ACCESS TO FINANCE RWANDA

Request for Proposals

For

CONSULTANCY TO DEVELOP A MOBILE APPLICATION FOR THE AGRICULTURE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

PROCUREMENT REFERENCE NUMBER: CONSULTANCY TO DEVELOP A MOBILE APPLICATION FOR THE AGRICULTURE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

1. INTRODUCTION 

About Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR)

Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) is a Rwandan not for profit company established in 2010 to promote financial inclusion and financial sector development. AFR is currently funded by Sweden, Jersey Overseas Aid, and the MasterCard Foundation.

AFR is part of the broader Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) network in Africa that seeks to create a transformative impact on ending poverty by supporting efforts to improve financial inclusion and financial sector development through helping policy makers, regulators, financial service providers and markets drive a more inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

AFR supports the removal of systemic barriers that hinder access to and use of financial services by low-income people, particularly the rural poor, women, youth and MSMEs, and supports the development and provision of financial services including savings, credit, insurance, investment, payments, and remittances.

AFR is guided by the Market System Development (MSD) approach recognising that efforts to increase financial inclusion and financial sector development must be market-led, profitable and sustainable. For more details visit our website: (www.afr.rw).

About Digital Public Infrastructure

The Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Program sits under the Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA), which leads the country’s digital transformation agenda by driving the design, coordination, and implementation of foundational digital systems. DPI encompasses core enablers such as digital identity, digital payments, and data exchange platforms that ensure secure, inclusive, and interoperable service delivery.

The agriculture management information system (AMIS) is set to be Agriculture sector specific DPI which translates into following the next DPI design principles in the architecture, implementation, deployment of several modules and components:

1. Interoperability: AMIS will ensure seamless data and service exchange across government systems, private sector platforms, and farmer-facing applications. It will adopt open standards, semantic data models, and standardized APIs to enable integration without custom connectors. This guarantees that agricultural information can flow securely and consistently across the ecosystem.
2. Minimalistic/Reusable building blocks: AMIS will be designed as a collection of modular, lightweight components that address specific functional needs such as farmer registration, subsidy management, or market information. Each module will be built for reuse across different programs and sectors, avoiding duplication of effort. This approach ensures scalability, cost-effectiveness, and flexibility for future expansion.
3. Built for inclusiveness: AMIS will prioritize universal accessibility by supporting multiple access channels (web, mobile, USSD, offline) and local languages. It will be designed for low-literacy and low-connectivity environments, ensuring that marginalized groups, including smallholders and women farmers, are not left behind. Inclusiveness will be embedded at both the design and governance levels.
4. Federated and decentralized: Instead of centralizing all data, AMIS will adopt a federated architecture where data remains with the systems of record (e.g., land registry, financial systems, cooperatives). Interoperability layers will enable secure exchange while maintaining autonomy and ownership for participating entities. This model reduces single points of failure and builds trust among stakeholders.
5. Security & privacy: AMIS will follow security and privacy by design, embedding safeguards from the ground up. Sensitive agricultural and personal data will be protected through encryption, role-based access controls, data minimization, and consent management. Continuous monitoring and compliance with national data protection law will ensure AMIS remains a trusted platform.

Background:

The Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources is committed to ensuring that every farmer can access a wide range of financial, advisory, and support services tailored to their specific needs. To achieve this, it has become essential to digitalize several key components that directly connect to farmers, enabling all participants in the agricultural ecosystem to access accurate farmer information and design personalized, high-impact programs.

The identified farmer-facing components currently being digitalized include:

• Food Basket Sites Management
• Livestock & Animal Resources Management & Health Card
• Livestock Insurance
• Veterinarians & Agronomists Registration and Licensing
• Dairy Value Chain
• Crop Recommendations
• Pest and Disease Control
• Farm Services (including e-Extension and weather services)
• Farm Credit Management
• MIS Reporting and Analytics
• Market Linkage (including Crop Insurance)
• Farm Inputs and Subsidy Management
• Export Crops Value Chain
• AMIS Financials

Through the digitalization of these components, AMIS will ensure that farmers have access to financial services, modern farming advice, and market opportunities, empowering them to grow more resilient and profitable businesses. At the same time, the platform will create value for all key stakeholders in the agricultural sector:

• Development Partners:
  • Harness data-driven agricultural innovation
  • Identify targeted investment opportunities
  • Advance research and development
  • Strengthen monitoring and evaluation of agricultural initiatives
• Private Sector:
  • Improve supply chain efficiency and transparency
  • Drive new product and service innovation
  • Expand financial and insurance offerings tailored to farmers
• Government:
  • Deliver stronger agricultural extension services
  • Foster sustainable agricultural development
  • Enable evidence-based policymaking through real-time data

Objective of the assignment:

The objective of this assignment is to engage a qualified firm to support the AMIS development team in designing, developing, and deploying a mobile application that extends AMIS services to end-users, with a focus on inclusiveness, accessibility, and usability in low-connectivity environments. The firm will bring proven technical expertise in mobile application development, offline-first design, user-centred research, and API integration to ensure the solution is robust, scalable, and aligned with sectoral needs. In addition, the firm will support the AMIS team in establishing best practices for UX/UI design across mobile and web applications, quality assurance for mobile applications, and mobile deployment, while building local capacity through training and knowledge transfer to ensure long-term sustainability.

AFR is in the process of hiring a firm to develop a mobile application for the Agriculture Management Information System (AMIS)

Interested bidders must confirm their intention to submit a bid by Friday November 28, 2025, at 17h00 HRS CAT

Any requests for clarifications to the RFP may be submitted by Friday December 5, 2025, 17h00 HRS CAT.

Bidders should submit their proposals no later than Friday December 12, 17:00 HRS CAT

Responding bidders are advised that this solicitation does not in any way obligate AFR to make a contract award or compensate the responding firms for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of their proposals. Additionally, AFR may award a contract without conducting negotiations; all proposals should be submitted initially using your most favourable terms. AFR reserves the right to award any resultant contract to other than the offeror submitting the lowest price proposal based on technical excellence, schedule superiority or client request.

All communications regarding this RFP should be addressed via email: procurement02@afr.rw

Below is the summary planned procurement schedule:

Note: This procurement is open to ONLY locally registered firms.

Cordially,

Jean Bosco Iyacu

Chief Executive Officer