As per a coordinated effort from the United Nations to have a response towards the COVID-19 pandemic, UNCDF is supporting LDCs and other countries in need through its core mandate to build stable and resilient local economies and by leveraging a range of technical expertise and investment instruments to reduce and limit economic and social hardship for poor communities. For more information about UNCDF’s action towards COVID-19 click here.

In the COVID-19 context, and times of uncertainty about the duration and extent of confinement measures, UNCDF is looking forward to collaborating with private sector actors in Ghana, leveraging the power of digital technologies (applied to finance or not) to help MSMEs to:

(i) streamline their existing distribution channels,
(ii) optimize their stock management,
(iii) build online and home delivery distribution channels,
(iv) integrate digital payments, and
(v) leverage other digital solutions and apps for better efficiency and revenue generation.

Those solutions will allow MSMEs to sustain lower levels of activity during the confinement period and prepare them to better exploit opportunities in the “post-COVID 19 digital economies”.

The non-exhaustive following list of solutions would fit the objective of this RFA:

• Online shops for MSMEs (transition to e-commerce)
• Home delivery pack services for MSMEs
• Digital platform to provide instant credit lines to DFS agents, super agents and merchants
• Home Cash-in/cash-out services
• Pre-sales e-vouchers for MSMEs
• Assistance to MSMEs to transit to e-money acceptance (transition to DFS merchants)
• Income protection mobile insurance for MSMEs
• Salary payments via electronic means

Submissions
• A webinar will be held on Monday 27 April, 2020 at 4 PM GMT time to answer to questions related to this RFA. Please connect to this URL for the webinar : https://undp.zoom.us/j/98929679885

• Submissions should be sent by email to uncdf.rfa@uncdf.org by copying (Cc) Sabine Mensah sabine.mensah@uncdf.org mentioning in the subject line: “Innovative digital solutions for the resilience of MSMEs under COVID 19 context in Ghana” by April 30, 2020 23:59 GMT.