Provision of Business Develoment Services (BDS)

Introduction

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), through the FinWise Programme funded by the European Union (EU), invites eligible firms to submit proposals for the provision of Business Development Services (BDS) to nature-based tourism MSMEs in Uganda. The assignment aims to strengthen the investment readiness, competitiveness, and growth potential of tourism enterprises by providing tailored business advisory services, facilitating access to finance, and promoting the adoption of digital solutions, sustainable business practices, and gender-responsive approaches. The intervention is expected to support 800 MSMEs with pre-investment readiness services and 200 MSMEs with post-investment advisory support across Ugandas priority tourism circuits

SCOPE OF TENDER.

UNCDF seeks to engage two qualified Business Development Services (BDS) providers to deliver investment readiness and post-investment advisory support to nature-based tourism Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Uganda under the FinWise Programme.

The selected firms will be responsible for implementing an end-to-end enterprise support programme, including:

• Conducting outreach and mobilization of eligible nature-based tourism MSMEs across the targeted tourism circuits.
• Undertaking business diagnostics and investment readiness assessments to identify enterprise-specific capacity gaps.
• Delivering tailored pre-investment Business Development Services, including training, coaching, business plan development, financial projections, and preparation of investment proposals.
• Facilitating linkages between investment-ready MSMEs and financial institutions to improve access to finance.
• Providing post-investment advisory services to enterprises that successfully secure financing to strengthen business performance, financial management, sustainability, and growth.
• Integrating digitalization, environmental sustainability, and gender-responsive approaches throughout programme implementation.
• Monitoring enterprise progress, collecting and reporting performance data, and documenting lessons learned and programme results in line with UNCDF reporting requirements.

The assignment will be implemented over a period of 36 months using a rolling cohort approach and will support a total of 800 MSMEs with pre-investment readiness services and 200 MSMEs with post-investment advisory support. 

Interested suppliers must submit their offer directly in the system as instructed in the solicitation document, following the instructions in the available user guide. n case you have never registered before, you can register a profile using the registration link shared via the procurement notice and following the instructions in the guides available in UNDP website:  https://www.undp.org/procurement/business/resources-for-bidders. Do not create a new profile if you already have one. Use the forgotten password feature in case you do not remember the password or the username from previous registration.

A pre-proposal conference will be held as follows:

Date: 21 July 2026

Time: 11:00 a.m. (EAT)

Venue: Virtual

Pre-Proposal Conference Link:

Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/350782628803418?p=jhijqYG01bBLc6EaeH

Meeting ID: 350 782 628 803 418

Passcode: zz7qm3zA

Search for the specific tender using search filters and subscribe to the tender in order to get notifications in case of amendments of the tender document. If you need support with the online system, you can contact the contact details of this tender as indicated in the solicitation document.

Eligibility: This tender is restricted to firms legally registered in Uganda or international firms that can demonstrate an established local presence and operational capacity in Uganda. Firms that do not meet this eligibility requirement will not be considered.

UNCDF OFFICE PROCUREMENT UNIT