Deadline: 15-Jul-22
The U.S. Embassy Lilongwe announces this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for a Fiscal Transparency Innovation Fund (FTIF) to examine debt accrued by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Malawi.
The project will result in an increase in transparency and public oversight of SOE debt. Increased transparency will benefit the Malawian economy by compelling the SOEs, which account for a large part of the country’s economic activity, to run more efficiently and to reduce irresponsible and possibly corrupt debt accruement. The period of performance is a maximum of twenty-four months.
Program Objective: Increase public oversight of SOE debt to promote efficient management of SOE finances and reduce irresponsible and possibly corrupt accrual of SOE debt.
Funding Information
- Award Instrument: Grant
- Period of Performance 24 months
- Type of Funding FY21 Economic Support Funds
- Funding Amount: $ 50,000
- Number of Awards: 1
- Anticipated Award Date: September 2022
- Anticipated Project Completion Date: September 2024
Main Activities
- Conduct a baseline survey of the current state of SOE fiscal governance and reporting. Include a desk review of publicly available information on SOE debt accrual and payment and interviews with individuals and organizations involved in SOE monitoring and fiscal transparency.
- Select case study SOEs, research their fiscal status and contracts, and create a methodology for future oversight. Specifically, the project will discover the reasons SOEs accrue debt, the terms and conditions of the debt accrued, the amount of debt, who authorizes an SOE to take on debt, and the government of Malawi’s obligation to back the debt.
- Use the information gained in objectives one and two to create training materials and conduct training on SOE oversight for journalists and/or civil society organizations on how to find fiscal and contracting information from the SOEs and the government and how to report on the findings.
- Produce a report containing short- and long-term recommendations to further SOE fiscal transparency. The recommendations will be based on international best practices for laws and regulations governing SOEs and their relationship with government and private sector businesses.
- The successful applicant will work closely with government accountability and transparency institutions such as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in implementing activities.
Priority Region: Malawi
Eligibility Criteria
- The following organizations are eligible to apply:
- Not-for-profit organizations, including CSOs and NGOs
- Public and private educational institutions
- Individuals
- Public International Organizations and Governmental institutions
- Technically eligible submissions are those which:
- arrive by the designated deadline;
- have heeded all instructions contained in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), including registrations and length and completeness of submission; and
- do not violate any of the guidelines stated in the solicitation and this document.
- The U.S. Embassy is committed to an anti-discrimination policy in all of its programs and activities.
- The Embassy welcomes applications irrespective of an applicants’ race, ethnicity, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
- They encourage applications from organizations working with underserved communities, including women, people with disabilities, and youth.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=339856