Call for Proposals: Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility for Digital Financial Solutions funded by African Development Bank ($1M – $1.5M Grant Funding)

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

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

Call for Proposals

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

The Facility is an innovative financing vehicle designed to catalyse digital financial inclusion across Africa.

Areas Of Interventions

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

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

Categories

> Pillar 1: Digital Financial Infrastructure

• Country level – Technical assistance on interoperability of payment systems, agent networks and merchant acceptance networks; digital registries and alternative credit scoring, increased mobile network coverage, affordable data and digital devices.
•  Regional level – Technical assistance on interoperability of payment systems, interoperable payment distribution networks, and e-commerce platforms.

> Pillar 2: Digital Financial Policy & Regulation

• Country level – Sandboxing/Fintech innovations of policies or testing new digital products and business models; Interoperability regulatory frameworks; and consumer protection, e.g., data privacy, recourse mechanisms, cybersecurity.
• Regional level – DFS policies and regulations for cross-border remittances; consumer protection, e.g., data privacy, recourse mechanisms, cybersecurity; Sandbox policies and testing of new products and business models and e-KYC.

> Pillar 3: Digital Financial Products & innovation

• Country level – Digitization of government payments and social transfers; and digitization of agriculture value chains and MSMEs.

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

Evaluation Criteria

> Project viability

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

Who may apply?  

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

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

Funding Allocation

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

Project Duration

> Country-level projects: two to three years

> Regional-level projects: three to four years

Deadline for Submission: 31st March 2023

How to Apply for ADFI Proposal 

Applications should be submitted to the following email address: [email protected](link sends e-mail)  by 31/03/2023 12.00 midnight Abidjan time. The email subject should read: Call for Proposals-ADFI 2023

Application Procedure

AFDB encourages interested and eligible organizations to apply using the ADFI Call for Proposals 2023: Application Template. Applications may be submitted in French or English.

For more information, visit the official website.