Deadline: October 4th 2023 | Ugandan SME Agribusiness Digitisation Challenge
| Title: | Ugandan SME Agribusiness Digitisation Challenge |
| Organisation: | European Union Delegation |
| Fund/Benefit: | $350 000 |
| Deadline: | October 4th 2023 |
| Eligible Countries: | Uganda |
By enhancing the institutional capacity of agribusiness SMEs and Financial Institutions (FIs) to undertake sustainable business and business operations using digital technologies, UNCDF wants to build inclusive digital economies in Uganda through this RFA.
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The START (Support to Agricultural Revitalization & Transformation) facility project is entering its second phase with assistance from the European Union Delegation in Uganda (EUD). The START facility’s second phase is intended to encourage economic development and the creation of jobs by funding fully integrated, long-term agribusiness Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Uganda.
By enhancing the institutional capacity of agribusiness SMEs in value addition and processing to conduct sustainable business and business operations (including digital solutions), develop bankable green investment proposals based on green and circular economy principles, and other strategies, the Facility is meant to assist SMEs in Uganda in accessing affordable medium-term financing. In collaboration with leading private sector organisations and particular financial institutions, particularly Uganda Development Bank Ltd (UDB), UNCDF will carry out the START Facility’s second phase.
Given that the sector accounts for roughly 80% of manufactured outputs, contributes to about 75% of the GDP, and offers a sustainable and empowering response to unemployment challenges in addition to creating a market for primary agricultural products and enabling national economic structural transformation, it is imperative to concentrate on the agribusiness SMEs in Uganda.
In order to empower agribusiness SMEs in Uganda to access affordable medium-term financing to expand and grow their agribusinesses while collaborating with value chain actors to ensure increased access to inputs, extension and advisory services, output markets, and credit services, the Agribusiness SME Digitization RFA Challenge is looking for an innovative and scalable digital solution that should address all the focus areas below.
Focus Regions
This RFA’s primary intervention areas are:
- Record-keeping procedures for SMEs (production, manufacturing, purchasing, supplier mapping, sales, marketing, costs, stock, assets, liabilities, and customer relationship management)
- Accounting & Financial Management for SME’s
- SME’s Performance Business Intelligence & Big Data Analytics
- SME’s Compliance Management and Quality Assurance
- Access to market data, extension services, and quality input
- In all of Uganda’s regions, the suggested digital solution will be implemented in the agribusiness SME sector, assisting smallholder farmers with agricultural production, value addition, agro-processing, and marketing. Priority will be given to agribusiness SMEs that support green business practises and empower vulnerable populations like women, youth, refugees and host communities, and people with disabilities.
Financial Details
- Solutions that are prepared for piloting are targeted by the RFA for the Agri-business SME Digitisation Challenge. Through performance-based grants, the fund will co-finance risk capital in the range of US$250,000 to US$350,000 for the chosen partner.
- Up until the end of 2026, the technology infrastructure project is anticipated to take at least 36 months (or roughly 3 years).
eligibility
Registration of entities
- A registered firm, such as a fintech company or a technology provider operating in Uganda, must be the applicant or lead applicant.
- The applicant/lead applicant must possess an already developed SME solution or show the ability to create one that can be utilised to digitise more than 300 SMEs as part of the project.
- The candidate/lead applicant must have at least two (2) years of management and implementation experience working with SMEs in Uganda on related digital solutions.
- The applicant/lead applicant is required to submit two (2) years’ worth of audited financial statements. The applicant shall supply the most recent management accounts and audited financial statements to UNCDF throughout the project if audited financial statements are not available at the time of application.
Operational Nation
- In Uganda, the applicant may be registered. The project and solution implementation for the interventions, regardless of the applicant’s country of registration, should take place in Uganda. They strongly encourage enterprises with a base in Uganda to apply.
- Entities registered outside of Uganda must apply as a consortium and have at least one local partner who is registered there.
target group
- The goal of the solution is to directly benefit registered agri-SMEs (companies, cooperatives, or associations). Farmers, distributors of agricultural inputs, buyers of finished goods, and other participants in the value chain are among the indirect benefits in Uganda’s host and refugee communities. Applications from service providers and products that increase women’s involvement in agriculture SMEs and other economic operations are especially encouraged. Additionally, applicants are urged to emphasise adolescents and local relationships.
geographic range
- Regardless of the applicant’s sending nation, the interventions should employ strategies for focusing on Agribusiness SMEs from every region of Uganda.
For more information, visit UNCDF.
