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Overview

Call for Proposals for Grants

Title: Call for proposals for innovation challenge awards to support financial intermediaries and fintech firms to develop, design, pilot, and scale up financial products and services targeting  informal enterprises and entrepreneurs.

Supervisor: UNDP Sustainable Local and Economic Development Cluster                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Deadline: 27th March 2023

Duration of the Activity: one year

Location: Sierra Leone                  

Timing and Contacts

• Proposals should be submitted via email to procure.sle@undp.org no later than 27th March 2023
• Queries to this call for proposals can be submitted via email to procure.sle@undp.org before 24th March 2023

OBJECTIVES OF THE INNOVATION CHALLENGE

This call for proposals for innovation challenge awards aims to support financial intermediaries (commercial banks, insurers, credit unions,  microfinance institutions, community banks and Financial Services Associations) and fintech firms to develop, design, pilot, and scale up financial products and services targeting informal enterprises and entrepreneurs

WHO CAN APPLY

All registered financial intermediaries (commercial banks, insurers, credit unions,  microfinance institutions, community banks, and Financial Services Associations) and fintechs operating in the country. These may include financial institutions (Banks, MFIs, SACCOS, and others); Payment Service Providers; Agent Banking Aggregators; Mobile Network Operators; technology providers; E-commerce platform providers; FinTech companies.

The potential applicants should meet the following criteria: -

• The applicant must be a registered entity with at least 3 years of operations in the country.
• They should have long-term viability and financially sustainable solutions.
• Experience working with MSMEs will be considered an added advantage.
• Applicants with product development experience would be an added advantage. The idea to be supported presents an opportunity for replicability and is built on technologies or methodologies that are adaptable to various contexts.
• Additionality to other existing financial solutions to maximise impact and value proposition for the target group

CRITERIA FOR SHORTLISTING THE PROPOSALS

UNDP will set up an evaluation committee, to review all proposals received using UNDP’s principles of fairness and integrity.

The following criteria will guide the selection of the winning proposal:

• Company’s performance/track record and product development experience (30%)
• Financial viability of the proposed financial product scalability, catalytic effect, (30%)
• Impact of the proposed financial product and its feasibility with the available resources and partner contributions (40%)

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants must submit a detailed proposal for funding support and the use of such resources via email to procure.sle@undp.org not later than 27th March 2023. The proposal must explain the business model of the company, show how it is inclusive and its financial viability, and explain which development challenge to solve and how the award would be used to improve informal enterprises and entrepreneurs’ access to financial services

DETAIL TOR ATTACHED.