1. Background:

The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) is the world’s leading organization on financial inclusion policy and regulation. Currently, 90 member institutions make up the AFI network including central banks, ministries of finance and other financial policymaking or regulatory institutions from over 84 developing countries and emerging markets. AFI empowers policymakers to increase the access and usage of quality financial services for the underserved through sustainable and inclusive policies and an effective use of digital technologies.

Policies developed and implemented by AFI members contribute to a range of the Sustainable Development Goals. By Setting their own agenda, AFI members harness the power of peer learning to develop practical and tested policy reforms that enhance financial inclusion with strategic support from both public and private sector partners.

AFI has 7 Working Groups (WG): Consumer Empowerment and Market Conduct Working Group (CEMCWG), Digital Financial Services Working Group (DFSWG), Financial Inclusion Data Working Group (FIDWG), Financial Inclusion Strategy Peer Learning Group (FISPLG), Global Standards Proportionality Working Group (GSPWG), Inclusive Green Finance Working Group (IGFWG) and SME Finance Working Group (SMEFWG),

As the key source of policy developments and trends in financial inclusion and as the primary mechanism for generating and incubating technical content in the network, the Working Groups serve as “communities of practice”. Providing a platform for knowledge exchange and peer learning among policymakers to share, deliberate and deepen their understanding, the working groups offer leadership and expertise in their respective policy fields and support the network to monitor new developments in emerging fields.

The knowledge generated via the working groups is disseminated for implementation by a range of capacity building activities such as Joint Learning Programs, Member Trainings, Trainings by Private Sector Partners. The practical experience members garner from engaging in peer learning based capacity building is then applied by members as in country implementation projects which are supported by the provision of financial or technical support to AFI member institutions in conducting activities that aim to deliver financial inclusion policies, regulations, supervisory tools or enablers for the development of policies, such as national financial inclusion strategies.

The working groups receive strategic guidance and insight from the High-Level Global Standards & Policy Committee, while the Gender Inclusive Finance Committee, supports WGs in integrating gender considerations into all aspects of their work and support members in fulfilling their Denarau Action Plan (updated 2022) commitment to promote women’s financial inclusion.

AFI members have made further commitments in a range of other accords which can be read here.

The AFI’s five regional initiatives complete the AFI platform of services by supporting policy implementation in Africa (AfPI), Latin America and the Caribbean (FILAC), the Pacific Islands (PIRI), Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECAPI) and the Arab Region (FIARI).

2. Project Background:

Sri Lanka’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS 2021-2024), launched by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) with support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), aimed to improve access to financial services for underserved groups, including women, youth, SMEs, and rural communities. Built on four pillars—Digital Finance and Payments, MSME Finance, Consumer Protection, and Financial Literacy—the strategy leveraged data, infrastructure, and policy enablers to achieve its goals. As the NFIS concluded in 2024, an End-of-Term Evaluation (EOT) is required to assess its effectiveness and impact. Concurrently, CBSL seeks to strengthen its capacity to independently develop the next NFIS, with a focus on integrating emerging priorities such as Inclusive Green Finance (e.g., climate-resilient financial products) and Consumer Protection and Market Conduct (e.g., regulatory safeguards and grievance mechanisms). A separate firm will provide demand-side survey findings by November 15, 2025, which must be incorporated into the EOT recommendations.

The project operates under a tight timeline, spanning June 1 to December 5, 2025, and requires a balanced approach using cost-effective online activities and a critical in-person workshop to achieve its objectives efficiently.

3. Overall Objective:

The primary objective of the assignment are as follows:

• Conduct a comprehensive End-of-Term Evaluation of the NFIS (2021-2024), assessing its effectiveness, impact, and alignment with national financial inclusion goals, while integrating demand-side survey findings (to be provided by October 31, 2025, from a separate firm running concurrently with the EOT development).
• Build CBSL’s capacity to independently formulate the next NFIS, emphasizing Inclusive Green Finance and Consumer Protection and Market Conduct principles, among others.

4. Scope of Work:

The consultant will undertake the following tasks:
a) Conduct a rapid desk review of key NFIS documents, progress reports, and relevant online resources to assess the strategy’s effectiveness and impact (deadline: July 15, 2025).
b) Perform virtual interviews with key stakeholders (e.g., financial institutions, civil society organizations, and beneficiaries) to gather insights for the EOT report.
c) Design and facilitate a 2-day in-person workshop in Colombo (tentatively end of September 2025) to:

• Train CBSL staff on NFIS development, including tailored modules on Inclusive Green Finance and Consumer Protection and Market Conduct.
• Conduct practical exercises (e.g., drafting a mock NFIS outline) informed by preliminary EOT findings.
• Refine draft EOT findings based on CBSL input during the workshop.
• Deliver pre-workshop e-learning materials and post-workshop virtual mentoring sessions to reinforce CBSL’s capacity for NFIS drafting.

Hold regular online check-ins with CBSL to monitor progress, provide guidance, and ensure alignment on evaluation and capacity-building goals.

Produce a final EOT report that synthesizes all findings, incorporates survey data (available by November 15, 2025), and offer actionable recommendations for the next NFIS.

5. Key Deliverables:

The following are the key deliverables of this assignment:

• Inception Report and Desk Review Summary: Detail the proposed methodology, work plan, and preliminary findings from the desk review (due July 15, 2025).
• Draft EOT Report: Present initial evaluation findings, incorporating available data and stakeholder inputs, excluding survey data if unavailable (due September 15, 2025).
• 2-Day Workshop: Provide a training package (including e-learning materials) and deliver the in-person session in Colombo (tentatively late September 2025).
• Final EOT Report: Submit a comprehensive evaluation with recommendations for the next NFIS, reflecting CBSL feedback and demand-side survey data (due November 25, 2025).
• Final Presentation: Deliver a virtual presentation of key findings and recommendations to CBSL and relevant stakeholders (due December 4, 2025).

6. Timeline:

The assignment is expected to commence on 1 June 2025 and end by 5 December 2025. Below is a tentative timeline:

7. Travel:

No Travel is expected for this assignment. The consultant(s) will work remotely and undertake virtual meetings to complete the tasks.

8. Consultant Experience:

• Expertise in financial inclusion strategy evaluations and capacity building, with specific knowledge of Inclusive Green Finance and Consumer Protection and Market Conduct.
• Proven ability to deliver high-quality outputs under tight deadlines.
• Strong facilitation skills for both online and in-person training, with experience empowering central banks or similar institutions.
• A team leader with at least 7 years of relevant experience and a master’s degree.
• Excellent proficiency in English; knowledge of Sinhala or Tamil is an advantage for engaging local stakeholders during interviews or the workshop.
• Capability to collaborate remotely with CBSL to ensure effective knowledge transfer

9. Reporting:

During the period of the execution of project, consultant will be expected to provide regular reports and updates to the Director of Financial Inclusion at CBSL (or designated representative if the title changes), maintaining regular online check-ins to ensure alignment and support capacity-building objectives.

10. Payment Terms:

The payment terms/schedule proposed for this consultancy are as following:

11. Administrative Information:

11.1       Disclaimer

The final decision on selection of a firm for this project rests with AFI management team and with the Inquiry. Only shortlisted and successful firms will be contacted.

11.2       Proposal Submission Information:

Proposals will be due with the following requirements for submission:

11.3       Retention of Proposals

All proposals submitted become the property of AFI. AFI will make all reasonable efforts to maintain proposals in confidence and will release proposals only to personnel involved with the evaluation of the project. Proprietary information should be identified in each proposal.

1.         Evaluation Criteria

The proposals submitted will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Evaluation of technical and financial proposals

AFI reserves the right to award the most suitable proposal based on the evaluation of combined criterion, where bidders are qualified by the combined valuation of the technical and financial proposals, with the following weightage:

i) Technical Proposal: 70% (Seventy percent)

ii) Financial Proposal: 30% (Thirty percent)