Consultancy Services for Fund Management of three new Business Instruments

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark seeks a specialist fund manager to oversee the full life cycle of three newly introduced business‑support instruments – E1 (early pipeline development), E2 (development, testing and launch of inclusive and sustainable business models), and E4 (demonstration of scalable, private‑sector‑developed solutions with public authorities). These instruments are integral to the Danish Government’s “A Changing World” Strategy for Development Cooperation, which aims to increase Danish private investment in the Global South, thereby fostering sustainable local value chains, job creation and socio‑economic development aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. The consultant will operate primarily from Denmark, with field visits to partner countries when required.

The scope of work requires the consultant to manage every phase of the grant cycle: designing and executing convocations and application procedures, evaluating proposals, contracting grantees or partnership equals, supervising project implementation, providing technical and project‑management support, and ensuring accurate financial administration, controls and state‑subsidy compliance. Monitoring, results reporting, knowledge management and risk mitigation will be undertaken in accordance with the Ministry’s Aid Management Guidelines (AMG), Fund Management Guidelines (FMG) and the broader Danish public procurement framework. Outreach and communication with entrepreneurs and SMEs will be crucial to generate stakeholder engagement and share lessons learned, while quality assurance activities will uphold the integrity of funded projects.

The consultancy contract obliges the contractor to adhere to all applicable Danish and EU procurement regulations, including compliance with Ministry of Foreign Affairs AMG, FMG and anti‑corruption standards; to pass all exclusion and restriction checks under the Danish Public Procurement Act and the EU Council Regulation (EC) No 833/2014 as amended; and to maintain financial management, procurement, and risk‑management controls that safeguard public funds and project outcomes.

The Ministry of foreign Affairs, Green Diplomacy and Climate wishes to engage a Consultant (Fund Manager) to implement three business support instruments (E1, E2, and E4) as part of the Danish Government’s Strategy for Development Cooperation, “A Changing World”, appeals to Danish private companies and investors to increase their engagement and investment in the Global South, helping bridge gaps and contribute to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including climate action. The vision is that businesses which invest and expand their commercial engagements in the Global South will make significant contributions to national development agendas, including jobs, income opportunities through development of sustainable local value-chains, economic and social spin-offs from increased salaries and taxes, innovation, new technologies, and productivity-enhancements, and expansion in services. More specifically, the Strategy along with the Danish Government’s Action Plan for Effective and Economic Diplomacy seek to leverage the shared space between development cooperation and economic diplomacy, by promoting Danish companies’ investments and trade in developing partner countries. To this end, the Danish Government has initiated an initiative to strengthen business support through five business support instruments. The instruments are designed with focus on making it easier and more attractive for Danish companies to engage in emerging and developing markets, by reducing risks and clarifying and activating market potentials through partnerships, pilot projects, and business instruments providing co-investment financing and technical advice. The total amount allocated for the total initiative is DKK 850 million, of which DKK 550 million is allocated for instruments related to this tender. The five instruments focus on: E1) Early pipeline development to enlarge the pool of viable business cases; E2) Development, testing, and launching of inclusive and sustainable business models through partnerships between Danish businesses and non-commercial actors; E3) Access to finance, better enabling companies to invest and do business in high-risk Global South markets; E4) Demonstrating scalable, private sector-developed solutions with and for public authorities; and E5) Leveraging private and philanthropic capital. The five instruments are designed and should to the extent possible be managed to ensure synergies and coherence, both mutually and with the wider set of Danish private sector support engagements. The implementation of instruments E1, E2, and E4 will be managed under a Fund Management (FM) contract (Agreement) while instrument E3 and E5 will be managed by Impact Fund Denmark. This reflects a wish to concentrate the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ role on the policy and strategic management functions and to externalise the administrative and operational management functions to implementing agents. The purpose of the Agreement is to carry out the implementation and management of the three instruments, E1, E2, and E4, based on the underlying project documents and MFA Aid Management Guidelines (AMG). The Consultant will provide effective, transparent and accountable challenge fund management, covering proactive outreach and communication; call and application process implementation; contracting of selected actors/partnerships; supervision, guidance, and technical and project management backstopping of projects supported; administrative and financial management at facility level; results management and monitoring at level of each instrument; learning across the portfolio; and risk management. The objective of the Agreement is to manage and implement effectively and with accountability and transparency instruments E1, E2, and E4 and to achieve their defined objectives and results and in compliance with the MFA AMG. The Consultant’s overall tasks are: • Manage the full grant cycles of the instruments based on the project documents, including the application/call processes, with focus on efficient management, effectiveness, and accountability for funds and results. • Provide all administration of the funds including overall financial management, controls including state subsidy compliance, and verification and approval of project workplans, budgets, and reports as well as disbursements to the actors which, depending on the case, is the sole grantee, or in case of partnerships, the appointed administrative partner (commercial or non-commercial). • Provide for achievement of results as defined in the Results Framework in project documents of the instruments. • Provide outreach and communication to relevant segments of commercial actors including small/medium-size enterprises, highlight positive lessons, and ensure sharing of relevant knowledge and information that generate interest and effective participation in the instruments. • Provide relevant business and project management support and guidance to actors supported under the instruments. • Provide overall quality assurance of projects supported. • Maintain full compliance with MFA AMG and FMG, ensuring high standards of financial management, procurement, anti-corruption, and risk mitigation. • Provide relevant information and data to KLIMA on concrete projects and overall status based on request and through half annual and yearly reporting and meetings. • In relation to mid-term review or other MFA monitoring activities implement recommendations. The Agreement is divided into two phases. Phase 1 will cover the period 2027-2030 with an optional phase 2 covering up to 2035 guided by a planned mid-term review in 2029.
Additional information: In the tender, economic operators must submit a completed and signed statement regarding Article 5k(1) of Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 of 31 July 2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, as amended by Council Regulation (EU) No 2023/1214 of 23 June 2023. The contract cannot be awarded to a tenderer subject to Article 5k(1) of Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 of 31 July 2014, as amended by Council Regulation (EU) No 2023/1214 of 23 June 2023 Before the time limit for receipt of tenders, the candidates, which the contracting authority has invited to tender, must present documentation of the information provided in the ESPD. The contracting authority can accept the following documentation in relation to the exclusion grounds in sections 135(1), 135(3) and 137(1)(2) of the Danish Public Procurement Act (in order of priority): (1) Extracts from the relevant register or similar documents issued by a competent judicial or administrative authority or certificates issued by the competent authority in the country referred to as documentation that the tenderer is not subject to the grounds for exclusion stipulated in sections 135(1), 135(3) and 137(1)(2); (2) A declaration on oath (only if such extracts, certificates or similar documents are not issued in the country where the economic operator is established, or where the documentation does not cover all the grounds for exclusion stipulated in sections 135(1), 135(3) and 137(1)(2) entirely); (3) A solemn declaration made by the person concerned before a competent judicial or administrative authority, a notary or a competent professional or trade body, in the country of origin or in the country where the economic operator is established (only if there is no provision for declarations on oath in the country where the economic operator is established). Thus, the contracting authority cannot accept e.g. a solemn declaration made before a notary if there can be issued a certificate by the competent authority in the country where the economic operator is established. Moreover, the contracting authority cannot accept self-declarations or similar declarations issued by the economic operator or the person concerned as documentation in relation to the exclusion grounds. Economic operators can identify the relevant documentation using the online platform e-Certis: https://ec.europa.eu/tools/ecertis If an economic operator is entered on an official list of approved economic operators or has an equivalent certificate (e.g. under a national (pre)qualification system), the economic operator may refer to the list in question or present a certificate issued by the competent authority instead of documentation of the information provided in the ESPD. When an economic operator is participating in the procurement procedure together with others, the economic operator must present a joint statement from all the participating economic operators which identifies the member of the group who can act as an agent on behalf of the group with mandate to establish a legal obligation on behalf of the group in relation to the contracting authority. Economic operators are encouraged to submit all necessary documentation as early as possible. Prior to the signing of the contract, the tenderer, which the contracting authority has awarded the contract to, must present statements of availability from all non-permanent staff (e.g. project specific consultants or freelance consultants). This contract has not been divided into lots, cf. section II.1.6), due to minimization of administration as well as market and economic considerations.
Place of performance: Primarily in Denmark, but field visits in target countries.

Lot: LOT-0000
Title: Consultancy Services for Fund Management of three new Business Instruments

Procurement documents
Address of the procurement documents: https://www.ethics.dk/ethics/eo#/1acd311d-9908-4e21-9c5c-a4752ed4c566/publicMaterial