Terms of Reference: Women ADAPT – Digital Platform Service Provider

1.0 The African Enterprise Challenge Fund

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 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 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. We also focus on the most vulnerable, including women, youth, and those living in fragile contexts.

To date, we have supported over 510 businesses in 26 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, impacted more than 36 million lives, and created over 38,000 direct jobs

AEF is headquartered in Kenya and has offices in Tanzania, Nigeria, Benin, & Burkina Faso, and Somalia.

2.0 Description

The assignment is part of the Women ADAPT project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF). The project will address structural barriers faced by rural women by developing digital and institutional infrastructure for women-focused adaptation services, supporting the deployment of climate-smart agriculture technologies, providing tailored training and strengthening inclusive financial tools and climate risk management practices.

Existing-platform preference. Applicants are expected to propose the adaptation, upgrade, integration or scaling of an existing operational platform wherever feasible.

Development of a new platform will only be considered where the applicant provides a documented gap analysis, comparing at least two existing platforms against the mandatory minimum features (Annex, 1.), and demonstrating that none can be cost-effectively adapted to meet the project’s gender-responsiveness, localization, offline access, interoperability and sustainability requirements. This gap analysis must be submitted as part of the technical proposal and will be assessed under Criterion 1 (Section 7).

Where a proposal includes two platforms (e.g., one per country), each platform’s status (adapted vs. newly developed) must be independently justified according to the above criteria.

3.0 Functional scope and implementation procedures

This call for proposals aims to select one qualified service provider, either a single company or a consortium, to adapt, pilot, deploy, maintain and support one (for both country) or two (one for each country) mobile-first digital platforms that connect women-led MSMEs, cooperatives, microfinance institutions and women smallholder farmers in Benin and Burkina Faso to climate adaptation services, agroclimatic information, market intelligence and inclusive finance linkages.

Project Component (PC1) Alignment: Applicants shall demonstrate how their proposed approach will contribute to the delivery of Outcome 1.1.1 (selection, adaptation and deployment of gender-responsive digital platforms), Outcome 1.1.2 (capacity building of 14 women-led MSMEs and over 4,000 women on the use of digital services for climate-smart agriculture and informed decision-making), and Outcome 1.1.3 (awareness-raising among cooperatives and local stakeholders on the benefits of digital services for enhancing resilience).

3.1 Target beneficiaries and users

• Primary users: women leaders of MSMEs, cooperative members and smallholder women farmers. The broader Women ADAPT project targets more than 4,600 women.
• Secondary users: PC1 anchor institutions include 14 women‑led MSMEs. These MSMEs will serve as flagship/anchor institutions to support platform dissemination, build local trust, facilitate feedback from women farmers, and encourage broader rural adoption. In addition, cooperatives, MFIs, extension agents, and other local actors may also be engaged as platform users, data partners, or dissemination partners, particularly where they contribute to PC2, PC3, or awareness activities.
• Other users: agronomists, extension agents, government officials, financial institution officers, market actors and project M&E users.

3.2 Key deliverables and milestones

3.3 Training, onboarding and adoption requirements

The contractor will support AECF to deliver the PC1 two-tier training and adoption model. The objective is not only to provide a software tool, but to ensure that women-led MSMEs, women farmers and local stakeholders can use the platform confidently and consistently for climate-smart decision-making.

3.4 Awareness-raising and mobilization

• The contractor, in coordination with AECF and local partners, will support at least 12 awareness-raising mobilization waves, six per country.
• The timing of these campaigns should coincide with major agricultural seasons, the launch of new platform features, and the rollout of MSME and women farmer training activities. Guided demonstrations should be delivered through trusted community channels, including local markets, extension centers, women’s meetings and cooperative/MSME networks where appropriate.
• Mobilization should combine radio interviews, public service announcements, weekly radio segments, print materials, WhatsApp/social media content, community sensitization, guided platform demonstrations, local champions and engagement with traditional or religious leaders where appropriate.
• Communication materials must be gender-sensitive, relevant to women and youth, adapted for low-literacy rural audiences, available in French and relevant local languages, and pre-tested with intended users.
• Outreach reporting must capture participation by sex and age, reach metrics, community-level feedback and evidence of linkages to registration, training and active platform use.

3.5 Sustainability and post-project model

• Applicants must provide a credible sustainability model covering hosting, maintenance, content updates, SMS/USSD costs, support staff, data partnerships, user acquisition and ongoing operating costs after GEF funding.
• The sustainability plan should assess at least three scenarios: continued private-provider operation; integration with public extension or national climate information systems; and a managed-service model supported by cooperatives, MFIs, telecoms, buyers, development partners or other local actors.
• Applicants may propose socially inclusive monetization models such as premium services for buyers, cooperative subscriptions, MFI service fees, donor co-financing or institutional hosting arrangements. Any model must protect affordability and access for rural women users.
• The contractor must provide a handover and skills-transfer plan for AECF and designated local partners.

3.6 Digital safeguards and do-no-harm requirements

• Applicants must identify gender, social, digital safety, privacy, exclusion, fraud, misinformation and over-indebtedness risks associated with the proposed platform and propose mitigation measures.
• The platform must avoid reinforcing gender stereotypes and must consider constraints such as women’s limited phone ownership, shared-device use, household decision-making dynamics, literacy, mobility and time poverty.
• All platform functions related to finance, subsidies or beneficiary registration must include safeguards against fraud, coercion, unauthorized data access and misuse of beneficiary information.
• All activities must comply with relevant environmental and social safeguard policies of GEF, UNIDO and AECF.

4.0 Project objectives

• Strengthen the climate resilience of women-led businesses and smallholder farmers in agricultural value chains in Burkina Faso and Benin by improving access to climate-smart technologies, tailored financial services and climate information.
• Increase access to digital platforms for women-led MSMEs, cooperatives and smallholder women farmers.
• Build women’s knowledge of climate-smart agriculture, while improving access to inclusive financing and targeted subsidies.
• Support the integration of climate risk management into the operations of microfinance institutions, cooperatives and MSMEs.

4.1   Specific objectives of the digital platform component

• Provide mobile access to essential services: early warnings, climate information, geo-targeted weather forecasts, agroclimatic advice, CSA training modules, market data dashboards for priority crops, and links to inclusive finance.
• Support beneficiary registration, eligibility tracking, digital verification, communication and monitoring related to targeted subsidies and inclusive finance. Interactive feedback loops (e.g., voice surveys or SMS polls); and real-time user analytics for tracking engagement and reach.
• In addition to the public-facing interface, develop a backend monitoring system to track platform uptake, user behaviour, and engagement patterns, disaggregated by sex, age, geography, and user type (e.g., cooperative, MSME, individual farmer).
• Build the capacity of at least 4,000 women users within the first 22 months and train 14 women-led MSMEs, to support onboarding, use, feedback collection, peer learning and adoption.
• Ensure interoperability with national and regional weather information sources, relevant partner systems and project M&E requirements.
• Ensure gender inclusion by developing interfaces and content tailored to rural women, incorporating French and local languages, audio, visual and SMS/USSD formats, and optimizing data usage for areas with limited connectivity.

Geographic scope: Benin and Burkina Faso, with local adaptation of content and services during the inception phase.

4.2 Commitments of the selected contractor

• Work with AECF to finalize contractual milestones, KPIs, reporting requirements and implementation plan before contract signing.
• Share data and performance information required for project monitoring, reporting and audit, subject to confidentiality and data protection requirements.
• Collect, analyze and share lessons learned with AECF and contribute to project learning products where requested.
• Prepare inception, pilot, quarterly, interim and final reports in accordance with the agreed timeline.
• Participate in annual reviews and relevant AECF/UNIDO project coordination processes.
• Ensure technical, financial and management data are available for audit upon request.

5.0 Duration of the contract

Contract duration: 22 months, expected October 2026 to July 2028, subject to final contracting timelines.

The implementation schedule is structured into five phases described in Section 3.2. Corrective and evolutionary maintenance obligations may extend beyond the initial contract period through an extension, amendment or separate maintenance contract agreed with AECF during contracting. Applicants should therefore provide a clear maintenance and handover plan, including post-project cost assumptions.

6.0 Technical specifications. – Annex 1

6.1 Mandatory minimum features

• Mobile-first interface compatible with basic smartphones, responsive web design and optional Android application.
• SMS/USSD, push notification or equivalent low-connectivity access for alerts and key messages.
• Geolocated weather forecast and early-warning module using credible national, regional or internationally recognized weather and climate information sources, including real-time and seasonal weather forecasts and climate alerts relevant to crops, locations and business models.
• Personalized agroclimatic advice, including planting calendars, irrigation guidance, crop protection, drought-resistant crop advisories, pest alerts, post-harvest management and other CSA-relevant advisories.
• CSA knowledge hub and multimedia content library in French and relevant local languages, offering curated resources through short text, audio, video, infographics and other low-literacy formats.
• Market price dashboards for priority crops, including local price information, buyer information, market opportunities and business-relevant intelligence for women-led MSMEs and cooperatives.
• Integration with national climate information systems, such as meteorological services and agricultural extension networks.
• Localising the platform into French and relevant local languages for broad accessibility.
• Interactive feedback loops, including voice surveys, SMS surveys, in-platform feedback or other accessible channels to capture user experience and improve platform functionality and content.
• Beneficiary registration, user onboarding, eligibility tracking, communication and monitoring functions for project activities, including links to inclusive finance and targeted subsidy tracking.
• Dashboards for AECF, UNIDO and authorized partners to track uptake, usage, adoption, climate-risk information and beneficiary performance indicators.
• Partial offline functionality, low data usage and automatic synchronization of cached content.
• Security and privacy measures, including encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access controls and data protection procedures.
• M&E data collection and analytics for usage, adoption, satisfaction, climate alerts, training reach, awareness reach and selected productivity/income indicators.
• Content management system (CMS) or equivalent administrative interface, allowing AECF-designated staff to review, update and publish CSA training modules and related content independently, without requiring contractor intervention for routine content updates.

6.2 Desirable features / bonus elements

• Voice chatbot or IVR functionality for users with limited literacy.
• Open API for future integration with national services, MFI systems, cooperative systems, meteorological services or other partner platforms.
• Financial literacy modules and linkages to inclusive financial products.
• Responsible integration of IoT sensors, remote sensing or crop monitoring tools where feasible and cost-effective.
• Digital financial workflows, mobile payments or micropayment features, provided that grant or subsidy approval and disbursement authority remains outside the contractor’s control.

6.3 Architecture and technical requirements

• Modular architecture (API-first backend, microservices, or equivalent).
• Cloud hosting (EU/AFR region) or hybrid; continuity and backup plan.
• Interoperability: REST API, JSON formats, OAuth2 authentication.
• Scalability: ability to support a user base of up to 100,000 over 3 years.
• Performance: page load time < 3 seconds on 2G/3G; optimization of data packet size.

6.4 Accessibility and user experience

• Mobile-first approach, simple interface, icon-based navigation, audio support.
• Multilingual approach: French + 2 to 3 local languages per country (to be confirmed at project inception).
• Offline mode: caching of essential content and automatic synchronization.

6.5 Security, privacy and data governance

• Compliance with local data protection laws; clear privacy policy.
• TLS 1.2+ encryption; encryption of data at rest; key management.
• RBAC (role-based) access controls for MFIs, cooperatives, and administrators.
• Incident management and data backup plan.

6.6 Content governance and technical validation

Before launch, the platform design, wording, CSA content, training materials and communication strategies must be reviewed by gender equality and digital inclusion experts, using a checklist aligned with UNIDO gender mainstreaming standards.

• All CSA, climate, agroclimatic, market and financial literacy content must be technically validated by AECF and relevant technical partners before publication.
• Weather and climate advisories must rely on credible national, regional or internationally recognized information sources and should be coordinated with relevant national meteorological services where feasible.
• Content must be localized by country, agro-ecological zone, crop/value chain, user type and literacy level where feasible.
• Content updates, version control and editorial approval procedures must be documented and included in the operational manual.
• The operational manual must clearly define the respective roles of AECF and the contractor in the content update process, including which modifications AECF can perform independently via the CMS.

6.7 Operational and maintenance requirements

• Minimum service level: 99% availability excluding scheduled maintenance, subject to rural connectivity limitations outside the contractor’s control.
• Support response time of 24 to 48 hours for ordinary issues, with faster response for critical outages or security incidents.
• Corrective and evolutionary maintenance during the contract period, with a costed option for continuation beyond the initial term.
• Knowledge transfer, technical training and documentation for AECF and designated local teams.
• Helpdesk or user support mechanism accessible to anchor partners and designated project staff.

6.8 Localization, stakeholder coordination and community engagement

• Adaptation to rural connectivity realities, including SMS/USSD or equivalent access for areas without smartphones or reliable internet.
• Digital inclusion strategy, which may include community access points, data-credit approaches, shared-device models or other mechanisms where feasible and approved by AECF.
• Coordination with AECF and relevant national stakeholders, including ministries responsible for agriculture, environment, digital economy and gender equality, national meteorological services, agricultural extension networks, local authorities, cooperatives, MFIs, women’s organizations, youth representatives and community networks.
• Consideration of cultural contexts, social norms, phone access constraints and gender dynamics in content, user journeys, community sensitization and support models.

6.9 Mandatory monitoring and evaluation indicators

• Number of women trained or reached through digital/hybrid training tools, target at least 4,000.
• Number of women-led MSMEs trained as PC1 anchor institutions, target 14.
• Number and type of additional partners engaged or integrated, including cooperatives, MFIs, extension agents, local facilitators or other stakeholders, as relevant.
• Active adoption rate and usage metrics, including DAU/MAU where relevant.
• Platform usage data disaggregated by sex, age, geography and user type.
• Number of climate alerts issued and, where trackable, actions taken in response.
• User satisfaction level and user feedback from women, MSMEs, cooperatives and MFIs.
• Beneficiary-level or sampled before/after data on selected productivity, income, resilience or adoption indicators, where feasible and agreed with AECF.
• Training, outreach and awareness metrics, including media reach, social media analytics and community feedback.

6.10 Key contractual provisions

• Intellectual property: source code, APIs, content produced for the project, configuration documentation and aggregated project data will be subject to ownership and licensing terms agreed with AECF/UNIDO. Exceptions must be negotiated before contracting.
• Data access: AECF and UNIDO must have access to aggregated and project-relevant data required for monitoring, reporting, audit, learning and evaluation.
• SLA and maintenance: availability, response time, security updates, bug fixes, planned maintenance windows and escalation procedures will be contractually defined.
• Confidentiality and data protection: confidentiality obligations, privacy requirements and breach notification within 72 hours of confirmed or suspected incident.
• Disbursement conditions: payments will be tied to validation of deliverables, performance milestones and, where relevant, on-site verification.
• Termination and penalties: applicable in the event of non-compliance with agreed milestones, security requirements, data protection obligations or service levels.
• AECF shall have ongoing access to source code repositories, technical documentation and configuration files throughout the contract period, not solely upon handover.
• A contingency/exit plan must be provided by the contractor, ensuring continuity of platform operations and data access in the event of early contract termination or provider withdrawal.

6.11 Sector(s) of activity

• Sectors of intervention: digital technologies for climate adaptation, climate-smart agriculture, agroclimatic information, market access and inclusive finance.
• Targeted value chains: agricultural value chains led by women and cooperatives in Benin and Burkina Faso, including production, processing and marketing.
• Sector beneficiaries: women-led MSMEs, agricultural cooperatives, smallholder women farmers and partner MFIs.
• Nature of the funded activity: provision of services for the adaptation, management, deployment, training, maintenance and sustainability of digital infrastructure. The assignment is not direct agricultural production and does not transfer grant approval authority to the contractor

6.12 Expected socioeconomic impact

• Strengthened climate resilience of more than 4,600 women, including MSMEs, cooperatives and smallholder farmers in Benin and Burkina Faso.
• At least 4,000 women trained or reached through digital and hybrid platform-use training within 22 months.
• At least 14 women-led MSMEs trained as PC1 anchor institutions to support local adoption, trust-building, dissemination and feedback.
• Improved access to weather, climate, market, CSA and financial information for women-led enterprises and rural women users.
• Improved agricultural decision-making, productivity and income stability among beneficiaries, measured through agreed before/after or sample-based methods where feasible.
• Reduced barriers to accessing climate information and CSA practices.
• Strengthened institutional capacity of cooperatives and MFIs to support climate risk management and gender-responsive service delivery.

7.0 Eligibility criteria

• Strong understanding of the socioeconomic, cultural and linguistic context of both countries.
• At least five years of experience in the design, adaptation, management or deployment of digital platforms.
• At least two similar digital platforms currently operational, with tangible evidence such as technical reports, official certificates, active links, independent evaluations or client references.
• Proven experience in agriculture, climate information, climate adaptation, market information, inclusive finance, fintech, digital extension or related sectors.
• Deep knowledge of rural connectivity, digital literacy, low-literacy users, gender dynamics and community adoption constraints.
• Multidisciplinary team covering software development, UX/UI, API interoperability, data security, digital project management, M&E, gender and social inclusion, training and community engagement.
• Capacity to ensure development, testing, deployment, hosting, maintenance, user support and handover over several years.
• Ability to guarantee data security and compliance, including encryption, anonymization, access management, audits and incident response.
• Proven ability to work with cooperatives, MFIs, women’s organizations, public institutions, national meteorological or agricultural services and local authorities.
• Ability to propose sustainable, scalable and cost-effective solutions that remain viable beyond the project period.

7.1 Added value

• Ability to exceed the minimum number of women users or women-led MSME anchor institutions without weakening quality.
• Innovative but practical features such as IVR (Interactive Voice Response), open APIs (Application Programming Interface), financial literacy modules, remote sensing or responsible digital finance linkages.
• Strategic partnerships with telecom operators, national weather services, fintechs, cooperatives, MFIs, public extension services, women’s organizations or buyers.
• Clear post-project model that generates or mobilizes resources for continued operation while protecting access for low-income rural women.
• Robust skills transfer plan for AECF and local technical teams.
• Measurable contribution to women’s economic empowerment, climate resilience and inclusive market participation beyond standard output indicators.
• Voluntary financial leverage or co-financing proposed by the applicant, where offered

8.0 Proposal submission

• Qualified supplier are invited to submit a proposal that includes the following:
• Understanding of the requirements of the call for proposal assignment.
• Methodology, work plan and technical characteristics and add value of proposed digital platform for carrying out the assignment, including a nationwide deployment in Benin and Burkina Faso.
• A detailed list and link or videos of references indicating the scope and scale of similar assignments.
• Signed letters of recommendation from two previous institutions or programs.
• Registration and other relevant regulatory documents.
• Technical and financial proposals must be submitted separately in PDF format.
• The financial proposal (in USD) must clearly indicate the budget allocated for the work that the service provider will perform as part of the mission described above.
• Technical and financial proposals must be submitted as separate documents.

9.0 Evaluation criteria

CRITÉRIOS DE AVALIAÇÃO OBRIGATÓRIOS.

1. Requisitos obrigatórios para as empresas: -

1. Perfil da empresa.
2. Licença comercial ou certificado de constituição ou certificado de registo e outros documentos estatutários.
3. Valid Tax Compliance certificate or an Equivalent document. (Applicable to firms).
4. Passport/National Identification of the lead consultant.

N/B: A NÃO ANEXAÇÃO E O NÃO CUMPRIMENTO DOS REQUISITOS ACIMA REFERIDOS IMPLICAM A DESQUALIFICAÇÃO AUTOMÁTICA

1. 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 Venture Builder should ensure that they fully respond to all criteria to be comprehensively evaluated.

O AECF pode solicitar e receber esclarecimentos de qualquer consultor aquando da avaliação de uma proposta. O comité de avaliação pode convidar alguns ou todos os consultores a comparecer perante o comité para esclarecer as suas propostas. Nesse caso, o comité de avaliação pode ter em conta esses esclarecimentos na avaliação das propostas.

Para decidir a seleção final do proponente qualificado, a qualidade técnica da proposta terá uma ponderação de 80% com base nos critérios de avaliação. Só será aberta a proposta financeira dos proponentes que se qualificarem tecnicamente. À proposta financeira será atribuída uma ponderação de 20% e as propostas serão classificadas em função do total de pontos obtidos.

Os critérios obrigatórios e desejáveis em função dos quais as propostas serão avaliadas são identificados no quadro seguinte.

10.0 Financial proposal

• Eligible costs may include platform adaptation or development, hosting, API integration, content localization, user testing, training for users and partners, communication and outreach, digital inclusion measures and maintenance during the contract period.
• The first disbursement may not exceed 30% of the total contract amount. Subsequent payment will be contingent upon validation of deliverables, achievement of agreed milestones and on-site or remote verification as required.
• Applicants must submit their financial proposal in USD. Payments will be made in USD, in accordance with the payment schedule defined at contracting.

11.0 Aplicação

The AECF is an equal opportunity employer. The AECF evaluates 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.

• Any questions should be sent to the email address designated for procurement:aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org by 18^th September 2026, at 5:00 p.m. (East African Time). The subject line of the email must be: “CLARIFICATION: Women ADAPT – Digital Platform Service Provider.”
• Interested companies, or consortia are requested to attend the MANDATORY PRE-BIDDING CONFERENCE slated for 21^st September 2026, from 12noon East African Time on this link https://zoom.us/meeting/register/aIl5hFY3QtCVSBazyOR_yQ
• Bidders who registered and attended the mandatory pre-bidding conference are requested to submit their technical and financial proposals via the procurement portal https://procurement.aecfafrica.org/ by 2^nd October 2026 at 5:00 p.m. (East African Time).

12.0 Exoneração de responsabilidade

The AECF is an equal opportunity employer. The AECF evaluates all interested candidates on the basis of 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.

The AECF does not charge any application fees for participation in the bidding process and has not appointed any agents or intermediaries to facilitate applications. Applicants are invited to contact the AECF’s Procurement Department directly.