Consultancy Services for Fund Management of three new Business Instruments

The Ministry of foreign Affairs, Green Diplomacy and Climate has entered into a contract with a Consultant (Fund Manager) to implement three business support instruments (E1, E2, and E4) as part of the Danish Government’s Strategy for Development Cooperation, “A Changing World”, appeals to Danish private companies and investors to increase their engagement and investment in the Global South, helping bridge gaps and contribute to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including climate action. The vision is that businesses which invest and expand their commercial engagements in the Global South will make significant contributions to national development agendas, including jobs, income opportunities through development of sustainable local value-chains, economic and social spin-offs from increased salaries and taxes, innovation, new technologies, and productivity-enhancements, and expansion in services. More specifically, the Strategy along with the Danish Government’s Action Plan for Effective and Economic Diplomacy seek to leverage the shared space between development cooperation and economic diplomacy, by promoting Danish companies’ investments and trade in developing partner countries. To this end, the Danish Government has initiated an initiative to strengthen business support through five business support instruments. The instruments are designed with focus on making it easier and more attractive for Danish companies to engage in emerging and developing markets, by reducing risks and clarifying and activating market potentials through partnerships, pilot projects, and business instruments providing co-investment financing and technical advice. The total amount allocated for the total initiative is DKK 850 million, of which DKK 550 million is allocated for instruments related to this tender. The five instruments focus on: E1) Early pipeline development to enlarge the pool of viable business cases; E2) Development, testing, and launching of inclusive and sustainable business models through partnerships between Danish businesses and non-commercial actors; E3) Access to finance, better enabling companies to invest and do business in high-risk Global South markets; E4) Demonstrating scalable, private sector-developed solutions with and for public authorities; and E5) Leveraging private and philanthropic capital. The five instruments are designed and should to the extent possible be managed to ensure synergies and coherence, both mutually and with the wider set of Danish private sector support engagements. The implementation of instruments E1, E2, and E4 will be managed under a Fund Management (FM) contract (Agreement) while instrument E3 and E5 will be managed by Impact Fund Denmark. This reflects a wish to concentrate the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ role on the policy and strategic management functions and to externalise the administrative and operational management functions to implementing agents. The purpose of the Agreement is to carry out the implementation and management of the three instruments, E1, E2, and E4, based on the underlying project documents and MFA Aid Management Guidelines (AMG). The Consultant will provide effective, transparent and accountable challenge fund management, covering proactive outreach and communication; call and application process implementation; contracting of selected actors/partnerships; supervision, guidance, and technical and project management backstopping of projects supported; administrative and financial management at facility level; results management and monitoring at level of each instrument; learning across the portfolio; and risk management. The objective of the Agreement is to manage and implement effectively and with accountability and transparency instruments E1, E2, and E4 and to achieve their defined objectives and results and in compliance with the MFA AMG. The Consultant’s overall tasks are: • Manage the full grant cycles of the instruments based on the project documents, including the application/call processes, with focus on efficient management, effectiveness, and accountability for funds and results. • Provide all administration of the funds including overall financial management, controls including state subsidy compliance, and verification and approval of project workplans, budgets, and reports as well as disbursements to the actors which, depending on the case, is the sole grantee, or in case of partnerships, the appointed administrative partner (commercial or non-commercial). • Provide for achievement of results as defined in the Results Framework in project documents of the instruments. • Provide outreach and communication to relevant segments of commercial actors including small/medium-size enterprises, highlight positive lessons, and ensure sharing of relevant knowledge and information that generate interest and effective participation in the instruments. • Provide relevant business and project management support and guidance to actors supported under the instruments. • Provide overall quality assurance of projects supported. • Maintain full compliance with MFA AMG and FMG, ensuring high standards of financial management, procurement, anti-corruption, and risk mitigation. • Provide relevant information and data to KLIMA on concrete projects and overall status based on request and through half annual and yearly reporting and meetings. • In relation to mid-term review or other MFA monitoring activities implement recommendations. The Agreement is divided into two phases. Phase 1 will cover the period 2027-2030 with an optional phase 2 covering up to 2035 guided by a planned mid-term review in 2029.