Advisory Services on Capacity Building Support for WMSME Access to Finance in Rwanda

Background

Rwanda joined the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) Code on 28 May 2025, with 16 inaugural coalition members including the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) and all 11 commercial banks. The We-Fi Code is a data-driven, voluntary commitment framework through which signatory financial institutions (FIs) pledge to expand access to finance for women-owned and women-led micro, small, and medium enterprises (WMSMEs). While formal financial inclusion rates for women in Rwanda exceed 90 percent and women represent approximately 40% of Rwanda's 250,000+ registered businesses, many women-owned businesses still face challenges accessing and effectively using formal financial services for business growth. The constraint is not one of financial literacy alone, but of financial capability, business management, and bankability — the financial records, business planning, governance practices, and loan-readiness skills that lenders look for at the appraisal stage. The World Bank provides technical assistance to BNR on strengthening WMSME access to finance under the We-Fi Code, including on how capacity building for WMSMEs can support signatory FIs in expanding lending to the segment. There is, however, limited Rwanda-specific evidence on which forms, content and intensity of non-financial support help WMSMEs become credit-ready, and no generic, context-adapted body of credit-readiness material that BNR, signatory FIs or other providers can adopt. To inform its advice, the World Bank requires an analysis of the capacity gaps facing WMSMEs in Rwanda, a review of what comparable programmes have shown to work and at what cost, and a set of credit-readiness materials and tools developed to a standard suitable for adoption by others. The firm is engaged by, and performs services for, the World Bank. The outputs are analytical and advisory products for the World Bank's own use in advising BNR and in its knowledge work. The firm does not deliver services to, act on behalf of, or take instructions from BNR, any financial institution, or any enterprise. The World Bank sets the analytical framework, owns all data, materials and findings, and will use them to inform its technical advice to BNR and knowledge products for We-Fi Code signatory FIs and other stakeholders. The World Bank is separately undertaking a financial-sector diagnostic and mapping of the financing products, eligibility requirements and application processes offered to WMSMEs by We-Fi Code signatory institutions. The firm shall build on this mapping rather than duplicate it, so that the materials developed under this assignment are grounded in the financing products actually available in the market.

Objective

and Analytical Questions:

The

objective of the assignment is to support the World Bank in generating

analysis, materials and advice on the non-financial support that enables WMSMEs in Rwanda to become credit-ready, to inform the World Bank's technical assistance to BNR. Working to an analytical framework set by the World Bank and finalized at inception, the firm will address the following questions: • Which capacity gaps most frequently prevent WMSMEs from reaching a bankable financing application, and how do these differ by stage of financing readiness (first-time applicant, previously declined applicant, limited bank relationship)? • What credit-readiness and business development support is currently available to WMSMEs in Rwanda, by whom is it provided, and how well does it align with the financing products identified through the World Bank's product mapping? • What does the evidence from comparable programmes in Rwanda and internationally indicate about which forms, content and intensity of non-financial support improve credit readiness, under what conditions, and for which segments? • Which programme components — group training, one-to-one coaching, peer learning, digital tools, exposure to FI staff — are most relevant for which segments, and what does this imply for the design of future support? • Are the credit-readiness materials and toolkit developed under this assignment relevant, usable and suitable for adoption by BNR, We-Fi Code signatory institutions or other providers, and at which points do WMSMEs encounter difficulty with them? • What are the indicative costs and design parameters of delivering such support at scale, and what design lessons are relevant for BNR, FIs and other stakeholders?

Eligibility

restrictions apply:

- Firm must have experience working in Rwanda. Submission

Requirements:

The World Bank Group invites eligible firms to indicate their interest in providing the services. Interested firms must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services (brochures, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, availability of appropriate skills among staff, etc. for firms; CV and cover letter for individuals). Please note that the total size of all attachments should be less than 5MB. Firms may associate to enhance their qualifications unless otherwise stated in the solicitation documents. Where a group of firms associate to submit an EOI, they must indicate which is the lead firm. If shortlisted, the firm identified in the EOI as the lead firm will be invited to the request for proposal (RFP) phase. Expressions of Interest should be submitted, in English, electronically through WBGeProcure RFx Now

Notes:

Following this invitation for EOI, a shortlist of qualified firms will be formally invited to submit proposals. Shortlisting and selection will be subject to the availability of funding. Only those firms which have been shortlisted will be invited to participate in the RFP phase. No notification or debrief will be provided to firms which have not been shortlisted. If you encounter technical difficulties while uploading documents, please send an e-mail to the Help Desk at [contact details removed] prior to the submission deadline.

Procurement number: 0002023979. Expressions of interest are submitted through the World Bank Group's eProcure (RFx Now) portal, which requires vendor registration.