DAI: Digital Payments Upskilling for MFIs and SMEs in Myanmar
Deadline: 22-Jan-21
The DAI through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is seeking applications from an organization to train Myanmar microfinance institutions (MFI) and their small and medium enterprise (SME) clients to use digital payments products.
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The goal of the activity is to promote digital inclusion for MFIs and SMEs in Myanmar and help them benefit from digital financial products. The training should be tied to a specific interoperable financial product designed to serve MFIs and their SME clients.
USAID’s Digital Asia Accelerator program activity (“the Accelerator”), managed by DAI, aims to increase the safe and appropriate use of digital technology for economic development in Southeast Asia. The Accelerator is part of a broader DAI-managed program, Digital Frontiers, which works closely with the U.S. Global Development Lab, the Center for Digital Development, USAID missions, the private sector, and international and local development organizations to identify successful and sustainable digital approaches and scale their impact globally.
Objectives
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The Accelerator’s objectives are to:
Increase public awareness of digital safety issues to increase safe behavior online;
Improve the digital skills of the private sector and civil society;
Strengthen the ability of the private sector and civil society to engage on a range of digital economy and cybersecurity policy issues.
Funding Information
The Digital Asia Accelerator anticipates awarding approximately one grant to one organization up to a maximum amount of US $400,000 each.
The expected duration of DAI support or the period of performance is approximately 12 months.
Eligibility Criteria
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Applicants must be registered US or non-US organizations regardless of type (for example for-profit, not-for-profit, civic groups, and others).
For-profit Applicants must be willing to forego profit per 2 CFR 700.13.
The following are not eligible:
Government entities;
Individuals.
Applications must be submitted in English.
Application Requirements
Narrative technical applications must include the following elements:
Technical approach outlining how the applicant would execute the project, including a concise summary of the activity, roles and responsibilities, key modules/workstreams, milestones, and a project timeline. The technical approach should also describe:
Digital payments product: The applicant should describe the interoperable digital payments product that MFIs and their SME clients will be trained to use. Please describe why this is an appropriate product for target beneficiaries and the value of the product. Note that the product should be live in the market before the activity starts. Please provide supporting evidence for claims about the product.
Partnerships: The applicant should describe any related partnerships or engagements with national or international organizations (such as private enterprises, governmental organizations, non-governmental or philanthropic organizations, mobile network operators, and small and medium-sized business associations) and the nature of those engagements, such as financial support, and leverage of technical assistance, distribution channels, tools, etc. If related partnerships exist, the applicant should also provide supporting evidence for these engagements, such as a memorandum of understanding.
Locations: Specify the locations of all operations/training, and provide any other relevant information that describes the operating areas and reach of the activity.
Target results: The applicant should define, to the maximum extent possible at the application stage, the project’s target results and outcomes, including the number of MFIs trained and the number of SMEs trained.
Monitoring: The applicant should also include how the Target results and outcomes will be monitored and measured.
Gender and social inclusion: The applicant should identify how it will include women and marginalized social groups in the project, and specify goals for gender and social inclusion. The awardee will ideally maximize the percentage of women-owned SMEs and MFIs in rural areas to reach the country’s most vulnerable populations.
Sustainability: The applicant should describe how the project or its benefits will continue after grant funding ends.
Adaptability: In light of the evolving COVID-19 situation, the applicant should specify how they will address COVID-19-related risks in training design and delivery.
Regulatory environment: In light of the evolving regulatory situation in Myanmar, the applicant should outline relevant regulatory issues, such as those concerning bank interoperability, and how they will address those issues. To the extent possible, the applicant should explain what measures they will take to ensure that the digital payments platform upon which the training is based will not become obsolete due to changes in regulation.
Staffing plan outlining the staff who will work on this project and a description of their roles and responsibilities. The applicant should propose personnel and training staff with sufficient skills to accomplish project goals. Each applicant should provide curriculum vitae (no longer than 3 pages each) that demonstrate the Key Personnel’s ability to perform the duties outlined in the Program Description and in accordance with the evaluation factors found herein. DAI will evaluate the CVs to determine the individual’s knowledge, skills, and abilities in the areas listed herein.
Organizational capability and past performance: Applicants must include summary descriptions of at least three of the applicant’s relevant past projects that demonstrate the core capabilities required to execute the proposed project, please include one page for each project. The information should include the legal name and address of the organization for which services were performed, a description of work performed, the duration of the work and the value of the contract, and a current contact phone number of a responsible and knowledgeable representative of the organization. This information may be used for validation of experience or reference checks. Core capabilities required to execute the proposed project should include:
Expertise in digital payment technology.
Expertise on an existing payments solution that is in or will be in the market before the activity starts.
Networks with Myanmar financial payment ecosystem key players.
Knowledge of Myanmar’s regulations that will affect the activity.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3sh09Bm