Tender Ref No.: ACBF/REoI/001/26/PFM

1. Background

The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) is Africa’s premier institution for capacity development. Established in 1991, ACBF builds human and institutional capacity for good governance, effective public sector management, and inclusive and sustainable development across Africa. Over the past three decades, ACBF has supported governments, regional institutions, civil society, and the private sector in more than 45 African countries.

ACBF’s Strategic Plan 2023–2027 repositions the Foundation to deliver results-driven, scalable, and sustainable capacity development solutions. The Strategy places strong emphasis on leveraging strategic partnerships to achieve impact at scale; mobilising diverse and innovative financing; to enhance ACBF’s institutional effectiveness, sustainability, and knowledge leadership.

Within this strategic framework, Ubora Academy serves as ACBF’s flagship learning and capacity development platform, responsible for translating ACBF’s strategic priorities into high-quality, demand-driven, and scalable learning programmes for African public servants and leaders.

Ubora Academy contributes directly to the achievement of ACBF’s Strategic Objectives by strengthening leadership, governance, institutional performance, and public sector effectiveness across the continent.

2. Justification

The ACBF Strategy 2023–2027 recognizes that achieving sustainable development impact requires moving beyond fragmented, project-based interventions toward institutional platforms that are financially sustainable, partnership-driven, and capable of delivering impact at scale.

As Ubora Academy expands its portfolio of leadership, governance, and Public Financial Management programmes among other areas, there is a strategic need to strengthen its business development and marketing capacity. This includes diversifying its offerings and expanding its reach to various audiences and geographies, in a financially sustainable way; and strengthening Ubora Academy’s positioning within Africa’s capacity development ecosystem.

In this context, ACBF seeks to recruit a Business Development Consultant to support the design and operationalization of a structured business model and marketing strategy for the Ubora Academy services offering sustainability, in line with the ACBF Strategic Plan 2023–2027.

3. Objectives of the Assignment

The overall objective of this assignment is to strengthen Ubora Academy’s institutional sustainability and impact by developing and supporting the implementation of business development, partnership, and marketing strategy aligned to the ACBF Strategic Plan 2023–2027.

The specific objectives are to:

• Propose cost recovery-based model for current available trainings
• Strengthen Ubora Academy’s comparative advantage and strategic positioning.
• Identify opportunities for revenue-generating learning products and services.
• Strengthen internal systems and tools for sustainable business development.

4. Scope of Work

The Business Development Consultant will undertake the following tasks:

1. Strategic Analysis and Positioning
   • Review Ubora Academy’s mandate, current services or programmes, business plan and alignment with the ACBF Strategy 2023–2027.
   • Analyse the capacity development market and partners’ landscape.
   • Refine Ubora Academy’s current services value proposition, Course format, structure and positioning as a pan-African centre of excellence.
   • Develop comprehensive Ubora Academy business model and business model canvas
2. Business Development and Marketing Strategy
   • Develop a Resource Mobilization Strategy for the Ubora Academy service offerings.
   • Design Business Marketing Management strategies for Ubora Academy
   • Propose learner and customer engagement strategy for Ubora Academy courses
   • Strengthen internal proposal development processes and develop marketing templates
3. Market Research and Development
   • Develop a market segmentation strategy, identifying strategic customers and partners (development partners, governments, regional institutions, private sector).
   • Craft design thinking framework to improve learner’s experience on the Ubora Academy online platform
   • Develop partnership concept notes and engagement briefs.
4. Revenue Generation and Sustainability
   • Identify opportunities for fee-based programmes, executive education, and customised training.
   • Propose pricing, cost-recovery, and sustainability models for the Ubora Academy courses. Provide mentoring or coaching to relevant Ubora Academy staff on business development practices.

5. Methodology

The Consultant will adopt a consultative and iterative approach, including but not limited to the following:

• Desk review of ACBF and Ubora Academy strategic and programmes documents.
• Stakeholder consultations with beneficiaries, ACBF management, and staff.
• Partners and market analysis with their proposed costing models.

6. Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The Consultant will deliver:

1. Inception Report outlining approach, methodology, and workplan.
2. Business model plan for the Ubora Academy
3. Ubora Academy services (courses) formats and costing model
4. Engagement and Marketing strategies for the member countries on the current and upcoming courses
5. Market Players and Partners mapping report.
6. Partnership framework and engagement tools.
7. Revenue generation and sustainability recommendations.
8. Final report with actionable implementation recommendations.

7. Assignment Duration and Schedule

The assignment will be undertaken over 30 workdays within a period of 60 days, structured as follows:

Description	Duration (Days)	Daily fees	Amount (USD)
Inception and desk review	3
Business model development, marketing strategies and consultations	15
Partnership and proposal support	10
Final reporting	2
TOTAL (USD)

Note: Please include the above table as part of your financial proposal.  

8. Qualifications and Experience

The required qualification, competencies and experience for this role include:

• A minimum of a Master’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Economics, Development Studies, Public Policy, or related fields.
• At least 10–15 years of professional experience in business development and marketing in the adult learning industry.
• Proven experience working with development partners and government.
• Demonstrated success in proposal development, services marketing  and engagement with government and private actors’ clients.
• Strong understanding of capacity development, public sector governance, public financial management.
• Excellent proposal writing, stakeholder engagement, analytical, writing, and communication skills.
• Experience working with pan-African or regional institutions will be a strong advantage.

9. Consultant’s Input and Reporting Requirements

The selected Consultant will work closely with staff of ACBF and will report to the Director of Programs and Impact Department, or its designated person.

10. Evaluation of the proposals

The selection method for this assignment is individual consultant selection. The technical evaluation committee shall evaluate the CVs and experience based on their responsiveness to the Terms of Reference, with a minimum technical score required being 70 Points specified below. 

 A technical proposal shall be rejected at this stage if it does not respond to key aspects of the Terms of Reference or if it fails to achieve the minimum technical score indicated.  Financial proposals will be evaluated after the technical assessment is completed and only those consultants whose technical proposals have been accepted will be evaluated and a proposal with the most economical cost will be selected.

	Criteria	Max Points (100)
1	Minimum of a Master’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Economics, Development Studies, Public Policy, or related fields.	10
2	At least 10–15 years of professional experience in business development and marketing in the adult learning industry in Africa	20
3	Proven experience working with government in including pricing, income-generation, financing, cost recovery	15
4	Demonstrated success in business development, services marketing  and engagement with government and private actors clients.	15
5	Strong understanding of capacity development, Public sector governance, CSO governance, Public financial management	15
6	Proficiency in technical writing skills, with the ability to synthesize research and policy reports for diverse audiences, employ effective knowledge repository methodologies.	15
7	Experience working with pan-African or regional institutions will be a strong advantage.	10
	Total	100

11. Location and Working Arrangements

This assignment is both a field and home-based consultancy. The Consultant will be given access to ACBF relevant information such as project information and reports as well as online research resources. The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/ his/their own workstation (i.e., laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and access to reliable internet connection. In case of travel to member countries, ACBF will be responsible for all related costs.

12. Submission & Selection Process

The proposal should include as a minimum:

• A proposal responding to the points in this TOR, with reference list of at least 3 previous similar assignments. A time plan in accordance with table no.1 above should be included.
• A copy of Curriculum Vitae (CV) for the individual conducting the consultancy.
• A financial offer with a detailed breakdown of costs, disclosing all relevant budget items for completing this assignment. The financial proposal should be as per guide in the table for key deliverables and must be encrypted with a password.

13. Language

All reports and documents must be presented in English and in Roboto 12 format with ACBF Logo.

Interested consultants are requested to submit their bid with the subject marked Process No: “Individual Consultancy services to undertake Business Development Services for Ubora Academy of the African Capacity Building Foundation” to email address submission@theacbf.org or before 17.00 hours (local Harare time), on 19^th February 2026.