Procurement Reference Number: FSDU/SRVC/2023/00089
1. Background and Context

About FSD Uganda

Financial Sector Deepening Uganda (FSD Uganda) is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee and working to promote financial inclusion in Uganda. Several studies show that financial exclusion in Uganda is a major constraint to economic growth and to people moving out of poverty. The Finscope Survey of 2018 shows that women are not only more excluded than men, but of the excluded women 87% of them are in rural areas while 62% of them are youth, below the age of 36 years. FSD Uganda seeks to develop a more inclusive financial sector with a focus on low-income individuals, at the bottom of the pyramid, including but not limited to youth, women, refugees, persons with disabilities, small-holder farmers, as well as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to enable the individuals in these sectors attain improved livelihoods. FSD Uganda also works through partnerships and facilitates both public and private sector institutions to improve policy, laws and regulations that shape the financial sector and to develop relevant financial products.

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The vision of FSD Uganda is “To promote access to quality, low-cost financial products and services for marginalised groups while creating opportunities for Ugandans to be economically self-sufficient.” Its mission is “To promote improved inclusive financial markets that foster job creation, reduce poverty and improve Uganda’s competitiveness”.

About Mastercard Foundation
The goal of Mastercard Foundation is to enable at least three million young people in Uganda to access dignified work and improved livelihoods over the next 10 years. The key focus of Mastercard Foundation is to increase access to finance, education, and skills training to smallholder farmers, teachers, out-of-school youth as well as all youth in different sectors across the country. In fulfilling its mandate and goal, the Mastercard Foundation remains aligned to the national priorities to create work opportunities and improved livelihoods for young women, men, as well as refugees in Uganda. The focus on refugees is critical as Uganda has estimated refugee population of 1.4 million who need to be integrated within the host communities and enabled to find employment or to create their own work opportunities.

About the MSE Recovery Fund
The Micro and Small Enterprise (MSE) Recovery Fund is implemented through a partnership between the Mastercard Foundation and FSD Uganda. The Recovery Fund is intended to support MSEs to recover from the adverse effects of Covid 19 in the country. The project is worth US $ 26.4 million and will be implemented over a 5-year period spanning from November 2021 to October 2026. The intervention will improve livelihoods of 250,000 Ugandans mostly targeting the young women who form the majority of the financially excluded. It will directly secure/protect/create 250,000 dignified and fulfilling jobs for young women and men. Of those targeted, up to 70% will be young women, while 7% will be refugee youth and 3% young people with disabilities. The remaining 20% will comprise Ugandans from different sections of the population.

Access to affordable credit remains a key constraint for MSEs growth and sustainability. The Recovery Fund supports the resilience of Tier 3 and Tier 4 Financial Service Providers (FSPs) that serve MSEs by providing capital to ease their liquidity challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The support is intended to shorten the recovery process of women and youth owned MSEs. To this effect, the Fund will provide capital to 25 selected FSPs for on-lending to 50,000 MSEs.

The intervention also intends to use technology to drive impact and scale by supporting at least 10 participating FSPs to develop digital solutions that will enable them to improve their loan processes to reach and serve more. In addition, at least 25 FSPs will be supported to access Credit Market Information System, specifically through the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB).

2. Purpose of the Assignment
The MSE Recovery Fund is seeking a Technology Advisor to identify, evaluate, advise and recommend suitable technology solutions to help FSPs streamline operations, reduce costs, simplify loan disbursement processes, and enhance their lending decisions based on data-driven insights.

3. Scope of work
The Technology Advisor will:
1. Assess the current operational technologies, and systems to establish the level of digitization of the financial institutions.
2. Identify gaps and areas of improvement in the participating financial institution’s credit processes.
3. Engage stakeholders through interviews, workshops, and surveys to understand specific requirements and challenges.
4. Review the digitization strategies of the financial institutions and make recommendations for support in alignment with FSDU’s digitization support initiatives.
5. Engage with FSP’s core banking service providers and offer advisory in terms of the user needs requirements, system flexibility and system costs.
6. Research and analyze potential technology solutions available in the market that align with the needs of FSPs.
7. Provide a comprehensive report detailing recommendations for technology adoption, including implementation plans, cost implications, and potential risks.
8. Offer insights on training and change management to ensure successful adoption of the recommended solutions.
9. Advise on how credit referencing systems and tools can be integrated to enhance decision-making during lending.
10. Review the MSE recovery fund portfolio monitoring tool and advise on maintenance requirements.

4. Evaluation of EOIs
Evaluation of the EOI will be based on the following evaluation criteria:

Individual consultants
• Consultants' academic qualifications.
• Consultants' skills and experience
• Experience in IT consultancy and digital transformation projects.
• Experience in undertaking system audits.
• Experience in implementing technological solutions for financial institutions.

Consultants/ Firms
Firms shall be evaluated based on the following criteria:
• Eligibility requirements including:
• Valid practicing and/or trading license 2023 or its equivalent;
• Transactional tax clearance certificate addressed to Financial Sector Deepening Uganda for 2023;and
• Certificate of incorporation or Registration and all other legal documents.
• Experience in IT consultancy and digital transformation projects.
• Experience in undertaking system audits.
• Experience in implementing technological solutions for financial institutions.
• Strong understanding in relation to Credit Reference Bureau applications and integration requirements.
• Experience and qualifications of the proposed personnel.by the consultant.

Consultants will be selected in accordance with FSD Uganda Procurement guidelines. Only short-listed consultants shall be considered and contacted.
The planned procurement schedule (Subject to changes) is as follows:

Activity	Date
Publication of Notice of expression of interest	7 September 2023
Closing date for receipt of expression of interest	25 September 2023

How to Apply:
Submit your EOIs by email to procurement@fsduganda.or.ug not later than 4:00 PM, 25 September 2023.