Consultancy Services for Designing & Delivering AFI Virtual Member Training on Digital ID & e-KYC At Alliance for Financial Inclusion

1. Background:

The Alliance for Financial Inclusion

The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) is the world’s leading organization on financial inclusion policy and regulation. Currently, nearly 100 member institutions make up the AFI network including central banks, ministries of finance and other financial policymaking or regulatory institutions from over 85 developing countries and emerging markets. AFI empowers policymakers to increase the access and usage of quality financial services for the underserved through sustainable and inclusive policies and an effective use of digital technologies.

Policies developed and implemented by the members of the Alliance contribute to a range of the Sustainable Development Goals. by Setting their own agenda, AFI members harness the power of peer learning to develop practical and tested policy reforms that enhance financial inclusion with strategic support from both public and private sector partners.

AFI has 7 Working Groups (WGs): Consumer Empowerment and Market Conduct Working Group (CEMCWG), Digital Financial Services Working Group (DFSWG), Financial Inclusion Data Working Group (FIDWG), Financial Inclusion Strategy Peer Learning Group (FISPLG), Global Standards Proportionality Working Group (GSPWG), Inclusive Green Finance Working Group (IGFWG) and SME Finance Working Group (SMEFWG).

As the key source of policy developments and trends in financial inclusion and as the primary mechanism for generating and incubating technical content in the network, the Working Groups serve as “communities of practice”. Providing a platform for knowledge exchange and peer learning among policymakers to share, deliberate and deepen their understanding, the working groups offer leadership and expertise in their respective policy fields and support the network to monitor new developments in emerging fields.

The knowledge generated via the working groups is disseminated for implementation by a range of capacity building activities such as Joint Learning Programs, Member Trainings, Trainings by Private Sector Partners. The practical experience members garner from engaging in peer learning based capacity building is then applied by members as in country implementation projects which are supported by the provision of financial or technical support to AFI member institutions in conducting activities that aim to deliver financial inclusion policies, regulations, supervisory tools or enablers for the development of policies, such as national financial inclusion strategies

The working groups receive strategic guidance and insight from the High-Level Global Standards & Policy Committee, while the Gender Inclusive Finance Committee, supports WGs in integrating gender considerations into all aspects of their work and support members in fulfilling their Denarau Action Plan (2016) commitment to promote women’s financial inclusion.

AFI members have made further commitments in a range of other accords which can be read here.

The AFI’s five regional initiatives support policy implementation in Africa (AfPI), Latin America and the Caribbean (FILAC), the Pacific Islands (PIRI), Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECAPI) and the Arab Region (FIARI).

2. Objective:

The overarching objective of this consultancy is to lead the design and delivery of the AFI Virtual Member Training on Digital ID & e-KYC, which is scheduled to be held from 5-7 July 2022.

The training will be based on AFI’s Policy Model for Digital Identity and Electronic Know Your Customer (E-KYC) with the objective of disseminating the policy model among AFI member institutions and guiding them in its country-level adaptation and adoption. The policy model was developed by the AFI GSPWG and endorsed by the entire network in 2021, in response to a need for more guidance on leveraging digital ID and e-KYC to advance financial inclusion within their jurisdictions, including for disadvantaged groups. It provides a framework that draws on the approaches used by AFI member countries in developing a policy and regulatory environment to enable digital ID and e-KYC; designing and building the infrastructure and technical features of the system; and leveraging the digital ID for e-KYC processes.

The lack of formal identification is a challenge faced by many financially excluded persons in accessing the formal financial system. This challenge is more pronounced among women, rural communities and forcibly displaced persons and even more so in crisis periods. The advent of digital identification and e-KYC systems has been critical in facilitating access to finance to these vulnerable groups. Digital identification systems are also recognized for their role in the development of effective crisis responses. The COVID 19 pandemic and the associated restrictions on movement, is a clear example of a crisis where digital identification systems enable the implementation of effective crisis responses, by enabling distribution of emergency welfare funding and continued access to finance.

The training will be delivered virtually for three and half hours each day for three consecutive days, using Zoom. A total of over 100 participants are expected to attend the training in these two sessions. Participants will be the technical staff of the over 85 AFI member institutions.

The technical sessions will be delivered by the consultant and AFI staff. In addition, following AFI’s peer learning model, the technical content will also be provided by select staff from AFI member institutions and from those nominated to attend the training. To bring in global experience into the discussion, speakers from international organizations may also be invited to contribute to specific sessions to demonstrate the role played by digital ID and e-KYC systems in facilitating access to finance and implementing effective crisis responses.

3. Scope of Work:

The Consultant is expected to work closely with AFI’s Capacity Building (CB) and Policy Analysis (PA) Units of AFI for a maximum of 15 days, spread over 2-3 months to design and deliver the AFI Virtual Member Training on AFI’s Policy Model for Digital Identity and Electronic Know Your Customer. The tasks involved in the scope of work include the following:

• Lead virtual meetings with AFI policy team, regional teams and other relevant units in AFI to collect inputs to design the objectives and agenda for the trainings.
• Lead the discussion with host institution, members, relevant external stakeholders on the technical content of the trainings.
• Develop agenda based on inputs received and personal knowledge and experience.
• Develop the session briefs for all the sessions.
• Develop training exercises (including case studies) to match the agenda and that is compatible with in-person and virtual events, using instructional design.
• Lead the preparatory technical calls with the speakers which come from various AFI members, AFI partners, multilateral organizations and private sector players who have expertise and experience on the topics.
• Draft of the opening and closing remarks to be delivered by AFI.
• Undertake selected roles during the virtual training such as technical emcee, moderator, training facilitator, technical speaker.
• Draft a post- event report highlighting the issues discussed and key takeaways.

4. Timeline:

The consultant is expected to commence the assignment as soon as the contract is awarded, which is expected to be in mid March 2022.

5. Consultant Experience:

The consultant(s) on the assignment should possess the following:

Experience:

• Lead consultant to have about seven to ten years’ work experience in banking and financial services with emphasis on international financial inclusion projects, focusing on implementation of digital financial inclusion policies in emerging economies.
• Lead consultant to have a minimum of five years’ experience working with various stakeholders in the public/regulatory space, private sector and developmental organizations in the implementation of digital solutions.
• Demonstrated working knowledge of concepts in financial inclusion policies and implementation of digital solutions, particularly digital identification systems and e-KYC;
• First-hand experience in designing and delivering training modules preferably in international setting will be an added advantage.
• Expertise in technical publications, report writing and other documentation work.

Technical:

• Skills in designing technical events suitable for delivery via virtual platforms.
• Excellent communication skills – verbal and written in English. Knowledge of additional languages will be an advantage.
• Knowledge of virtual training platforms (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams), Microsoft applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and applications that can be used on virtual medium.
• Training design and delivery skills with a focus on adult learning will be an added advantage.

Behavioral:

• Excellent interpersonal and intercultural skills with a positive attitude and collaborative team spirit. In this role, the consultant will be required to collaborate and coordinate the design and delivery of the virtual training with various AFI teams and stakeholders.
• Effective organizational skills to oversee the delivery of the training program with AFI staff and stakeholders.
• Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards.

Qualification:

• University degree in Banking, Economics, Social Sciences, Public Policy or related disciplines

6. Reporting:

Throughout the contract period, the Consultant will report to Manager, Capacity Building

7. Proposal Submission Information:

• Conflict of Interest acknowledgement & sign off [Mandatory]
• Workplan [Mandatory – if stated/required]
• Company Registration [Mandatory]
• Company Profile
• Full CVs of lead and support consultant highlighting relevant work
• List of previous or current clients with whom similar work has been conducted
• At least one (1) sample (link or attachments) of a published technical paper on financial inclusion authored exclusively by the lead consultant.
• Reference letter (if any);
• Disclosure statement, if individual has full time or part time employment contract with any organization or government official or indirect involvement in this tender;[Mandatory – for individual participant]

Submission of Technical and Financial Proposals:

• Kindly submit technical proposal using the template given in annexure 1 and financial proposal using the template given in annexure 2, along with the documents listed above
• Technical and financial proposal must be submitted in two separate PDF files, using the given
• The two proposals are to be submitted to the designated email

AFI reserves the right to disqualify incomplete submission and

non-compliance to the above requirements. Notification result will only be sent to shortlisted candidates upon completion.

8. Criteria for Evaluation:

Technical Scoring – 100%**

1. Academic Qualification (10%)
2. Experience (50%)
3. Skills and Competencies (25%)
4. Sample work – Relevance to Assignment and demonstrated experience in writing (15%)

Evaluation of technical and financial proposals

The evaluation and decision on the best proposal will be made based on the combined criterion, where companies are qualified by means of a score that takes into account the combined valuation of the technical and financial proposals, with the following weights:

1. Technical Proposal: 70% (Seventy percent).
2. Financial Proposal: 30% (Thirty percent).