BACKGROUND
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Federation of National Association of Women in Business (COMFWB) is one of COMESA institution supporting the development and participation of women owned SMEs in Regional integration.
The COMESA Treaty under Article 154 and 155 acknowledges critical role that women play in their social economic spheres in line with the COMESA gender policy. COMESA has set up two institutions and agencies supporting private sector development. The COMESA Federation of National Association of Women in Business (COMFWB) is one of the COMESA institutions with a mandate of supporting women led private sector organizations.
COMFWB has been implementing its medium-term strategic plan which focus on supporting provision of business development services to entrepreneurs and creating Jobs for women and youths through creation and strengthening of existing Business incubation centers.
COMFWB has partnered with CO-WATER international in the implementation of the Facilitating Inclusive Resilient and Sustainable Trade (FIRST) Project funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC). The project supports the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and regional trade agreements through gender-responsive, inclusive, and environmentally sustainable (GRIES) approaches.
In the FIRST project, Activity 1223.2.1 contributes to Intermediate Outcome 1200, which aims to strengthen the capacity of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)—particularly small-scale cross-border traders (SSCBTs), women, youth, and persons with disabilities—to access and benefit from national, regional, and continental trade opportunities.
COMFWB would like to engage a service provider to develop training materials which will be used for the training of women entrepreneurs in Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo.
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1. The COMFWB Secretariat is inviting Individual Consultants to submit their CV and Financial Proposal for the following services (REF- COMFWB/CS/TM/6/08/2025)
Preparation of Training Materials on Business Development for Women and Youth Engaged in Small Scale Cross Border Trade
The Terms of Reference defining the minimum technical requirements for the services are attached as Annex 1 to this Request for Expression of Interest.
2. Only Individual Consultants are eligible for this assignment.
3. The maximum budget for this contract is US$ 2,000.00 for expert service/ consultants’ fees only.Proposals exceeding this budget will not be accepted.
4.Your Expression of Interest must be presented as perExpression of Interest Forms attached as Annex 2 to this Request for Expression of Interest, in the English language and be accompanied by copies of all the indicated supporting documents. If the supporting documents are not in English, these shall be accompanied by a certified translation into English.
Your application documents clearly marked and email bearing the subject “: Short Term Consultancy for preparation of Training Materials on BusinessDevelopment for Women and Youth Engaged in Small Scale Cross Border Trade" should be emailed to the following address :
JMasanche@comesa.int and copy to comfwb@comesa.int
5. The deadline for submission of your application, to the address indicated above, is 13 August 2025 at 16:00 hours Malawi time
Additional requests for information and clarifications can be made until 3 working days prior to deadline from
The Procuring entity : COMFWB Secretariat
Contact person : Head of Procurement
E-mail: JMasanche@comesa.int and Copy to comfwb@comesa.int
For further details, kindly download the Terms of Reference and the Expression of Interest Forms in the attached ANNEX
