentralized energy/utility access financing;
• Providing inputs to other energy access related activities and tools (e.g. M&E tools).
• Presenting findings and analysis in good communication presentations (written/social media and other including representing UNCDF at conferences and in webinars) with a wider aim to contribute to policy advocacy and global communication campaigns;
• Linking research and results to wider climate finance and nature-based solutions global knowledge;
• Market diagnostics, impact and demand surveys;
• Updating enterprise progress reports for internal and donor reporting.

Final Products

The consultant(s) will deliver the following final products:

Indicated Deliverables Theme 1:

• Market scoping and or data diagnostics report and enterprise needs assessments;
• pipeline database of prospective companies;
• minutes from stakeholder meetings;
• guidelines for fund launch and implementation plan;
• mission reports from information sessions and incubation workshops

Indicated Deliverables Theme 2:

• Company evaluations;
• due diligence reports;
• summary portfolio reports and presentations for the investment committee;
• Financial analysis and projections;
• Performance based agreements and company roadmaps.

Indicated Deliverables Theme 3:

• Draft application submissions and pre-investment TA meeting minutes;
• TA needs assessments and evaluations;
• Business and financial planning guidelines, advisory notes;
• TA implementation plans;
• TA monitoring reports

Indicated Deliverables Theme 4:

• Company investment evaluations and due diligence reports;
• notes from meetings with external funders (including term sheet analysis);
• documentation of deal and financial structuring.

Indicated Deliverables Theme 5:

• Analytical reports (including big data, demand side studies and overall market diagnostics);
• Short communication and advocacy articles;
• Enhanced partner selection and portfolio monitoring tools;
• Mission reports;
• Enterprise progress reports for donors

Areas of Support and Standard Operating Procedures

UNCDF reserves the right to assign the TOR deliverables and to distribute the assignment to up to six consultants, as UNCDF may deem appropriate to their qualifications.  A Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) - on how each of the consultants will be called upon and for what type of work- shall be developed for this purpose.  The SOPs shall take into consideration the following :

Geographically, UNCDF is broadly looking for:

• Two consultants to support the East and Southern Africa region (e.g. Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Zambia, Malawi)
• Three consultants to support West and Central Africa (e.g. DR Congo, Burkina Faso, Madagascar)
• One consultant to support Asia/Pacific (e.g. Myanmar, Cambodia, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands). 

All consultants must have proficiency in written and spoken English, with the three consultants supporting West and Central Africa projects requiring additional proficiency in  written and spoken French.

Duration of Assignment:

Contract duration: The Framework Agreement shall be signed for 12 months, with possibility of extension for up to 2 more years based on consultant(s)’ satisfactory performance and project needs.

Number of consultants: Up to six consultants under LTA.

Number of working days: Up to 200 working days per person per year

Duty station: Home-based, with travels to countries where UNCDF operates

The schedule of travel will be negotiated with the consultant(s) according to the requirements of each programme.

Travel: Travel costs associated to the assignment will be advanced by the consultants, and paid on a reimbursable basis, and following the UNDP/UNCDF rules and regulations which states that consultants shall only be paid the most direct and most economical ticket, as will be quoted by the official UN travel agency.  Any amount in excess of the said quotation, such as class and airline preference of the consultant, shall be borne by the consultant and the daily living allowance will be paid as per UN Rate.

The consultant(s) will work under the direct supervision of UNCDF IDE Energy Lead and in close collaboration with other relevant colleagues and experts.

Provision of Monitoring and Progress Controls

The consultant(s) will have weekly communication with relevant staff via email and skype, for coordination and guidance purposes, ensuring consultants’ output quality and targets.

The Consultant(s) is responsible for providing his/her own laptop during the course of his/her engagement with UNCDF.

This contract is under a framework agreement that will work on a call-off mechanism. The consultant will be ‘called’ upon to deliver a specific set of deliverables under a TOR and a purchasing order, indicating the total number of days required to complete the services. The contractor shall submit the invoices specifying the outputs delivered and the Certificate of Payment form for the approval of UNCDF.

The following supporting documents will serve as conditions for payments to an Individual Contractor(s): (i) submission of an invoice and Certificate of Payment (COP); and (ii) review, approval and written acceptance of each deliverable by the IDE Energy Lead and/or any other staff designated by IDE Energy Lead.

UNCDF shall closely monitor the performance of the Individual Contractors, and such monitoring shall include the detailed tracking of cumulative payments ensuring that they do not exceed the approved limit of the LTA. Final payment shall require a signed performance evaluation of the consultant.

If the consultants fail to meet performance requirements detailed above, s/he will receive in first instance, a communication requesting an improvement in performance. Continued failure to meet performance requirements may result in termination of the call-off PO, the non-utilization of the LTA, until its expiration, and eventually non-extension of the LTA.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards and acts in accordance with the Standards of Conduct for international civil servants;
• Advocates and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNCDF;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

• Able to conduct market research, business plan development and/or institutional due diligence, such as on energy enterprises and financial institutions;
• Able to support business models that include linkages between energy access and access to finance;
• Understands how financial service providers and/or small to medium scale enterprises serving last-mile market segments operate;
• Understands incubation and investments needs of decentralized energy and other utility enterprises and service companies and how these lead to further market development;
• Understands blended finance and how to operationalize financing instruments such as results-based financing, impact investing, the use of smart subsidies, and/or carbon financing;
• Strong quantitative and financial abilities, such as making financial projections and analyzing financial statements, terms sheet analysis, financial structuring;
• Strong analytical writing skills; experienced in producing concise, executive level reports and presentations, training modules and materials;
• Good interpersonal skills and experience in working effectively in a multi-cultural environment, with sensitivity to diverse opinion;
• Strong communications skills in speaking, writing, as well as presenting materials in variety of media.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Masters level qualifications in business, finance, economics, energy, (electrical) engineering or related fields;

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years hands-on experience supporting development of decentralized energy markets or other utility;
• Minimum  5 years’ experience advising or implementing energy business models that incorporate financing, digital services and/or access to finance for vulnerable people, including household/business level solutions as well as larger SME and community-based solutions (years of experience can overlap with other categories);
• Minimum t 3 years’ experience in designing and implementing challenge funds and/or other competitive financing instruments (e.g. RBF programmes or credit risk guarantee facilities) (years of experience can overlap with other categories);
• Minimum t 3 years’ experience providing technical assistance to financial service providers and/or energy enterprises, particularly in developing the segment of business targeting vulnerable people (years of experience can overlap with other categories);
• Minimum t 2 year of work experience in the geographical zones as specified above.

Language:

• Proficiency  in written and spoken English is required. Knowledge of French is required for consultants who will work for Central and West Africa

Application Process:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Proposers who shall not submit below mentioned documents will not be considered for further evaluation. (NOTE: THE SYSTEM DOES NOT ALLOW MULTIPLE UPLOADS OF DOCUMENTS THEREFORE APPLICANTS MUST MAKE SURE TO UPLOAD ALL REQUIRED DOCUMENTS IN ONE FILE).

Failure to submit all the below mentioned documents will result in rejection of the application.

• A one-page cover letter responding to the competency criteria, indicating why the candidate considers himself/herself suitable for the required consultancy as we