Access to International Financial Institutions and invitations to tender
Participating successfully in international invitations to tender: AWE provides tailored services to assist companies in accessing business with International Financial Institutions (IFIs). Our training courses, expert dialogues and delegation trips help companies identify business opportunities, position themselves strategically, prepare for market entry – and improve networking with the relevant decision-makers. They arepractical, specific and company-oriented.
Every year, development banks such as the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) along with their national partners invite tenders for projects worth billions to improve access to clean water and sufficient energy, food and healthcare services worldwide. Countries like Indonesia, Ghana, Ukraine and regions such as West Africa are particularly important at the moment. There are interesting business opportunities for companies in all sectors.
What we offer:
Identifying market opportunities: information about current and planned projects, tender and award procedures as well as insights into the procurement guidelines of leading development banks.
Developing expertise: regular online seminars and face-to-face events provide know-how on tenders, costing, tax aspects and the legal framework.
Strengthening networks: access to relevant decision-makers, organisation of networking events and promotion of cooperation structures – for SMEs in particular.
Sharing experiences: entrepreneurs report from the field – on the dos and don’ts, success factors and obstacles.
Success requires good preparation – five steps to get your company up to speed for invitations to tender issued by International Financial Institutions
Dr. Joachim Richter, expert in International Financial Institutions
Identify your target markets; you may already have business contacts that you can use to gain access to the market.
Carry out a thorough ‘country screening’ process. Prioritise countries based on previous business or existing contacts and language skills within the company.
Focus on a few key countries and develop your country and sales strategies.
Find an effective local representative who can provide professional support and who also has contact with the local authorities.
Obtain sector-relevant preliminary information and documentation via the IFI databases.
Carefully evaluate the country analyses of the IFI involved in the project concerning your target countries, with a particular focus on project references and sector strategies.
Research and analyse the medium and long-term project strategies of the development banks (sectoral, regional). Identify the relevant financing priorities of the IFIs via their websites (Projects & Operations).
Track projects and reports on the location, project executing agencies, project managers, project scope and level of funding; use the information intelligently and translate it into actions relevant to the success of your project; continuously update your project pipeline; analyse the Project Award List.
Exert your influence in good time on the specifications and invitations to tender by maintaining contact with the consultancy firms involved. This will help place your company in the best competitive position possible.
Develop your projects in the target regions in collaboration with local sales organisations or local partners.
Get to know the working methods and the project cycle in detail.
Maintain regular personal contact with the financial institutions.
Demonstrate your expertise, publicise your company and your technology. Conduct presentations (‘brown-bag lunches’) in the IFIs’ sector departments.
Participate in delegation trips to the financial institutions or to your target markets.
Build up contacts with the local offices of the IFIs.
Be sure to analyse the environment, networking and coordination in the political environment (federal and state ministries, embassies, associations).
Ensure political flanking and support from the German embassies (the embassy’s economic affairs department or BMZ desk officer).
Establish good contacts with the local line ministries.
Acquire precise knowledge of the local conditions.
Obtain the relevant tender documents in good time from the organisations issuing the invitation to tender and ensure that your tender is submitted in good time to the specified address (‘deadline for submission’).
Select your invitations to tender carefully.
Formulate a short and concise expression of interest for potential projects and send it to the identified project manager at the bank and to the implementing organisation.
Assess the tender documents.
Analyse the cost structure and establish a budget for your tender.
Make sure you comply with regulations to avoid disqualification or penalisation.
Ensure your commercial and technical bidding departments are fully up to speed about compliance with bank-specific guidelines. If necessary, seek external support with preparing the tender.
Prepare the contract negotiations.
Check and monitor disbursement procedures.
Note
If you implement these five steps systematically and consistently, you will be on track to successfully acquire projects via invitations to tender offered by International Financial Institutions.
Checklist – how prepared is my company?
Dr. Joachim Richter, expert in International Financial Institutions
This checklist is designed to help you prepare for a competition for contracts from International Financial Institutions. It is particularly important to clearly define responsibilities within your company with regard to participation in invitations to tender.
How familiar am I with the working practices of IFIs?
Does my company already have starting points in developing countries and emerging economies?
Has my company already completed projects in developing countries and emerging economies?
Have we conducted a pre-selection of target countries?
Have we defined our area of competence and which economic sector are we targeting?
Do we already have contact with local enterprises in our target countries? What kind of enterprises?
To what extent do we need support from the local German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHK)?
How familiar are we with the working practices of the IFIs?
How familiar are we with the awarding guidelines of the IFIs?
How professional is our information management system?
Have we established contact with Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) and do we receive project information on a regular basis?
Do we have contact with the IFI? And how well do we know the project manager responsible?
Do we have contact with the ‘implementing organisation’ issuing the invitation to tender?
Have we compiled all the relevant company data?
Can we put together a tender team?
Do we need external support during preparation of the tender?
Have we spoken to our company bank about providing tender bonds?
We use cookies to personalize content and ads, provide social media features, and analyze traffic to our website. We also share information about your use of our website with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners. Our partners may combine this information with other data that you have provided to them or that they have collected as part of your use of the Services. For more information on how we handle cookies and our privacy policy, see here.
