Consultancy to Undertake Due Diligence on shortlisted SME’s in Northern Uganda

Background

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is a UN organization with a capital mandate (unique in the UN System) focused on reducing poverty and inequality first and foremost in the least developed countries (“LDC”s).  UNCDF develops and tests out financial models which mobilize and recycle domestic resources to meet local needs and which raise investor confidence in these local economies so that they can become centres of growth. UNCDF works with local governments, promoting financial and fiscal accountability to its citizens through local development funds, performance-based grant systems, structured project finance, and by strengthening local revenue streams. It also supports accountable planning, budgeting, and decision-making at the local level, recognizing the importance of having decisions about resources being made locally, and those resources being spent or invested locally.

UNCDF in partnership with the European Union under the 11th EDF is implementing a five year Programme referred to as the Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU). The general objective of the programme is to consolidate stability in Northern Uganda, eradicate poverty and under-nutrition and strengthen the foundations for sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development. The programme aims to steer a paradigm shift from a sector-oriented support to an integrated territorial approach, and 'connect the dots' between key sectors and areas for an inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development of the region. UNCDF contributes to the programme in three areas:

Food Security and Agriculture: UNCDF will design and implement a mechanism for providing Business Development Services and seed capital in the form of loans, grants and reimbursable grants to promising projects. Women and youth will be deliberately targeted, and project that aim at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities (green economy) will be promoted. To support implementation of this component, UNCDF will establish and manage START Facility (Support to Agricultural Revitalization and Transformation in Northern Uganda) designed to finance small and medium agribusinesses.

1. Transport Infrastructure: UNCDF will support rehabilitation and upgrading of selected numbers of priority districts and community access roads within four priority districts (Amudat, Adjumani, Abim, Moyo) to enable implementation of roads rehabilitation programs by districts; will provide training in road maintenance and technical assistance in integrating the road rehabilitation and maintenance component in the LG annual and mid-term planning, budgeting and implementation frameworks.
2. Good Governance: UNCDF will use local public financial management systems as the entry point to enhance capacities of local authorities to better fulfil their core and broad mandates (notably in relation to the other sectors targeted by this programme) and better respond to local needs and deliver quality services to its citizens, improving upwards accountability mechanisms. This component includes two funding facilities: District Local Government Excellence Fund and District Revenue Mobilization Fund.  

The START funding facility is designed to support the implementation of DINU food security and nutrition component, in particular Activity 1.2.2, which aims at providing seed capital to incubation projects along agricultural value chain as part of its overall objective to increase local production of diversified food. The Facility is intended to offer access to affordable medium-term finance for agricultural value adding projects in Northern Uganda through provision of Business Development Services and seed capital in the form of loans, grants and reimbursable grants. The medium to long-term development objective will be to stimulate pro-poor economic growth in northern Uganda, better retain the economic benefits of agriculture in the North, and improve local food systems and food security. The secondary medium-term objective will be to transform the Facility into a sustainable and adequately capitalized loan/grant facility providing technical assistance and seed capital to small and medium-sized value adding agribusinesses in Northern Uganda with the further intention to scale up its operation and coverage nationally.

START is structured as a blended facility providing a customized mix of Business Development Services, project development and structuring services, and financial products. Accordingly, the START has three lines of business managed by the three participating institutions respectively, the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (PSFU), UNCDF and the Uganda Development Bank Limited (UDBL). In addition to managing the line of business that provides project preparation and development services, UNCDF will be responsible for the overall administration of the Facility.

After shortlisting applicants under the 3rd CfP, the START facility Investment team will be undertaking Due Diligence (DD) visits to each of the 68 companies in September & October . The shortlisted companies are spread in the sub-regions of Northern Uganda (West Nile, Acholi, Lango, Teso & Karamoja). UNCDF is looking for two independent dynamic professionals capable of supporting the UNDCF Investment Team to undertake Due Diligence and verify applications so as to come up with a pipeline for full proposal Development. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the Consultancy:

UNCDF would like engage Two (2) of consultants  to undertake Due Diligence on at least 34 shortlisted companies (17 per consultant) in the sub-regions of West Nile, Acholi, Lango, Teso & Karamoja and verify applications so as to come up with a pipeline for full proposal Development.

Each of the two consultants will be allocated SMEs from each of the 5 sub-regions. This kind of distribution allows the consultants to have a broad view of the different SMEs in the different regions.  The distribution will be as follows, per consultant: 

Consultant 1	Consultant 2
West Nile ( 4 SMES),	West Nile ( 4 SMES),
Acholi ( 4 SMES)	Acholi ( 4 SMES)
Teso (3 SMEs)	Teso (3 SMEs)
Karamoja (2 SMES)	Karamoja (2 SMES)

Key Tasks:

In this assignment, the hired consultants shall be required to undertake the following tasks:

1. The consultants will follow a specific checklist provided by UNCDF to undertake due diligence and their report will be reviewed to ensure that the information required under the checklist is submitted.
2. Verify all the information submitted by companies in the application forms during the 3rd CfP under START facility earlier in 2021.
3. Obtain a deeper and proper understanding of the projects submitted in the applications by the promoters for possible funding under the START facility.
4. Obtain all the additional information that may be necessary for appraising project proposals before full proposal development as per the DD checklist.
5. Identify areas of capacity building for further Business Development Services (BDS) support to companies.
6. Provide further information / clarification to shortlisted applicants on START facility including the nature of support available to companies, terms and conditions for financing, objectives of the project among others.  

Scope of Work/Deliverables and Payment Terms

The consultant will work in close collaboration with the Investment team and project applicants based in the 5 sub-regions in Northern Uganda.  The outputs below are for each of the two consultants.

Deliverables include:

1.  Inception Report within 5 days from the date of signing of the contract (20% of payment)

2. Provide a detailed report 5 days upon completion of the due Diligence visits to at least 17 shortlisted companies and determine eligibility of the companies to progress to Proposal Development stage (80% of payment)

The due diligence report shall include the following: (i) Major findings and recommendations of the Due Diligence; (ii) List of Companies for immediate consideration under the project development pipeline; (iii) Detailed capacity gaps for each of the individual companies  and relevant BDS requirements.

Institutional Arrangements

The Consultant will work under the overall guidance of the UNCDF Regional Technical Adviser. The day-to-day supervision of the Consultant will be undertaken by the START Facility Manager. The    Regional Technical Adviser will be responsible for authorising payments upon recommendation from the START facility Manager.

The selected consultant shall be required to confirm and sign a Declaration of Impartiality confirming non-association with any of the companies that will be subjected to due diligence. UNCDF shall also undertake due diligence to clear the shortlisted consultants of any conflict of interest, real or perceived, by verifying any and all possible associations with the companies being reviewed, in terms of their previous, current or future engagement, relationships and affiliations of any form.   

Duration of the Work

Each consultant shall be simultaneously given a contract duration comprising 25 working days spread over a period of 1.5 months in line with agreed work plan to cover 17 SMEs that will be assigned.  At the end of the 1.5 months, the 2 consultants that will be engaged should have been able to complete 17 SMEs each, and thus cover the total of 34 SMEs.

Duty Station

Kampala, with field travels to West Nile, Acholi, Lango, Teso & Karamoja sub-regions of Northern Uganda. Each consultant will be allocated SMEs from each of the five sub-regions taking into consideration any known conflict of interest declared by the consultant. 

Travel

Travel may be required and will be compensated according to UN polices.    

Provision of Monitoring, Progress Controls & Payments:

• As noted above, the consultants will work under the direct supervision of the START Facility Manager;
• Payment will be made based on completion and UNCDF's acceptance of deliverables All payments are subject to the clearance and approval of the direct supervisor;
• Final payment shall require a signed performance evaluation of the consultants.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates commitment to the UN’s mission, vision and values;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability; and
• Ability to maintain effective rapport with different kinds of people.

Functional Competencies:

• Demonstrated adequate technical experience and know-how to undertake Due Diligence, prepare business plans and financial models for SME projects.

Language requirements

  Fluency in written and spoken English.

Required Skills and Experience

Education;

• Master`s degree in Finance/Accounting, Business Administration or Economics
• Bachelor`s degree or equivalent in Finance/Accounting, Business Administration or Economics combined with CPA or equivalent and additional two years of relevant experience. 

Experience;

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in investment/financial analysis;
• Demonstrated track record in undertaking Due Diligence, proposal development and financial closure of SME agribusiness projects in developing countries;
• Demonstrated track record of innovating in project development and financing processes, adapting the development, structuring, risk mitigation, and financing as needed;
• Computer proficiency, including working knowledge of MS Office products (especially excel), capacity in web-based management tools and;
• Significant experience in writing/editing reports for large organizations, especially within the UN system.

EVALUATION PROCESS 

Cumulative analysis:

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

(I)  Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and having no conflict of interest with any of the SME projects under due diligence. A Declaration of Impartiality will be completed by the shortlisted candidates. UNCDF shall provide the shortlisted candidates with the list of SMEs in order to undertake due diligence to clear the shortlisted consultants of any conflict of interest, real or perceived, by verifying any and all possible associations with the companies being reviewed, in terms of their previous, current or future engagement, relationships and affiliations of any form.  In the event of any conflict by one consultant, the SME involved will be assigned to the other consultant, and will be replaced by another SME with whom the first consultant has no conflict with. 

(ii) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. Example 70%-30%. (Technical Criteria weightL 70%; Financial Criteria weight: 30%)

Evaluation shall consist of the following steps: 

Step 1: Longlisting, where candidates will be evaluated based on the following mandatory minimum criteria:

• Bachelor`s degree or equivalent in Finance/Accounting, Business Administration or Economics combined with CPA or equivalent and additional two years of relevant experience. 
• Five (5) years of professional experience in installation and operation of Solar Power System especially in the environment of least developed and developing countries

Step 2: Shortlisting The evaluation panel shall meet to establish a shortlist based on the following criteria. 

Technical Evaluation Criteria

• Relevant Qualification (See Education and Experience)– 15%  -
• A minimum of 5 years’ relevant work experience – 15%
• Substantial experience in working with SMEs such as providing BDS support, developing business plans and excel financial models and; Significant experience in writing/editing reports for large organizations, especially within the UN system or large national or international organizations – 20%;
• Description of approach/methodology and its appropriateness to the assignment- 20%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation. 

Step 3: Financial Evaluation - The following formula will be used for evaluation of financial proposals: Lowest priced proposal / Price of the proposal being evaluated x 30

APPLICATION PROCESS

The application must contain the following:

(a) Personal Profile: 

• Approach/Methodology on how the assignment will be executed (1 page). 
• Confirmation indicating availability to take up assignment for the whole period.  
• A Curriculum Vitae (CV) or P.11 Personal History Form (available at http://sas.undp.org/documents/p11_personal_history_form.doc), stipulating applicant’s official name the qualifications and professional experiences (with similar projects) relevant to the assignment/TOR and the contact details (email address, telephone numbers) of 3 professional references. 

 (b) Financial proposal: The financial proposal shall specify a lump sum amount that is inclusive of professional fees and other incidentals that the consultant expects to incur during the performance of the work. For this purpose, please complete and submit the Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability (Please click here for document) and Financial Proposal (do not upload your financial proposal online, please send it separately to the email address  financial.proposal@uncdf.org  with the subject line: 102103 - Consultancy to Undertake Due Diligence on shortlisted SME’s in Northern Uganda.

Any individual employed by a company, organization or institution who would like to submit a proposal in response to this Individual Contract notice must do so in their individual capacity.

If an applicant is employed by a company, organization or institution, and s/he expects her/his employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing her/him to UNCDF under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the applicant must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNCDF. 

All documents must be submitted: electronically, both the technical proposal and financial proposal

Failure to submit all the above-mentioned documents may result in rejection of the application.

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when traveling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org   If the consultant is over 65 years old, UNCDF reserves the right to require full medical certification and clearance from the consultant’s physician prior to commencing the travel.

ReferencesUNDP’s Individual Consultant’s General Terms and Conditions are provided here:http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf

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