1. The Africa Enterprise challenge Fund

The AECF is a leading African development organization that supports innovative enterprises in the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors to reduce rural poverty, promote resilient communities, and create jobs. AECF has raised over US$ 450 million to provide catalytic funding and technical advisory support to enterprises that struggle to meet traditional risk-return standards for commercial investors. In just over a decade, we have supported 510 enterprises in 26 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, impacted more than 33 million lives, created over 35,000 direct jobs, and leveraged US $838 million in matching funds.

We surface and commercialize new ideas, business models, and technologies designed to increase agricultural productivity, improve farmer incomes, expand clean energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve resilience to the effects of climate change while also addressing the crosscutting themes of women, youth, and fragility. AECF is committed to working in frontier markets, fragile contexts, and high-risk economies where few mainstream financing institutions dare to go. In 2021, the AECF launched a refreshed strategy of building resilience and sustainable incomes for rural and marginalized communities in Africa.

2. About Investing In Women in South Sudan (IIW SS)

The Investing in Women in South Sudan (IIW-SS) program is a five-year program (2021-2025) (addresses poverty, food insecurity, and climate vulnerability among small-scale farmers. Supported by Global Affairs Canada (GAC), it operates in East Equatoria and Central Equatoria States. IIW-SS aims to enhance women’s economic empowerment in selected value chains (groundnut, sesame, sorghum, shea nut, and honey) to increase incomes, reduce climate risks, and transform livelihoods. The programme supports businesses through grant funds disbursed directly into larger private sector investees based on AECF’s standard operating procedures. The project focuses on 8 private sector companies in Central Equatoria and Eastern Equatoria operating in the following value chains, Honey, Shea butter, Sesame, Groundnuts, Sorghum and Seeds. The companies have reached over 8000 smallholder farmers with products and services and the data will be collected from the sampled smallholder farmers and the communities’ members engaged in the program.

Program objectives

• Reduce gender-specific barriers to women’s participation in agricultural value chains.
• Increase adoption of gender-sensitive climate-smart agricultural practices.
• Improve employment or livelihoods for women in agriculture and food systems.

The program seeks a qualified consultant to support the impact measurement of specific indicators as highlighted in the scope of work.

2.1 Key Indicators to Be Measured but not limited to;

Gender Empowerment and Decision-Making

• % of total women reached by the project who participate in decision-making at household/farm level related to agriculture.
• Reduction in Value Chain Barriers% of total women reporting a reduction in at least two of the following value chain barriers:
• Gender based violence
• Unpaid care work
• Land tenure issues
• Access to information
• Access to resources

Adoption of Gender-Sensitive, Climate-Smart Practice

• % of women-owned/led SMEs and farmers adopting at least two gender-sensitive, climate-smart agricultural practices
• # of farmers (m/f) implementing at least one new climate-smart and/or gender-sensitive practice or technology
• % of early warning systems on climate/conflict risks considered improved by users- WRO/ CBOs/ investees
• Satisfaction and Perception Metrics
• Satisfaction level (scale 1–5) of women-owned/led SMEs and farmers on the resilience of their agribusinesses
• Change in participant perception of knowledge on risk and asset security (scale 1–5)
• Community member satisfaction (f/m) with cross-learning events on risk/security (scale 1–5)
• % of farmers (m/f) satisfied with extension services (scale 1–5)

Economic Impact and Inclusion

• % of total farmers, especially women, with a change in net income
• % of farming community members (f/m) with increased knowledge of gender-specific barriers to resource access

Climate and Risk Preparedness

• % of early warning systems on climate/conflict risks considered improved by users- WRO/ CBOs/ investees

3. Purpose of the assignment

The IIW SS Performance Measurement Framework has a list of indicators that are being tracked through the investees reporting cycles. However, there are indicators that require surveys for data collection. The consultant will work closely with the IIW SS program manager, Gender and Impact teams, to develop data collection tools, carry out the survey on progress towards achieving the milestones/indicators and develop the reports based on each of the indicators being tracked.

4. Scope of Work

The key objectives of the study will be to

• Review the market assessment report and the PIP to understand the situation before the project implementation.
• Develop a sampling methodology for interviewing both the 8 investee businesses and their beneficiaries (including disaggregation by gender, age, region).
• Interview the sampled beneficiaries and the business they are affiliated with.
• Interview community members engaged in areas of project implementation
• Ensure ethical standards, informed consent, and safeguarding protocols for all respondents.
• Develop tools (questionnaires, interview guides) aligned with the indicators listed above
• Recruit and train enumerators (if applicable), pilot and finalize survey tools and coordinate and oversee field data collection across selected project areas.
• Conduct analysis and submit a comprehensive report detailing the methodology, findings per indicators, lessons learned and recommendations for improvement.
• Clean, analyze, and disaggregate data as required.
• Use both descriptive and inferential statistics, and qualitative analysis where relevant.

5. Methodology

This assignment will include desk top based research to find any materials available on women economic empowerment and compare the information collected during the market assessment and PIP development phase and the data being collected in the study at hand.

The consultant is expected to conduct both online and face-to- face interviews where necessary with enterprise owners, implementing partners, local government officials, men and women participating in the program, and the community targeted in programme. The consultant will develop relevant tools and approaches to gain a deeper understanding of the outcomes and impact of the projects.

6. Deliverables

The consultant is expected to lead, accomplish, and submit the following deliverables within the agreed timeframe and budget.

• An inception report outlining approach, data sources, methodology, work plan, team members, tools to be deployed and stakeholder engagement processes.
• Draft report on the study findings on results and target matrix and recommendations for future interventions
• A validated comprehensive report (not more than 40 pages) on the study findings, target matrix, and recommendations for future interventions.
• A PowerPoint presentation to the stakeholders on the findings of the study

7. Qualifications
   • The lead consultant should have a master’s in development finance, Economics, statistics, monitoring and evaluation, or related fields.
   • Minimum of 8–10 years of relevant experience in the design, implementation, and evaluation of agribusiness and gender-focused development programmes.
   • Extensive experience in South Sudan.
   • Proven expertise in household and beneficiary survey design, quantitative and qualitative data collection, and analysis methodologies.
   • Strong track record in stakeholder engagement, especially with women-led businesses, rural households, and local government structures.
   • Extensive experience working in South Sudan, with a deep understanding of the socio-economic, cultural, and gender dynamics affecting women in agribusiness.
   • In depth knowledge of investing through the private sector, particularly models that empower women in agriculture and enterprise development.
   • A team member with gender specialty
   • Ability to work independently in remote and fragile contexts.
   • Knowledge of local languages in South Sudan is an added advantage.

8. Duration of the service

The task will take a period of 4 months staggered and paid for based on the deliverables.  This assignment can be conducted by a team of experts or an individual expert.

9. Proposal submission

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

1. Technical proposal

• An understanding of the consultancy requirements.
• Methodology and work plan for performing the assignment.
• Detailed reference list indicating the scope and magnitude of similar assignments.
• Relevant services undertaken in the past five (5) years.
• CVs of relevant team members
• Letters of reference from previous companies/assignments
• Registration and other relevant statutory documents (this apply to Institutional consultants).

2.A financial proposal

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

N/B: TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL PROPOSALS BE SUBMITTED SEPARATELY. COMBINING THE FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL DOCUMENT AS ONE DOCUMENT WILL AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFY THE APPLICANT

10. Pricing

AECF is obliged by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes on service contract fees as well as ensure VAT, at 16%, is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position with regards to provisions of Kenya tax legislation when developing their proposals.

11. Evaluation Criteria

MANDATORY EVALUATION CRITERIA.

1. Mandatory Requirements for firms: –
2. Company profile.
3. Trading license or Certificate of incorporation or Certificate of Registration and other statutory documents.
4. Valid Tax Compliance certificate (Applicable to firms).
5. Passport/National Identification of the lead consultant and key personnel

An evaluation committee will be formed by the AECF and may include employees of the businesses to be supported. All members will be bound by the same standards of confidentiality. The consultant should ensure that 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 the committee to clarify their proposals. In such an event, the evaluation committee may consider such clarifications in evaluating proposals.

In deciding the final selection of qualified bidder, the technical quality of the proposal will be given a weighting of 70% based on the evaluation criteria. 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.

12. Application details

The AECF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The AECF considers all interested candidates based on merit without regard to race, gender, colour, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

• Interested firms are requested to submit their technical and financial proposal to aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org by 3^rd July 2025
• All questions should be directed to the procurement email by 26^th June 2025, 5pm (EAT).
• The subject of the email should be ‘’TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONSULTANCY SERVICES TO CONDUCT SURVEYS TO EVALUATE IMPACT FOR IIW SS”. 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. Disclaimer

AECF reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, 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.

1. 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 with the aim of reducing rural poverty, promoting climate resilient communities, and creating 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 improve 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 33million 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. About the Role

AECF is implementing a significant programme in Sudan funded by the German government through KfW.  This provides financing to SMEs in the country that are relocating away from areas that are impacted by direct conflict, principally Khartoum, towards safer areas in the east of the country – specifically Red Sea, Gedarif and Kassala States. It also provides financing for companies looking to scale up production capacity to a level where they can compete to provide goods to international humanitarian and other donor funded organisations through procurement competitions.

AECF selects the companies that it invests in through a competitive process followed by a comprehensive due diligence and cogeneration with applicants.  This is largely a novel experience for companies in Sudan who have not been exposed to internationally funded subsidy programmes in the past.  The selection process is necessarily lengthy, which, coupled with information asymmetries and the increased levels of public distrust caused by the lengthy conflict has the potential to generate misinformation and rumour that could undermine the confidence in the market for the funding process, AECF and the donor, KfW. At the same time, we have to be extremely cautious with the information that we do disseminate on the programme to ensure that business in Sudan that receive funding are not targeted by rent seeking actors.

In order to manage the information process with the market and with local stakeholders, our in-house communications team need to be strengthened with specialist advisory support in communications in Sudan. This will involve designing and implementing a comprehensive communication strategy for the programme, until it is concluded in June 2026.

3. Scope of Work

As the Sudan Communication partner, you will be an integral part of our business delivery team and play a pivotal role in ensuring the transparency and effectiveness of AECF’s activities in Sudan. Here’s how you’ll make a difference:

• Create a communication strategy that engages with Sudanese and international partners, including:
  • Identifying key stakeholder groups both in the country and amongst the Sudanese diaspora and the information that they need;
  • crafting a series of messages and regular communication engagements for these different stakeholder groups;
  • identifying media partners both in Sudan and internationally through which to transmit these messages
  • development of feedback mechanisms to elicit opinions from core stakeholders to pre-empt communication crises in the future;
  • comprehensive risk assessment and crisis communication plan in case mitigation measures are not successful.
• Implement the strategy, together with AECF’s communication team
• Liaise with AECF’s communication team to ensure alignment in collaterals and branding as well as approval of communications and messages prior to dissemination
• Design of collaterals in line with AECF’s branding guide
• Media monitoring of Sudanese media outlets
• On-hand to design and deliver crisis communications interventions should such an emergency occur

4. Inputs Required

The assignment requires the provision of a technical consulting input to design the communication strategy coupled with an ongoing operationalisation of this on a part time basis to the current end of the programme in June 2026.  The contractor will work closely with AECF’s in-house communications team who will have overall delivery responsibility for the assignment.

5. Duration of the Assignment

   The assignment is expected to be completed in six months from the commencement date with the option to renew.

6. Reporting to

        The consultant will be reporting to Associate Director Agribusiness

7. Proposal Submission

Qualified consultants are invited to submit a proposal that includes the following:

a) Qualification and experience as indicated in the evaluation criteria.

b) Approach and methodology to undertake this assignment underpinned by a demonstration of value for money.

c) All documents related to the technical proposal must be compiled into a single PDF file, paginated and organized with a clear Table of Content.

d) A detailed financial budget (in USD) and work plan.

e) The technical and financial proposals will need to be submitted as separate documents.

N/B: SUBMITTING THE FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL DOCUMENT AS ONE DOCUMENT WILL AUTOMATICALLY LEAD TO DISQUALIFICATION OF THE APPLICANT.

8. Qualification and Experience

The selected contractor is expected to be an established communication agency that can offer the breadth of technical competence and flexibility on inputs that the assignment will require. At a corporate level, the contractor is expected to be able to demonstrate extensive experience in crisis communication and specific capacity to operate in Sudan and in the Arabic language.  It is not expected that the company will be physically located in Sudan currently, but preference will be given to companies that have a physical presence in Sudan. It is essential that the company has worked extensively with large international development organisations in crisis and conflict situations.

The core team is expected to demonstrate the following competencies:

• Degree level qualification in Communications, Journalism or similar technical field, with the preference for a professional qualification in communication in conflict and crisis areas
• At least 10 years’ experience in designing and implementing crisis communications and communication strategies for international development partners, with at least 5 years direct experience in conflict scenarios;
• Excellent communication and writing skills, with a keen ability to synthesize and present complex information in a simple, compelling, meaningful way (ability to produce beautiful data visualization is a plus);
• Comprehensive understanding of the Sudanese context, including detailed knowledge of the current conflict;
• Extensive network of communication partners in the Sudanese community, both in country and in the diaspora – journalists, media houses, digital media groups, media and communications officers in international organisations and large Sudanese businesses;
• First language Arabic competence; excellent English language skills

9. Pricing

 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 regards to provisions of Kenya tax legislation when developing their proposals.

10. Evaluation Criteria

MANDATORY EVALUATION CRITERIA.

1. Mandatory Requirements for firms: –
2. Company profile.
3. Trading license or Certificate of incorporation or Certificate of Registration and other statutory documents.
4. Valid Tax Compliance certificate (Applicable to firms).
5. Passport/National Identification of the lead consultant and key personnel (Applicable to independent consultants)

N/B: FAILURE TO ATTACH AND ADHERE TO THE ABOVE REQUIREMENTS WILL RESULT IN AUTOMATIC DISQUALIFICATION

An evaluation committee will be formed by the AECF and may include employees of the businesses to be supported. All members will be bound by the same standards of confidentiality. The consultant should ensure that 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 the committee to clarify their proposals. In such an event, the evaluation committee may consider such clarifications in evaluating proposals.

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. The financial proposal will be allocated a weighting of 20% 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.

11.0 Application details

The AECF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The AECF considers all interested candidates based on merit without regard to race, gender, colour, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

• Interested consultancies are requested to submit their technical and financial proposal to aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org by 3^rd July 2025
• All questions should be directed to the procurement email by 26^th June 2025, 5pm (EAT).
• The subject of the email should be ‘“SUDAN COMMUNICATIONS PARTNER”. 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.

12. Disclaimer

AECF reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, 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.

The AECF does not charge an application fee for participation in the tendering process and has not appointed any agents or intermediaries to facilitate applications. Applicants are advised to reach out directly to the AECF Procurement Department.

1. Background

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 with the aim of reducing rural poverty, promoting climate resilient communities, and creating 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 improve 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 33million lives and created over 35,000 direct jobs. AECF is headquartered in Kenya and has offices in Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Nigeria, South Sudan, Benin, and Somalia. Find more about AECF on www.aecfafrica.org

2. Objective of consultancy

The primary objectives of this assignment are:

1. To build on insights from the review of the current strategy, assessing its relevance, effectiveness, and impact in achieving AECF’s mission.
2. To define a forward-looking vision for 2026–2030 that addresses emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities.
3. To co-create a strategy that provides a clear direction, inspires commitment, and energizes implementation efforts.
4. To align AECF’s priorities, services, and operational framework with the needs of rural and marginalized communities and the broader funding landscape.

• Principles Guiding strategy design

The process will adhere to the following principles:

• Building on Insights from Current Strategy Review: Begin by reviewing the current strategy to assess its relevance, effectiveness, and impact, ensuring a strong foundation for the new strategy.
• Ownership, Challenge, and Fresh Perspectives: AECF will maintain ownership of the design process to ensure internal buy-in and accountability, while the consultant will provide neutral perspectives, constructive challenges, and fresh ideas. This approach will leverage AECF’s expertise while addressing biases from legacy work or prior commitments.
• Co-production: The strategy design process will be collaborative, emphasizing joint ownership and shared responsibility between AECF and the consultant. We seek iterative engagement to reflect collective insights and align with AECF’s mission and vision.
• Hypothesis-Driven Approach: The process will be guided by working hypotheses, providing a clear starting point for exploration and analysis. These hypotheses will be tested, refined, or challenged using data, insights, and stakeholder engagement, ensuring the final strategy is evidence-based and responsive to real-world conditions.
• Outside-In Approach with Deep People Insights: The strategy design journey will prioritize an outside-in perspective, deeply rooted in understanding the people and communities AECF seeks to serve. Insights into their needs, aspirations, and challenges will be central to shaping an impactful and relevant strategy.
• Structured Framework for Strategy Design: The design process will follow a cascading choices methodology, where insights from each step inform and shape subsequent phases. This structured approach ensures coherence, alignment, and a comprehensive, actionable strategy

3. Scope of work:

The consultant/team will engage and support AECF in designing a strategy based on the following structured framework. While this framework is proposed as a foundation, the consultant is encouraged to suggest alternative or improved approaches if they can enhance the process or outcomes.

1. Review the Current Strategy: Assess achievements, gaps, impact, lessons learned, and best practices to lay the foundation for the strategy design process.
2. Define the Vision: Establish the strategic direction and long-term aspirations for AECF, informed by actionable priorities and overarching goals.
3. Review and optimize model for making an impact all our key stakeholders:
   • Funders
   • Ecosystem partners (such as investees)
   • Beneficiaries (such as marginalised communities)

Evaluate and optimize strategic focus areas and scale AECF’s aspiration. 4. Clarify Mission and Ambition: Confirm the fixed mission and set actionable ambitions for the 2026–2030 period. 5. Conduct Further External Analysis: Examine broader trends, opportunities, challenges, and shifts in the funding landscape (“omniversum of funders”). 6. Select Key Services: Determine which services best fulfill the vision and meet the needs of priority communities. 7. Determine How to Achieve Impact Through Enterprise: Explore how AECF can make the best impact by leveraging enterprise, including strategic use of grants and other financial services. 8. Delivery Mechanisms and Operational Framework: Define processes, partnerships, and systems for effective service delivery. 9. Configure Internal Organization: Align structure, resources, and processes with the strategy. 10. Plan Implementation: Develop detailed programs, workflows, and organizational plans. 3.1. Methodology The consultant is expected to propose a detailed approach and methodology for conducting the review, ensuring alignment with the objectives outlined. Considering that:

• The proposed methodology should prioritize an outside-in perspective, deeply rooted in understanding the people and communities AECF seeks to serve. Insights into their needs, aspirations, and challenges will be central to shaping an impactful and relevant strategy.
• The methodology should also demonstrate a clear strategy for gathering, analysing, and synthesizing data to address the strategy’s objectives effectively, in line with design principle 3.D Hypothesis Driven Approach.

4. Deliverable outputs and target dates:

The consultant/team will deliver:

• Inception Report: Outlining methodology, work plan, and timelines.
• Vision and Strategic Framework Document: Outlining the vision, mission, and ambition for 2026 & beyond, ensuring alignment with emerging trends and strategic objectives.
• Preliminary Strategy Document: Highlighting key findings, hypotheses, and proposed strategic shifts.
• Final Strategy Document: Providing a comprehensive and actionable roadmap for 2026 and beyond, including implementation plans.

5. Duration

Timeline to be proposed by consultant based on his work plan, addressing the phases

• Inception phase and stakeholder mapping.
• Data collection, analysis, and co-creation workshops.
• Validation of findings and drafting of the strategy.
• Finalization and presentation of the strategy document.

6. Qualifications/experience required

The ideal consultant/team should have:

• Proven experience in strategy design and planning.
• Expertise in development aid and development finance (impact investing) in Africa.
• Strong analytical, research, and facilitation skills; able to process substantial amounts of multi-source data.
• Familiarity with organizational assessments and change management.
• Experience with co-creation processes and hypothesis-driven approaches.

Please indicate these qualifications in your team’s short profiles.

7. Reporting

The consultant/firm will report to the  CEO .

8. Proposal submission

Interested and qualified consultants or firms are invited to submit their proposals comprising of the following:

1. A brief background of the firm/Consultant highlighting experience, capabilities, processes and resources. Profile of the lead consultant(s) (max 1 page per consultant) explaining why they are the most suitable for the work.
2. Relevant experience (max 4 pages).
3. An understanding of the scope of work.
4. Workplan detailing execution of key activities.
5. Detailed reference list and signed letters indicating the scope and magnitude of similar assignments.
6. Registration and other relevant statutory documents required.
7. Financial proposal in USD clearly showing the budgeted cost for the work to be conducted (to be submitted in a separate document from the technical proposal).
8. The preferred format for the submission is PDF.
9. All documents related to the technical proposal must be compiled into a single PDF file, organized with a clear Table of Contents
10. Technical and Financial proposals will need to be submitted as separate documents. Financial proposals will not be opened until the conclusion of the technical evaluation and then only for those proposals that are deemed qualified and responsive.

N/B: SUBMITTING THE FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL DOCUMENT AS ONE DOCUMENT WILL AUTOMATICALLY LEAD TO DISQUALIFICATION OF THE APPLICANT.   9. Evaluation Criteria MANADATORY EVALUATION CRITERIA. a) Mandatory Requirements for firms: –

1. Company profile.
2. Trading license or Certificate of incorporation or 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

  b) The AECF will form an evaluation committee that includes employees. All members will be bound by the same standards of confidentiality. The trainer/training provider 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 technical quality of the proposal will be given a weighting of 70% based on the evaluation criteria. 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.

10. Pricing

The AECF is obliged by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes on service contract fees and ensure 16% VAT is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure that they clearly understand their tax position regarding provisions of Kenyan tax legislation when developing their proposals.

11. Application details

The AECF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The AECF considers all interested candidates based on merit without regard to race, sex, colour, national origin, religion, age, marital status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

1. Interested firms are requested to submit their proposal to aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org by 24^th June 2025, 5pm (EAT).
2. All questions should be directed at the procurement email by 19^th June 2025, 5pm (EAT).
3. The Subject of the email should read “REVIEW AND DESIGN OF AECF’S STRATEGY 2026-2030”. The AECF shall not be liable for not opening proposals that are submitted with a different subject.

12. 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 the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party. NB: The AECF does not charge an application fee for participation in the tender process and has not appointed any agents or intermediaries to facilitate applications. Applicants are advised to reach out directly to the AECF PROCUREMENT DEPARTMENT. 

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQS FOR CONSULTANCY REVIEW AND DESIGN OF AECF