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Request For Proposal: Terms of Reference for Technical Assistance to the Somali Microfinance Association (SOMMA)
Closing date: 13/05/2025
1.0 About AECF
The AECF, LLC (Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund) is a leading non-profit development organization that supports innovative enterprises in the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors. Its aim is to reduce rural poverty, promote climate-resilient communities, and create jobs.
We catalyze the private sector by surfacing and commercializing new ideas, business models, and technologies designed to increase agricultural productivity, improve farmer incomes, expand clean energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance resilience to the effects of climate change. We finance high-risk businesses that struggle to access commercial funding; we are committed to working in frontier markets, fragile contexts, and high-risk economies where few mainstream financing institutions dare to go.
To date, we have supported over 510 businesses in 26 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, impacted more than 33 million lives, and created over 35,000 direct jobs. The AECF is headquartered in Kenya and has offices in Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Nigeria, South Sudan, Benin, and Somalia.
2.0 About the FIG Somalia programme
Funded by the European Union, FIG is a component of the Inclusive Local and Economic Development (ILED) programme, whose objective is to revitalize and expand the local economy with a focus on livelihood enhancement, job creation, and broad-based inclusive growth for Somali women, youth, and producers through:
3.0 Background of the consultancy
The Somali Microfinance Association (SOMMA) was established with support from the EU-funded Finance for Inclusive Growth (FIG) Somalia programme. Its primary goal is to foster financial inclusion for poor households in Somalia. SOMMA comprises seven-member Microfinance Institutions and receives applications from additional MFIs interested in joining the association.
SOMMA requires technical assistance (TA) to expand its membership and collect membership commissions. This will enhance its operations and effectively serve its members and the poor communities in Somalia.
In this context, AECF seeks an expert consulting firm to conduct an institutional capacity gap assessment for SOMMA. The objective is to identify and address these gaps, enabling SOMMA to function more effectively. As a key player in promoting financial inclusion, SOMMA will support microfinance institutions across Somalia, which are critical for providing access to financial services in target communities. Therefore, strengthening SOMMA’s institutional capacity is essential for better serving its members and advancing the development of the microfinance sector in Somalia. This assignment’s primary objective is to thoroughly assess SOMMA’s institutional capacity and formulate strategies to enhance its operational, management, and service delivery capabilities. The objective is to prepare SOMMA to effectively support its member microfinance institutions and contribute to developing a resilient microfinance sector in Somalia.
4.0 Scope of the consultancy
The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) seeks to engage a highly qualified consulting firm with substantial expertise in the microfinance sector in Somalia. The firm selected should have a proven track record in conducting financial institution capacity gap analyses, developing staff training programmes, and formulating policies and guidelines. Additionally, the firm should have experience creating financing products for MFIs, banks, and associations.
5.0 Deliverables and timing
The assignment will span over six months. The following deliverables will be produced:
6.0 Qualifications
The consultancy firm/team must meet the following requirements:
7.0 Proposal submission
NOTE: THE TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL OFFERS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN THE FORM OF TWO (2) SEPARATE DOCUMENTS. THE AMOUNTS IN THE FINANCIAL PROPOSAL MUST BE DENOMINATED IN USD.
8.0 Reporting
The consultancy firm/team will report to AECF, the FIG programme manager.
9.0 Evaluation Criteria
a) Mandatory Requirements:
2. Trading license, Certificate of incorporation, Certificate of Registration, and other statutory documents.
3. Valid Tax Compliance certificate (Applicable to firms).
4. Passport/National Identification of the lead consultant and key personnel (Applicable to independent consultants)
b) The AECF will form an evaluation committee, which may include employees of the businesses to be supported. The same standards of confidentiality will bind all members. The consultant should ensure they fully respond to all criteria to be comprehensively evaluated.
The AECF may request and receive clarification from any consultant when evaluating a proposal. The evaluation committee may invite some or all the consultants to appear before it to clarify their proposals. In such an event, the committee may consider such clarifications in evaluating proposals.
In deciding the final selection of a qualified bidder, the evaluation criteria will give the technical quality of the proposal a weighting of 70%. Only the financial proposal of those bidders who qualify technically will be opened. The financial proposal will be allocated a weighting of 30%, and the proposals will be ranked in terms of total points scored.
The mandatory and desirable criteria against which proposals will be evaluated are identified in the table below.
No. | Criteria for Assessment | Marks |
1 | Understanding of the terms of reference | |
Detailed description of the service to be provided | 5 | |
Understanding of what AECF is expecting from the assignment | 5 | |
2 | Methodology and work plan | |
Relevance of the methodology proposed to the needs of the assignment | 10 | |
Adequacy of the work plan, including key deliverables and capacity to deliver within a realistic timeline based on the consultancy days designated for the task | 10 | |
3 | Technical experience of staff offered | |
Relevant tertiary level qualification and years of professional experience of the proposed team; and demonstrated Team Leader’s expertise in one of the technical areas, experience in delivering the assignment, methodology, and implementation approach, and demonstrated experience in leading similar assignments. | 5 | |
Prior experience conducting financial institution technical support activity in Somalia with a similar nature and scope, including reference lists indicating the scope and magnitude of similar assignments. | 10 | |
Experience working with donor-funded programmes, including experience in technical assistance delivery and report writing. | 10 | |
Evidence of similar previous experience, at least 5 years, in the banking and financial inclusion sector in Somalia. | 15 | |
4 | Financial Proposal
Clarity, relevance, reality to market of value/value for money of cost for the assignment (inclusive of any applicable tax) |
30 |
Total Score | 100 |
10. Application
The AECF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The AECF considers all interested candidates based on merit without regard to race, gender, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
11. Disclaimer
AECF reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, the number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice, and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party.
Note: AECF does not charge an application fee to participate in the tender process and has not appointed agents or intermediaries to facilitate applications. Applicants are advised to contact the AECF Procurement Department directly.