Extensive yet concise introduction to development sector project opportunities through international procurements

 
 

Why?

Development finance procurements reach 150 billion Euros annually.

Universities, companies and many other organizations have skills and capacity that could be utilized much more in these procurements than is currently done.

Tapping into the development finance markets requires understanding of the market, the clients and the procurement processes of international financing institutions and donors.

What?

The training provides its participants a thorough introduction to the development market and provides crucial skills and tools for finding partners, identifying project opportunities, preparing proposals and implementing development projects.

After the training, the participants can define a strategy to access and make use of the development markets in a feasible and meaningful way.

How?

The training consists of five modules. Typically, one training session takes one day (4-6 hours) + time for home exercises. Contents and length of the training sessions can be revised according to the specific needs of the trainees.

The training can be organized in person, online or as a hybrid of both. All content and sessions can be provided in English or in Finnish.

Development Aid portal will be used during the training to demonstrate identification of potential business opportunities and partners.

Participants are provided with home exercises that help to make practical use of the training topics in between the training sessions. Home exercises can be tailored so that they directly contribute to collecting information and producing materials useful for the organization.

 
 

Training contents

 
 

  • Aim: Participants understand the key characteristics of development financing, role of consulting work within, and the potential roles their organization could have in projects financed through development cooperation projects. After the session, participants have initial understanding of the potential objectives of their organization’s future development finance strategy.

    Topics to cover:
    Why could development sector be strategically interesting to companies and universities?

    Big picture of the development markets

    Examples of different players and potential clients in the development sector

    Selected development agencies active in education sector

    Role of consulting services in donor financed projects

    Development cooperation opportunities and risks from the educational institutions’ perspective

    Critical issues to consider in strategy development

  • Aim: Participants understand the main phases of development project cycles and how to assess the feasibility of a project opportunity.

    Topics to cover:
    Typical structure of a donor funded project cycle

    Role of a consultant in different phases of the project cycle

    How to identify potential target countries and clients

    Pre-sales activities – what can be done before the tender dossier is out?

    How to find suitable project opportunities

    Finding the right partners

    Preparing an Expression of Interest (EoI)

  • Aim: Participants understand phases of a proposal process and can identify critical sections in tender documents and proposals.

    Topics to cover:
    Proposal process
    Reviewing the tender call documents and identifying potential risks within

    Roles of consortium members (lead, partner, sub-contractor)

    Technical proposal

    Pricing the proposal and drafting the price tender

    Contracting (client and partners)

    Selecting key experts

    Preparing CVs

  • Aim: Training participants have basic understanding of managing a donor funded project in different consortium roles

    Topics to cover:
    Preparing contracts and Terms of References (ToR) for partners and sub-contractors

    Stakeholder relations

    Identifying and proposing experts during a project

    Key tasks within project administration and financials

    Evaluating project success

  • Aim: Participants have a good general understanding of donor funded project opportunities, they can assess the feasibility of different options from the university perspective and prepare a basic action plan for accessing the markets

    Topics to cover:
    Key risks and opportunities related to donor funded projects from the perspective of the university

    Assessing the feasibility of donor funded opportunities in the light of the strategy of the organization

    Selecting the most interesting project types and sectors

    Plan for identifying and committing to suitable partners

    Plan for identifying interesting geographical target regions

    Selecting key objectives for a development finance strategy

 

feedback from earlier trainings

“Experienced trainer. The training provided a lot of new information and insights that I can use in my job.”
— Training participant in 2023
“You could feel the experience the trainer had. A lot of interesting information provided in a concrete and understandable format.”
— Training participant in 2023
“Best parts were the practical experiences shared by the trainer and training participants. Plenty of important information in each module. ”
— Training participant in 2023
 

Contact
Paula Tommila
paula.tommila@osma.fi
+358 40 538 4813