Request for Proposal: Provision of technical assistance to small and growing agribusinesses under the Investing in Women in Nigeria programme

1. A propos de l'AECF

L'AECF, LLC (Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund) est une organisation de développement à but non lucratif qui soutient des entreprises innovantes dans les secteurs de l'agroalimentaire et des énergies renouvelables dans le but de réduire la pauvreté rurale, de promouvoir des communautés résilientes au changement climatique et de créer des emplois.

Nous catalysons le secteur privé en faisant émerger et en commercialisant de nouvelles idées, de nouveaux modèles d'entreprise et de nouvelles technologies conçus pour accroître la productivité agricole, améliorer les revenus des agriculteurs, élargir l'accès à l'énergie propre, réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre et améliorer la résilience aux effets du changement climatique. Nous finançons des entreprises à haut risque qui ont du mal à accéder aux financements commerciaux ; nous nous engageons à travailler dans des marchés frontières, des contextes fragiles et des économies à haut risque où peu d'institutions financières traditionnelles osent aller.

À ce jour, nous avons soutenu plus de 510 entreprises dans 26 pays d'Afrique subsaharienne, influencé plus de 33 millions de vies et créé plus de 35 000 emplois directs. L'AECF a son siège au Kenya et des bureaux en Côte d'Ivoire, en Tanzanie, au Nigeria, au Sud-Soudan, au Bénin et en Somalie.

2. About the programme

The IIW-Nigeria program, implemented by AECF, aims to unlock the potential of women entrepreneurs and women-benefiting businesses in Nigeria’s agribusiness sector. Through tailored technical assistance, AECF supports enterprises to enhance their commercial viability, investment readiness, and overall business sustainability.

The TA intervention is part of a broader strategy to address gender gaps in access to finance, capacity, and markets by equipping women-led and women-serving enterprises with the tools and knowledge to grow and thrive.

3. Objective of the assignment

The specific purpose of this assignment is to deliver customized technical assistance to agribusinesses in Kano, focusing on five core thematic areas identified by AECF:

1. Market Attractiveness
2. Viabilité du modèle d'entreprise
3. Financial Viability
4. Leadership and Governance
5. Climate Smart Practices/Technologies and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Performance

The assignment will support these businesses to improve competitiveness, sustainability, and their ability to access capital while advancing gender-responsive and inclusive business practices

4. Champ d'application

Le consultant travaillera avec l'AECF et l'équipe de direction des entreprises investies pour mettre en œuvre des interventions dans les fonctions ci-dessous :

a) Market attractiveness

• Assess the presence, adequacy, and quality of existing strategic and business plans for each company.
  • Where plans exist, review and provide annotated recommendations to strengthen alignment with market trends, growth ambitions, climate resilience, and gender inclusion.
  • For companies lacking strategic plans, co-develop detailed 3–5-year investor-ready strategic plans based on company input and sector benchmarks.
• Design and facilitate strategic planning workshops for each company’s leadership team to refine mission, vision, goals, competitive advantage, and strategic priorities.
• Conduct rapid market assessments to identify viable product or service opportunities, geographic expansion potential, and pricing dynamics.

b) Leadership and governance

• Evaluate current governance structures, including board roles, composition, decision-making protocols, and compliance with regulatory or internal expectations and assist in closing the compliance gaps.
• Support the development or refinement of governance documents such as board charters, shareholder agreements, conflict of interest policies, and codes of conduct.
• Advise on the establishment or strengthening of advisory boards or external oversight mechanisms as applicable.
• Deliver targeted governance coaching to founders or board leaders, tailored to company-specific challenges (e.g., succession planning, dual roles).

c) Financial and business model strengthening

• Conduct a baseline diagnostic of each company’s financial management processes, tools, and reporting culture.
• Co-create simple but robust financial tools, including annual budgeting templates, monthly financial reporting dashboards, and cost-tracking sheets.
• Review existing contracts with suppliers, distributors, and partners; recommend and introduce improved formats with key risk mitigation clauses.
• Introduce SOP frameworks (procurement, inventory, HR, finance, etc.) and co-develop where key gaps exist.
• Develop gender-sensitive impact measurement tools (e.g., jobs created, female leadership, income generation) aligned to company goals and AECF reporting.
• Deliver short internal training or onboarding guides on financial discipline, risk mitigation, and operational compliance.

d) Climate-smart practices/Technologies training and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) assessment

• Climate Smart Practices – Rapidly identify gaps, gather baseline data, and develop a tailored curriculum.
• Train & mentor: Deliver a practical Climate Smart Practices/Technologies workshop and provide mentorship to turn learning into action plans.
• Assessment of the ESG compliance status

5. Produits à livrer

Le consultant mènera les activités suivantes :

• Review of the preliminary needs assessment conducted by AECF
• Préparation d'un rapport initial et d'un plan de travail détaillé
• Exécution de la mission et rapports

The anticipated specific deliverables for the consultant will include the following:

a) Market attractiveness

• A reviewed or newly developed 3–5 year strategic and business plan for each company, with clear articulation of vision, mission, strategic objectives, competitive advantage, and growth pathways.
• A brief market assessment report for each company, highlighting demand trends, competitive analysis, product/service diversification opportunities, and potential new markets.
• A facilitation report for each strategy workshop conducted, including planning materials, attendance records, and action points arising from the sessions.

b) Leadership and governance

• A governance diagnostic report per company, outlining current governance status, gaps, and risks.
• Refined or newly developed governance documentation for each company, including board charters, conflict of interest policies, and leadership codes of conduct.
• A brief coaching summary per company, outlining governance sessions held, leadership engagement, and succession planning recommendations.

c) Financial and business model strengthening

• A financial systems diagnostic report and improvement plan for each company.
• Customizable financial tools and templates, including monthly dashboards, annual budget templates, and cost-tracking sheets tailored to the business model of each investee.
• A set of operational SOPs and at least one standardized supplier/off-taker contract template per company.
• A gender-sensitive impact tracking framework per company (aligned with AECF impact metrics).
• A short training delivery report per company, including materials used and feedback received.

d) Climate-smart practices/Technologies training and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) assessment

• A comprehensive CSA needs‑assessment report, baseline dataset, and customized training curriculum.
• A two or three‑day practical workshop where investees will receive enterprise‑specific 12‑month CSA action plans.
• ESG Compliance status report, detailing needs and gaps

The consultant will also share an insights report for the learning and recommendations from the assignment.

6. Duration of the assignment

The consultancy is expected to run for a period of up to one year, commencing in September 2025 and concluding by August 2026, subject to agreement at contract signing. The estimated Level of Effort (LoE) for this assignment is approximately 20 consultancy days per investee.

6.1) Reporting

The Consultant will report to the Senior Advisory Specialist at the AECF and the IIW Nigeria Program Manager.

7. Soumission de la proposition

As part of its ongoing IIW program in Nigeria, AECF invites proposals from qualified consulting firms to provide technical assistance (TA) to Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs). The consulting firm will eventually support up to 15 SGBs operating in the agribusiness sector in Kano State, Nigeria, with a strong focus on promoting women-led and women-benefiting enterprises.

Interested and qualified consulting firms are invited to submit their proposal(s) comprising the following:

1. A technical proposal, max 20 pages (excluding annexes)

• Une compréhension des exigences en matière de consultance.
• Methodology and work plan for performing the assignment underpinned by a demonstration of value for money.
• Liste de références détaillée indiquant la portée et l'ampleur de missions similaires.
• Relevant services undertaken in the last five (5) years.
• Letters of signed reference from at least 3 previous companies/assignments
• Registration and other relevant statutory documents.
• CVs for the team and Lead consultant in the subject /Area matter.

2. Une proposition financière

• Clearly showing the proposed team members, roles, and proposed days, and the proposed professional fee (daily rate and total amount per team member). The financial proposal shall also include an indication of reimbursables (travel, communication, etc.). Currency to be in USD.

N/B: Technical and Financial proposals should be submitted separately. Combining the financial and technical documents as one document will automatically disqualify the applicant.

8. Consultant profile

Qualified consulting firms or consortia must meet the following criteria:

• At least 7 years of experience in enterprise development, business advisory, or investment facilitation.
• Proven experience working with SGBs in Nigeria, especially in agribusiness and women-led enterprises.
• Demonstrated expertise in at least four of AECF’s TA areas (market, model, finance, leadership and governance, and ESG).
• Strong climate-related enterprise support experience.
• Strong gender lens and inclusion approach to enterprise support.
• Experience facilitating practical, hands-on capacity-building sessions.
• Experience in providing capacity building using a credible learning management system (LMS).
• Excellent communication, stakeholder engagement, and documentation skills.
• Credible ESG training and support accreditation across Africa.

9. Critères d'évaluation

Mandatory evaluation criteria

Mandatory Requirements for firms:

• Company profile
• Trading license or Certificate of incorporation or Certificate of Registration and other statutory documents
• Valid Tax Compliance certificate or its equivalent
• Passport/National Identification and CV or profile of the lead consultant and key personnel
• Audited financial statements for the past three years.

N/B: Failure to attach and adhere to the above requirements will result in automatic disqualification

10. Critères d'évaluation

Un comité d'évaluation sera constitué par l'AECF et pourra inclure des employés des entreprises à soutenir. Tous les membres seront soumis aux mêmes normes de confidentialité. Le consultant doit s'assurer qu'il répond pleinement à tous les critères afin d'être évalué de manière exhaustive.

L'AECF peut demander et recevoir des éclaircissements de la part de tout consultant lors de l'évaluation d'une proposition. Le comité d'évaluation peut inviter certains ou tous les consultants à se présenter devant le comité pour clarifier leurs propositions. Dans ce cas, le comité d'évaluation peut tenir compte de ces éclaircissements lors de l'évaluation des propositions.

In deciding the final selection of qualified bidder, the technical quality of the proposal will be given a weighting of 80% based on the evaluation criteria. Only the financial proposal of those bidders who qualify technically will be opened.

Les critères obligatoires et souhaitables sur la base desquels les propositions seront évaluées sont indiqués dans le tableau ci-dessous.

The following criteria will be used for the evaluation:

11. Tarification

The AECF is obliged by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes on service contract fees as well as ensure that VAT is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position with regard to the provisions of Kenya tax legislation when developing their proposals.

12. Application details

L'AECF est un employeur qui souscrit au principe de l'égalité des chances. L'AECF examine tous les candidats intéressés en fonction de leur mérite, sans tenir compte de la race, du sexe, de la couleur, de l'origine nationale, de la religion, de l'orientation sexuelle, de l'âge, de l'état civil, du statut d'ancien combattant, du handicap ou de toute autre caractéristique protégée par la législation en vigueur.

• Interested consulting firms are requested to submit their technical and financial proposal to aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org by 31^st July 2025, 5 pm EAT.
• All questions should be directed to the procurement email: aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org  by 24 July 2025, 5 pm EAT.
• The subject of the email should be “PROVISION OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO SMALL AND GROWING AGRIBUSINESSES UNDER THE INVESTING IN WOMEN – NIGERIA PROGRAMME”. The AECF shall not be liable for not opening proposals that are submitted with a different subject or responding to questions that did not meet the deadline as indicated.

13. Clause de non-responsabilité

L'AECF se réserve le droit de déterminer la structure du processus, le nombre de participants présélectionnés, le droit de se retirer du processus de proposition, le droit de modifier ce calendrier à tout moment sans préavis et se réserve le droit de retirer cet appel d'offres à tout moment, sans préavis et sans obligation de dédommagement et/ou de remboursement à l'égard de toute partie.

Note : L'AECF ne demande pas de frais de candidature pour participer à la procédure d'appel d'offres et n'a pas désigné d'agents ou d'intermédiaires pour faciliter les candidatures. Il est conseillé aux candidats de contacter directement le département des achats de l'AECF.