ADFI Call for Proposals – 2023

Context

The Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI) aims to remove barriers to the growth and use of digital financial solutions to accelerate financial inclusion in Africa. The facility works through three main pillars namely (i) digital infrastructure (ii) policy and regulation (iii) products and innovation with gender inclusion and capacity building as cross cutting themes.

ADFI was launched in 2019 by the African Development Bank in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the French Development Agency (AfD), the Ministry of Finance, Government of Luxembourg, joined by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, France and the Women’s Enterprise Finance Initiative in 2020 and 2022 respectively.

In line with its 2023 work programme, ADFI is is launching a Call for Proposals to select viable and scalable digital financial solution (DFS) initiatives aimed at fostering access, quality, and usage of financial services as drivers of sustainable financial inclusion especially among the most vulnerable including women, youth and small business.

For more information, please see ADFI Call for Proposals 2023: Document and ADFI Call for Proposal 2023: Application Template.

Goals

The Call for Proposals is aligned with ADFI’s pillars of intervention and has the following two components:

1. Lot 1 targeting the following countries: Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Egypt, Guinea, Morocco, Nigeria and Tanzania
2. Lot 2 targeting regional initiatives

Pillar 1: Digital financial infrastructure

Country level – Technical assistance on interoperability of payment systems, agent networks and merchant acceptance networks; digital registries and alternative credit scoring, increased mobile network coverage, affordable data and digital devices.

Regional level – Technical assistance on interoperability of payment systems, interoperable payment distribution networks, e-commerce platforms.

Pillar 2: Digital Financial Policy & regulation

Country level – Sandboxing/Fintech innovations of policies or testing new digital products and business models; Interoperability regulatory frameworks; and, consumer protection e.g. data privacy, recourse mechanisms, cybersecurity.

Regional level – DFS policies and regulations for cross border remittances; consumer protection e.g. data privacy, recourse mechanisms, cybersecurity; Sandbox policies and testing of new products and business models’ and, e-KYC.

Pillar 3: Digital Financial Products & innovation

Country level – Digitisation of government payments and social transfers; and, digitisation of agriculture value chains and MSMEs.

Regional level – DFS products that have potential for scale, in more than one country, address needs of the base of the pyramid and touch key sectors such as MSME and agriculture.

Evaluation criteria

• Project viability
• Applicant’s expertise and track record in relation to proposed project
• Ability to scale
• Potential impact of the project

Country level – Government ministries, Central Banks, regulatory authorities, bank and non-bank financial institutions, mobile money operators and payment switch companies.

Regional level – Regional economic communities,  regional coordination bodies, regional private sector institutions, international agencies with operations in Africa, inter-governmental organisations, private sector organisations such as bank and non-bank digital financial service providers with regional coverage.

Other projects requirements

Funding Allocation

1. Maximum size of grant funding under Lot 1 (country level): USD 1 million
2. Maximum for blended finance of grant and loan under Lot 1: USD 1.5 million
3. Maximum size of grant under Lot 2 (regional level): USD 1.5 million
4. Minimum size of loan under Lot 1 and Lot 2: USD 1 million

Project Duration

1. Country level projects: two to three years
2. Regional level projects: three to four years

Deadline for Submission: 31st March 2023

Method

1. We encourage interested and eligible organisations to apply using the attached template. Applications may be submitted in French or English.

1. Applications should be submitted to the following email address ADFI_CallforProposals2023@AFDB.ORG  by 31/03/2023 12.00 mid night Abidjan time. The email subject should read: Call for Proposals-ADFI 2023 – Name of Country or Region.

1. Questions or clarifications on the Call for Proposal can be sent by e-mail to the following address: ADFI_CallforProposals2023@AFDB.ORG

Review and evaluation of proposals

Short-listing and selection of proposals will be in accordance with the stipulated evaluation criteria and in line with ADFI’s Operating Guidelines. The Bank is under no obligation to shortlist any company, partnership,  joint-venture, consortium, public body or association. The submission of an application is no guarantee that the project will be selected for funding. If you do not receive feedback on your application by 31st July 2023, consider your application unsuccessful.