Engaging a Company to Develop Cybersecurity Resilience and Fintech Sandbox Use Cases in Botswana

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) is supporting the Republic of Botswana in the development of Fintech and Cybersecurity Sandbox use cases. These complementary initiatives aim to strengthen innovation, security, and resilience within the financial sector by providing innovators, financial institutions, and fintech startups with virtual testbeds to safely develop, test, and evaluate new technologies under regulatory oversight. Through these platforms, the Bank of Botswana and other government entities will gain practical insights into emerging financial technologies and cybersecurity practices, advancing financial inclusion and enhancing national cyber defense capabilities across both public and private sectors. Fintech Innovation Sandbox (Lot 1): A regulated digital platform enabling fintech startups, financial institutions, and regulators to collaboratively test and refine innovative financial products and services in a controlled environment. The sandbox will promote financial inclusion, interoperability, and responsible innovation through open APIs, secure data exchange, and adherence to international standards. Cybersecurity Resilience Sandbox (Lot 2): A secure virtual environment designed to simulate and test cybersecurity threats, controls, and defense mechanisms. It will provide hands-on training, cyber drills, and realistic threat simulations to build national cyber defense capabilities across the financial sector and other critical industries. Scope of Work The selected company(ies) will be responsible for the design, development, deployment, and capacity building related to the respective sandbox environment(s). Key tasks include: Developing cloud or hybrid platforms to host the sandbox environments. Integrating APIs, security tools, and monitoring systems. Establishing controlled testing environments for fintech and cybersecurity use cases. Delivering capacity-building workshops, hands-on training, and user documentation. Preparing comprehensive technical and final reports. Expected Outcomes Strengthened innovation, security, and resilience in Botswana’s financial ecosystem. Enhanced cybersecurity maturity and incident response capabilities. Increased participation of fintech innovators and financial institutions in supervised testing. Expanded access to inclusive, secure, and affordable digital financial services. Specific Requirements/Information Interested companies are invited to submit their EOIs online ONLY through the following link: https:/ungm.org/Public/Notice In case of technical challenges in submitting your interest, you are advised to contact rachael.chironga@un.org with a copy to ogboro.uneca@un.org. In addition to the information contained in this REOI, interested vendors should ensure the following minimum requirements are met: 1) Companies should be registered in UN Global Marketplace (UNGM) or should start their registration process immediately if not registered using the link https://www.ungm.org. 2) Vendors who are registered at the basic level are strongly advised to upgrade to level 1. 3) Vendors must be registered in UNGM under the UNSPSC code 81111800, 81112000, 81112200, 81112300, in order to participate in the solicitation for this requirement. 5. Women-owned businesses and businesses owned by persons with disabilities are encouraged to participate. Important Notice: 6) This REOI does not constitute a solicitation. UNECA reserves the right to change or cancel the requirement at any time during the EOI or solicitation process. Thus, submitting a response to this REOI does not automatically guarantee that your company will be considered for receipt of the solicitation when issued. 7) UNECA also reserves the right to send the Solicitation Documents to companies who were identified through additional market research or other means to source the UN requirements.