Request for Proposal For Supply Side Financial Landscape Study in Guinea Bissau

RFP-WI-WEECAP-2025-10-06
Issued: October 16, 2025
Women Economic Empowerment through Cashew Processing (WEECAP) Program
Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire

Access to adequate financing remains a critical challenge within the cashew nut sector, significantly hindering its growth and potential. This issue is influenced by several factors, including the perceived high risk by traditional lenders, a lack of collateral among smallholder farmers and processors, and limited financial literacy. Key stakeholders affected by this include farmers, processors, traders, and ultimately, the entire value chain.

To address these above-mentioned systemic problems, WEECAP aims to establish a catalytic fund which is not merely beneficial but essential. The fund would serve as a vital financial instrument to bridge the existing funding gap, de-risk investments, provide tailored financial products that cater to the specific needs of the sector’s actors, and create incentives for other capital providers and investors to crowd in. This is crucial for unlocking the full potential of the cashew nut industry, fostering sustainable development, and creating significant socio-economic impact. The WEECAP Catalytic Fund is dedicated to financing mechanisms and technical assistance designed to stimulate broader investment and amplify impact, particularly in areas where conventional financing may be insufficient or too risk-averse in the cashew sector in Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Bissau Guinea. These mechanisms aim to strategically deploy capital in ways that attract additional investors and resources toward a shared objective of supporting growth of the cashew industry and create impact for women and youth.

The WEECAP team is conducting a supply side analysis of the financial landscape of the cashew value chain to adapt its implementation to the local context.

The objective of the study is to inform the design of financial mechanisms such as loss guarantee fund and low-interest rate credit to unlock the Cashew Value Chain financing by de-risking pipeline development and lending to micro & small processors and young women.

The Women Economic Empowerment through Cashew Processing Program (WEECAP) aims at supporting young women and men in the cashew value chain to unravel job opportunities created by increased local processing specifically by women and young women. By unlocking the barriers in each component of the value chain, for the more financially vulnerable populations of women and young women, and with a focus on enhancing competitivity, and inclusivity for young women processors, service providers and farmers, we plan to create dignified and rewarding jobs for 330,000 young women and men while integrating efforts throughout the value chain and the broader cashew ecosystem.

The program is articulated around 5 objectives, for a strong, resilient, competitive, and attractive cashew value chain for young women and men.

• Ensuring women especially young women are the one benefiting the most from the interventions while engaging young people and improving their environmental and social safeguarding.
• Innovative financial inclusion support through the young women and men owned processing units
• Supply ensured through young producers and producers’ organizations.
• Strong competitiveness support and access to market especially for women processors,
• Policy, safeguarding, and systems that brings a sustainable systemic approach which supports local consumption.

This program will achieve the following results and impact in Guinea Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal:

• 330,000 Youth in Work.
• 70% young women, including 6% of people with disabilities
• Over 200 processors, micro enterprises, supply/production chain service providers and producer organizations benefit from improved upstream and downstream linkages.
• 200% increase in domestic processing capacity.
• $150 million in new commitments and private sector investment leveraged by the program to support an inclusive, integrated, competitive cashew processing industry.
• Over 850,000 entrepreneurs, processors and farmers will benefit from capacity building, access to finance and systemic changes.

Submission Details

Proposals must be received no later than 5:00 PM West Africa Time on Friday, November 14, 2025.  Late submissions will not be accepted.  All proposals are to be submitted following the guidelines listed below. Telephone requests will not be honored.

Winrock International may request additional documentation after the bid deadline.

The delivery address to be used for all submissions is:
Khar Dakono
Email:  weecap.procurement@winrock.org  

Inquiries/questions must be received no later than Friday, October 31, 2025, (WAT)and must be submitted via e-mail to weecap.procurement@winrock.org Winrock will review and respond to all potential offers by Friday, November 7, 2025

Winrock will evaluate complete vendor proposals to determine which proposal represents the best value to Winrock.  This is an unsealed solicitation request.  Winrock reserves the right to negotiate with the bidders with or without discussion.

Electronic submissions in response to this Request for Proposal will be accepted as long as they meet the following criteria:

• Proposals must be submitted electronically in PDF format
• The subject line of the email should be: “Proposal Submission – Supply Side Financial Landscape Study”

Instructions to Bidders

• Validity of bid: 60 days starting from the submission date.
• Cost quoted must include unit price and total price in XOF
• Include VAT if applicable
• Payment terms and complete banking information

Bid Documents to Include

• Legal Business Name
• Authorized contact including address, phone number and email
• Proof of business registration and nationality
• Technical Proposal including detailed approach and work plan
• Financial Proposal including a detailed budget breakdown, including professional fees, travel costs, and other expenses, and cost justification
• A list of previous similar contracts completed successfully with the names and contact information of buyers.

Award

Winrock anticipates to notify successful bidder and provide agreement for signature the week of November 17, 2025.

• Winrock will run an open and fair competitive bidding process.
• As warranted, Winrock may increase or decrease the quantities.