By this call, the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) invites project developers to submit investment proposals under the Local Finance Initiative Uganda programme (LFI-U) which is being implemented in partnership with the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Local Government (MoLG).  

General Context

The LFI-U programme provides project development and technical expertise to unlock the flow of domestic capital towards investments that can trigger inclusive and sustainable local economic development in Uganda. Specifically, small and medium sized infrastructure projects that are otherwise un-bankable are de-risked and taken to an investment ready stage to enable them to attract equity investors and access commercial loans.

The LFI-U programme supports commercially viable investments in Uganda promoted by public and/or private developers that aim to build productive capacity and sustainable consumption that will generate transformative impact in local communities. It also provides local governments with innovative ways to access new sources of financing for their economic infrastructure projects.

Investment Project Profiles

This call for proposals targets commercially viable investment projects in Uganda that can:

• improve the local business-enabling environment 
• create jobs  (direct and indirect)  and/or improve skills in the local labor market
• build sustainable production systems ‘small and medium size infrastructure’ and consumption patterns
• increase productivity in agriculture and market access to small and medium sized agri-businesses and farmers
• promote women economic empowerment and gender equality
• increase tax revenues for local government authorities
• build resilience to climate change and improve access to clean and sustainable sources of modern energy

Eligibility Criteria for LFI-U Investment Proposals

In order to qualify for UNCDF LFI-U technical and funding support through this call, investment proposals must meet the following criteria:

1. The project should be established and operated in Uganda and a small to medium size infrastructure
2. Sponsored by public entities including Local Government Authorities.
3. Sponsored by private sector developers of both traditional and industrial infrastructure projects such as energy, value addition/processing plants or manufacturing, public service delivery infrastructure, and agro processing etc.
4. Must demonstrate impact to local communities where the project will be implemented
5. Project development activities must have reached an advanced stage beyond a concept note or proposal with initial feasibility (business and technical) studies completed etc.
6. Commercial projects must demonstrate profitability in the financial summary or evidence of long-term financial sustainability
7. Qualified management team
8. Compliance with UNDCF/UNDP Environmental & Social Performance Standards, including human rights.

Criteria for Selection of Investment Projects

LFI-U projects will be selected using the following criteria: 1) commercially viable 2) have transformative development impact to local communities and 3) must be within the prescribed total project cost/size ranging from US$100,000 to US$20,000,000. Microfinance proposals will not be considered.

Support to Selected LFI-U Projects

Selected projects will be provided with technical support during development and financing stages as well as seed capital. LFI-U seed capital is intended to help project developers unlock additional funding from commercial banks and/or investors for their projects. 

Instructions for Proposal Submission:

Use the Call for Proposals Submission Form which can be downloaded at https://www.uncdf.org/en/call-investment-project-proposals. Fully complete the submission form and required additional information and email it to local.finance@uncdf.org Only one online application per organization and per proposal will be accepted.

Language of Proposal: Only applications in English will be accepted.

Deadline: The deadline for emailing submission forms is October 30^th, 2015 (5pm East Africa Time). Applications sent after this deadline will not be considered.