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Call for Expression of Interest: The Build Malawi Facility
Call for Expression of Interest: The Build Malawi Facility
February 13, 2025
OVERVIEW
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: The BUILD Malawi Facility
Application Opens: February 17, 2025
Deadline: 9 March 2025
OVERVIEW
The BUILD Malawi Facility is a joint initiative between the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The overall objective of the Joint Programme is to contribute to the transformation of Malawi’s economy into one that is more competitive, productive, and resilient. This will be achieved through a growth finance solution that provides “patient” and flexible capital solutions to transformative, inclusive SMEs that drive the achievement of the SDGs in Malawi.
The Facility aims to catalyze the provision of financing and technical assistance required to bridge the gap between smaller investments, “bankable” SMEs and the scale required for larger commercial investors in Malawi.
The Facility primarily supports enterprises carrying high financial risk and high expected social impact, deemed to be below the radar of other impact investment funds, DFIs, and other commercial financiers. Individual transaction sizes may be as low as $200,000 and as high as $500,000 aligned with the Facility’s intended “missing middle” focus.
The demonstration effect from the Facility and the outcomes of the technical assistance facility will be expected to trigger a wider response in the market, with domestic and international investors crowded in to invest in businesses in Malawi.
The BUILD Malawi Facility is now being officially launched in the Malawi market through the means of this EOI.
TARGET SEGMENTS AND SECTORS
The BUILD facility targets organizations in the following sectors:
Strategic Area | Description |
Green Economy & Renewable Energy (SDG 1 and SDG 7): | Investments in this sector drive clean energy access to “last mile” communities and mitigate the effects of climate change. Prospective investees include off-grid or mini-grid renewable energy companies. |
Food Security and Nutrition (SDG 1 and SDG 2): | Investments in this sector target small- to medium-sized farms as well as agribusinesses along the entire agricultural value chains. Prospective investees include farmer cooperatives, aggregators, agribusinesses, processing companies or other agriculturally focused businesses. |
Blue Economy (SDG 1 and SDG 14) | Investments in this sector target small to medium-sized enterprises operating in sectors connected to water resources, inland fisheries, and water-dependent industries. These businesses drive sustainable economic activities that support and enhance freshwater systems. |
Local Infrastructure (SDG 1 and SDG 11): | Investments in this sector finance catalytic infrastructure (including, but not limited to, transportation, communications, marketplaces, etc.) with high impact on the development of local economies. |
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Criteria | Source of verification |
| Proof of registration |
Must be a for profit, non-profit or public private partnership (no individuals or public sector entities are eligible). | Proof of registration |
Entity should operate in one of the BUILD Facility target sectors | Company pitch deck |
Entity shall have fulfilled all the obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or obligations relating to the payment of taxes in accordance with legal provisions. | Official national fiscal authority certificate (to be verified if shortlisted) |
| Entity must comply with relevant standards, regulations, and applicable legislation to which they may be subject and possess required regulatory approvals, licenses, and certificates for their operations. | Certificates and license proofs (to be verified if shortlisted) |
Entity shall have a minimum of one (1) year of audited financial statements or be in process of obtaining audited financials. (For MSMEs)
Entity shall have a minimum of three (3) years of audited financial statements or be in process of obtaining audited financials. (For FSPs) | Audited Financial statement(s) (to be verified if shortlisted) |
| Compliance with non-involvement standards of financial frauds, notable large-scale financial fraud cases, including anti-money laundering. | Financial Institution testimony (to be verified if shortlisted) |
HOW TO APPLY
8.1. Submission structure
The applicant must submit a complete application technical proposal form via email to build.malawi@undp.org. All submissions must be completed in English. Only applications that follow the submission format and include all the necessary documentation will be considered. All submissions must be completed in English.
Only applications that follow the submission format and include all the necessary documentation will be considered. The application form includes financial information such as revenue, EBITDA, profit and leverage ratios for the last 3 years, if available (in USD or local currency, and as available depending on the lifetime of the organization) alongside other organization information. Interested applicants may upload additional external documents to their email.
The documents below can be accessed from the 'download' link above:
Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs) Proposal Template
Full Expression of Interest (EOI) for MSMEs
Financial Service Providers (FSPs) Proposal template
Full Expression of Interest (EOI) for FSPs
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
EOIs not completed in the Build Malawi facility proposal format and submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
The complete proposal must be submitted via email to build.malawi@undp.org.
