81295344-Financial Inclusion for Economic Restart and Integration in Iraq - Development of inclusive financial services

Kurze Beschreibung

The Multi-Donor Action "Financial Inclusion for Economic Restart and Integration in Iraq" is jointly co-financed by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The national partners are the Iraqi Ministry of Planning and the Central Bank of Iraq.
The project aims to sustainably improve financial inclusion and access to inclusive financial services for vulnerable target groups such as women, youth, people affected by poverty, internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, refugees and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The project has four Outputs, (1) Developing inclusive financial services, (2) Enhancing awareness about inclusive financial services and the financing of renewable energies, (3) Strengthening the capacities of the Central Bank of Iraq to promote and regulate inclusive financial services, and (4) Improving conditions for women-led businesses to access financial services.
The overall project duration lasts from December 2021 to November 2024 with a total commissioning value of EUR 16.050.000 (EU contribution EUR 11.000.000) and BMZ contribution EUR 5.050.000; BMZ"s total funding for the BMZ project "Finanzielle Inklusion für wirtschaftlichen Neubeginn im Irak" is EUR 7.000.000).
The Action is part of and contributes to the Team Europe Initiative (TEI) `Sustainable and inclusive socio-economic perspectives for Iraq´ (2021-2026); the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Special Initiative `Tackling the root causes of dis-placement, reintegrating refugees´and the two EU Special Measures: First, the EU Special Measure 2019/2020 `Support to Governance and Sustainable Job Creation in Iraq´ (MIDEAST/2020/042-211 and MIDEAST/2019/041-827), which aims to support economic governance, vocational training, migration management, and job creation through sustainable agriculture and diversification of economic opportunities. Second, the EU Special Measure `Support to the Energy Sector Reform in Iraq´ (MIDEAST/2018/ 41-106), which aims to enhance the availability of sustainable, affordable energy and limit the environmental impact of hydrocarbon combustion.
In order to improve the insufficient access to finance for MSMEs, the project has designed the following outputs:
Output 1 to support the provision of needs-based inclusive financial services such as sustainably accessible accounts, cashless payment transactions and credits geared towards MSMEs in urban and rural areas.
Output 2 aims at providing awareness-raising and information offers on inclusive financial services for vulnerable target groups.
Output 3 aims to align the central bank's regulations and monitoring practices more closely to market developments and financial inclusion.
Output 4 4 aims to improve the institutional conditions for women-led businesses to gain access to financial services.
The assignment is embedded in the overall activities of the project. The contractor will carry out activities related to Output 1 and Output 4 and provide selective inputs for the other Outputs. GIZ as well as the selected contractor will work jointly on achieving the goals and objectives of the project.

Beschreibung der Beschaffung

GIZ seeks a qualified consultancy company with a proven track record in providing technical assistance to financial institutions in MSME Finance and experience in implementing projects the Middle East and North Africa (MENA Region). The focus of the contractor"s work is to directly support selected financial service providers (FSP) in developing new or adapting existing inclusive financial services tailored to the needs of vulnerable populations and MSMEs. The target group of the assignment are the selected partner FSP. Financial service providers are understood to include, but are not limited to banks, microfinance institutions, digital payment service providers, government led loan programs as well as specialised lending firms and Fintechs involved in MSME financing or remittances.
FSP are advised on the development of new or the adaptation of existing financial services for the target groups based on market analyses of the existing range of financial services available in Iraq as well as needs assessments and related studies of the target group. Product developments or adaptations include changes to product conditions or terms of use, changed sales structures or distribution channels for a better outreach of FSP, in particular in rural areas, or innovative new market segments (for example, loans for renewable energy investments). Women specific financial services are tailored to the needs of women-led businesses and may include e.g. special collateral requirements, a different risk assessment, a special customer approach or outreach strategy.
The contractor1 will contribute to achieving the following target indicators described below.
A: Partner financial service providers have piloted and launched a minimum of 3 inclusive financial services which were newly developed or adapted to the needs of vulnerable groups and MSMEs, of which at least 2 financial services tailored to the needs of women-led businesses and desirably 1 financial service with digital approach and 1 financial service for green energy solutions.
B: At least 2,000 users of financial services among the target group and MSMEs (including at least 150 women-led businesses) have used the newly developed or adapted inclusive financial services.
C: 70% of 2,000 users of financial services among the target group describe the range of financial services available to them as "good".
The contractor"s work will include the following work packages:
Work package 1: Selection and assessment of financial service providers (FSP)
Throughout the whole project implementation, the contractor is expected to work with altogether 3-5 partner financial service providers.The contractor will define selection criteria, liaise with potential and pre-selected FSP and participate in the final selection process of FSP. It will perform an institutional diagnostic and needs assessment, draft detailed work plans and cooperation agreements between all FSP.
Work package 2: Development of inclusive financial services
The contractor will provide FSP with tailored technical assistance with the aim of developing new or adapt existing inclusive financial services customized to the needs of the vulnerable target group and MSMEs. The results from the assessment of the business strategy and product offering under work package 1 together with an understanding of the individual capacities and requirements of each FSP build the basis for the contractor to develop and implement a set of advisory and capacity building measures.
Tasks include to develop/adapt financial services that are closely tailored to the needs of MSMEs, including : Market research with a focus on vulnerable populations, financial product design, developing product prototypes or adapting product features, revise product sheets and procedure manuals, develop training and marketing material and accompany FSP in pilot testing of newly developed or adapted products.
Work package 3: Other tasks
Besides the above mentioned activities, it is expected that the contractor supports in the following areas (list may change related to project progress):
Provide occasional training/workshop inputs for financial sector stakeholders such as public-private dialogue formats, financial sector associations, related Ministries, etc. on topics related to inclusive MSME finance.
Support GIZ in monitoring and evaluation activities with regards to the intended output.
Contribute to internal/external communication and visibility activities of GIZ with regards to financial product development, pilot testing, roll out, training and coaching of FSPs.

Beschreibung der Verlängerungen

GIZ may optionally commission contract amendments and/or increases based on the criteria in the tender documents to the successful bidder of this tender. For details, please see the terms of reference.

Beschreibung der Optionen

GIZ may optionally commission contract amendments and/or increases based on the criteria in the tender documents to the successful bidder of this tender. For details, please see the terms of reference.

Liste und kurze Beschreibung der Bedingungen

1. Trading name and address, commercial register number and extract from the commercial register and evidence of creditworthiness.
2. Eligibility declaration that no grounds for exclusion in Section 123, 124 of the German Act Against Restraints of Competition (GWB) apply.
3. Eligibility declaration subcontractors if applicable.
4. Association clause if applicable.

Liste und kurze Beschreibung der Auswahlkriterien

1. Average annual turnover for the last three years (last-but-four financial year can be included in case of tenders held within 6 months of end of last financial year), at least: 1,000,000.00 EUR
2. Average number of employees and managers in the last three calendar years, at least 10 persons

Liste und kurze Beschreibung der Auswahlkriterien

1. The technical assessment is only based on reference projects with a minimum commission value of 100,000.00 EUR.
2. At least 3 reference projects in the technical field MSME Finance and at least 2 reference projects in the region MENA in the last 3 years

Genaue Informationen über Fristen für Überprüfungsverfahren

According to Article 160, Section 3 of the German Act Against Restraint of Competition (GWB), application for review is not permissible insofar as
1. the applicant has identified the claimed infringement of the procurement rules before submitting the application for review and has not submitted a complaint to the contracting authority within a period of 10 calendar days; the expiry of the period pursuant to Article 134, Section 2 remains unaffected,
2. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that are evident in the tender notice are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for the application or by the deadline for the submission of bids, specified in the tender notice.
3. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that first become evident in the tender documents are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for application or by the deadline for the submission of bids,
4. more than 15 calendar days have expired since receipt of notification from the contracting authority that it is unwilling to redress the complaint.
Sentence 1 does not apply in the case of an application to determine the invalidity of the contract in accordance with Article 135, Section 1 (2). Article 134, Section 1, Sentence 2 remains unaffected.