Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698146200972.pdf (Mauritius)
Terms of Reference for SADC Development Finance Resource Center (SADC – DFRC) Procurement of Professional Resource Mobilization Consultancy July 2021 1 Introduction The SADC Development Finance Resource Centre (DFRC), a regional organization which serves as secretariat to the SADC Development Finance Institutions (DFI) Network, is implementing its Five – Year Strategic Plan (2019 – 2024) with a vision to be a “centre of excellence for development finance solutions”.
The plan envisages the DFRC, while continuing to focus on the SADC region, to spread its area of influence to other regional economic communities, including COMESA and the East African Community.

The DFRC’s statement of intent is “to generate sustainable resources for programme delivery and establishment as a regional research and knowledge center for development finance”.
However, implementation of the plan and the attainment of set goals has been hampered by limited available resources which fall far short of programme activity needs.

While contributions from DFI Network members go towards funding the administration costs of the DFRC, its programme activities are mainly funded through donor or international cooperating partners (ICPs) resources.
Unfortunately, over the past years, as donor fatigue set in, funding from this source has been on the decline and consequently, delivery of programmes by the DFRC has been greatly affected leading to set targets not being met.
It is against this background that the DFRC is launching this consultancy to seek the services of an expert(s) to assist with the identification of sources and mobilization of resources to go towards programme activities in its mandated areas of capacity building, policy research and advisory service and advocacy.
These resources are critical for the DFRC to effectively execute its role as facilitator and catalyst, particularly to its principal stakeholders, the DFIs and state governments, in order to enable them contribute effectively to goals of regional integration and sustainable economic development.

Background The Development Finance Resource Centre was established in 2003 as a subsidiary organization of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional economic community organization.
It is owned collectively by the SADC Development Finance Institutions Network, consisting of forty (40) national DFIs across all SADC member states.

Both the DFRC and the DFI Network were established under the SADC Protocol on Finance and Investment (the FIP).

The DFIs in the Network are of varying asset levels with mandates spanning industrial, agriculture, infrastructure (economic and social) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) development.
The mandate of the DFI Network, as established by the SADC Committee of Ministers of Finance and Investment, to whom it reports, encompasses a number of activities, chief among these are to:  Collaborate on cross-border and in-country financing of projects in SADC;  Pool resources to mobilize intra - and extra - regional funds for development projects;  Share experiences and develop common best practices - risk management, corporate governance, project appraisal etc.
; and  Strengthen and build creditworthiness of members with the ultimate goal of obtaining good international credit ratings.
2 The Development Finance Resource Center, on the other hand, was established to act as the secretariat to the Development Finance Intuitions Network and is mandated under the FIP to undertake the following functions:  Provide capacity building for DFI’s to empower them to deliver on their mandates for development, both nationally and regionally;  Act as a body which would manage policy issues for DFI’s that needed to be brought to the attention of the SADC Committee of Ministers of Finance and Investment (COMFI);  Undertake an advocacy role for DFI’s in the region;  Become an institution which undertook research in the region and become a center of excellence through a knowledge repository;  Create “Communities of Practice” for the regional DFI’s to exchange knowledge, experiences and ideas and develop networks that enhance each other’s ability to deliver on their mandates;  Support the growth and development of Small Medium and Micro Enterprises;  Assist with the preparation of bankable infrastructure projects through the use of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), which encouraged private sector participation; and  Acting as a catalyst for infrastructure project preparation and development in the region.
The core driving activities of the DFRC can, therefore, be summarized as capacity building and institutional strengthening, policy research and advisory services and advocacy.

The FIP, as the SADC framework for financial and investment liberalization, is an integral part of the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), the blueprint for the attainment of the regional integration and development goals.
To this end, the activities of the DFI Network and the DFRC are closely aligned to and support those of the RISDP.

Implementation of the DFRC activities is currently guided by the corporate Five – Year Strategic Plan (2019 – 2024) while two- year rolling business plans are utilized to implement it and achieve its goals.
The present strategic plan which aims to guide the institution forward and add more value to its stakeholders, while ensuring the DFRC remains relevant as a “center of excellence in development finance” and is financially stable, is based upon the following four strategic pillars: 1.

Financial Perspective: to assist the DFRC to diversify its revenue model and increase its income; 2.

Stakeholder Perspective: to broaden the outreach of the DFRC’s service delivery model and enhance its stakeholder base; 3.
Internal Process Perspective: promote use of Information Technology platforms to streamline internal processes and enhance efficiencies; and 4.

People Perspective: to inculcate a greater level of service delivery and develop improved research and advisory capacity and create new technology platforms for communities of practice, knowledge sharing and e-learning programmes.
3 The DFRC has a relatively small core staff of professionals and relies on external experts and partner technical organizations to deliver on its mandate.

In addition, while its administrative financial resources are sourced from member DFIs through contributions, it relies on donor support and internally-generated income to meet its programme activities.

Due to limited resources, the DFRC has for a number of years, failed to finance fully its programme activities.
Consequently, over the recent past years, as ‘donor fatigue’ set in against rising demands for DFRC’s services and programmes, the financing gap has widened.

Therefore, if the DFRC is to meet its mandated objectives and strengthen national DFIs to play their role in the development of the region, it is critical that resources be mobolised to support its programming activities as per its strategic plan objectives.
Scope of Work and Methodology During the past number of years, the DFRC has been able to raise funds albeit limited from International Co-operating Partners (ICPs) to support its regional mandate.
Such ICPs include the World Bank, the German Agency for Co-operation (GIZ), the Japanese International Co- operation Agency (JICA), European Union (EU), Canadian CIDA, Danish DANIDA, DFI’s such as the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and PPIAF (Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Services), an arm of the World Bank.
However, as mentioned earlier, the declining support of ICPs in recent times, has resulted in fewer funding opportunities for institutions such as the DFRC.

Hence the push by the DFRC under its strategic plan to diversify revenue sources through provision of its services, in particular capacity building and advisory services, beyond core stakeholders to include private sector entities.
While this thrust has begun, it should be noted that its impact on the DFRC financial resources is rather limited due to its SADC subsidiary nature which limits any profit- maximisation on its part.

While the extension of services to embrace non-member entities within the region and extra- region would bring about some income, this remains a small fraction of the financial needs of the DFRC to satisfactorily meet planned programmes targets and objectives under its Five- Year Strategic Plan (2019 – 2024).
Additional resources will therefore be needed.

Against this backdrop, the DFRC is looking for suitably qualified business consultant(s) to assist it with mobilization of financial resources in the medium to long-term.

This will include, but not limited to the following services:  Provide the DFRC with a comprehensive list of possible financial partners and donor agencies/ICPs.
It should be noted, however, that if new approaches can be developed to access funds from these entities the consultants will provide these;  Provide a clear set of criteria on how to obtain funding from the identified organizations;  The service provider will provide a short, medium and long-term plan, to access funding to ensure the financial sustainability of DFRC programming activities;  The consultant will also apply for such funding on behalf of the DFRC using its branding and letter heads; 4  The service provider will review the DFRC budget and identify additional sources of internal funding; and  Obtain funding for the institution measured against the plans developed.
Deliverables and Timeframes The Service Provider must commit and adhere to the following timeframes:  Obtain a minimum of $500,000 in the first six months of being retained;  Provide monthly updates on the progress of applications for funding;  Work according to the plan developed and show milestones and achievements on a quarterly basis; and  Provide quarterly updates on any new areas where the DFRC may obtain funding opportunities.
Service Provider Qualifications The service provider must have the following qualifications:  A business qualification at a degree level;  At least five (5) years proven experience in financial resource mobilization;  A Team Leader who will be the single point of contact and responsible to the relevant DFRC manager; and  Provide at least three (3) past or current clients that the DFRC can contact for references and results achieved by the consultants.
Pricing of the Project The DFRC will engage the consultants at a contractually agreed fee.

A nominal mobilization fee will be payable upon the appointment of the consultant and the signing of the contract.

The consultants will be entitled to a success fee equivalent to a percentage of funds raised and paid into the DFRC accounts.

This fee shall be agreed upon between the consultant and the DFRC.

Bidding Process The DFRC will run an open bidding process.
The potential service providers will have twenty- one (21) days from the date the procurement documents are published and all bids must be submitted no later than the close of business on the 26th July, 2021.

No bids will be accepted after the stipulated date.

Bids may be received in either hard copy or soft copy to vkgakge@sadc-dfrc.org .

All queries will be directed to Mr Stuart Kufeni in writing at skufeni@sadc-dfrc.org.

He may also be contacted at + 267-319-1146.

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