REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR SELECTION OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FOR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DEVELOPMENT RESPONSE TO DISPLACEMENT IMPACTS PROJECT PHASE II (DRDIP-II)
Credit No.: 7778-UG | Grant No.: E4420-UG Project ID: P510476
Assignment Title: Selection of Financial Institutions for Partnership with the Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project Phase II (DRDIP-II)
Reference No.: OPM-DRDIP-II/PFIs
Issued on 23rd September 2026

The Government of Uganda, through the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), is implementing the Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project II (DRDIP-II), with financing from the World Bank. The Project intends to establish appropriate financial intermediation arrangements through a Partnership with Financial Institutions to facilitate the secure receipt, management, monitoring, disbursement and recovery of Project funds allocated to beneficiaries and implementing entities.

The purpose of this EOI is to identify and select suitable Financial Institutions that possess the capacity and capability to provide efficient, effective and accessible banking services within the Project areas. The Bank arrangements are expected to include, among others:

1. Opening and maintaining designated Project accounts for approved beneficiaries and implementing entities, including Individuals, Community-Based Organizations, cooperatives, Local Governments and other entities approved by the Project.
2. Negotiating Project funds from beneficiary/ operational funds and establishing Project-specific sub-accounts, including the provision of appropriate financial products.
3. Providing authorized Project officials with appropriate access to account information, including real-time visibility of balances, allow, inflows and outflow, transaction histories, and statements.
4. Facilitating the receipt of unallocated Project funds, recovery of misutilized or unutilized funds, reversal of erroneous transactions and handling of funds.
5. Providing mechanisms for temporary freezing of beneficiary accounts, restriction of outlying transactions, transaction holds and enhanced monitoring of flagged accounts.
6. Maintaining robust account security features, including multi-factor authentication, role-based access controls, real-time account activity validation, transaction histories, and downloadable statements.
7. Maintaining comprehensive audit trails and transaction records and supporting Project audits, investigations, donor reviews and independent verification.
8. Demonstrating strong internal controls, fraud risk management, cybersecurity compliance and internal control systems.
9. Meeting agreed service levels, including timely account statements, real-time transaction notifications, provision of automated and manual reports.
10. The partnership will initially cover the thirteen (13) DRDIP-II refugee-hosting districts of Yumbe, Madi-Okollo, Koboko, Obongi, Adjumani, Terego, Lamwo, Isingiro, Kyegegwa, Kikuube, Kyangwali and Kamwenge, as well as other Project locations as applicable.

Interested Financial Institutions shall demonstrate adequate geographical coverage in the DRDIP-II operational areas. Each applicant shall indicate the location of its branch or approved banking service points serving the Project districts and beneficiary/beneficiary locations, including:

• location;
• type of service point;
• banking services available; and
• approximate distance from the beneficiary location.

The Financial Institution shall demonstrate that beneficiaries can reasonably access its services, generally within 30-50 km, or through a reliable or approved alternative arrangement such as mobile banking, mobile money, or other appropriate digital channels.
The Office of the Prime Minister now invites eligible commercial banks licensed and regulated by the Bank of Uganda to submit sealed Expressions of Interest (EOIs) to be considered as financial institutions partners (FIs) for DRDIP-II.

Interested Financial Institutions should provide information demonstrating that they possess the required qualifications, experience and institutional and technical capacity to perform the intended partnership. The Expression of Interest should include, at a minimum, the following:

1. Valid licensing and regulatory authorization by the Bank of Uganda to undertake commercial banking activities in Uganda.
2. Relevant experience in managing Government/ donor-funded programs and/or similar banking arrangements, particularly those involving community-based groups, project funds or community-level financial management.
3. Institutional and operational capacity to open and manage multiple Project accounts, including account opening, management and control of Project funds.
4. Digital banking capability, including secure online/mobile banking, multi-factor authentication, role-based access controls, real-time transaction monitoring, electronic statements and configurable transaction alerts.
5. Fund management and recovery capability, including demonstrated experience in recovering unutilized funds, reversal of erroneous transactions and authorized account restrictions or freezes.
6. Security, risk management and compliance capability, including fraud prevention, fraud detection, cybersecurity audits, KYC, AML and compliance with applicable banking and data protection requirements.
7. Reporting and reconciliation capability, including provision of transaction records, account statements, management reports and information required for Project monitoring, audit and oversight.
8. Demonstrated geographical coverage and beneficiary accessibility within the DRDIP-II refugee-hosting districts and relevant beneficiary settlement locations.
9. Demonstrated capacity to meet the Project's required service levels and respond effectively to beneficiary and Project-related requests; and
10. Financial and institutional capacity to sustain the required financial management arrangements throughout the project implementation period.

As part of the Expression of Interest, Financial Institutions shall submit a District Geographic Coverage Matrix showing, for each Project district and relevant beneficiary settlement location:

• list of branches and approved banking service points;
• type of service/business point;
• physical address/coordinate;
• approximate distance in kilometres;
• banking services available; and
• whether the service point is a physical bank branch, agent, or digital/mobile arrangement.

A declaration on financial coverage shall not, by itself, be considered sufficient evidence of accessibility. The information provided shall be specific to the DRDIP-II Project areas and may be verified by OPM.

The process is intended solely for the identification and selection of eligible financial institutions partner(s) for DRDIP-II. It is not a procurement process and its issuance does not imply payment of consultancy fees, commissions or other forms of remuneration by the Project to the selected financial institutions for participation in the partnership. Accordingly, no proof of financial proposal shall be requested or evaluated.

The exercise is undertaken as part of the Project's financial management arrangements and implementation support and will be coordinated with the World Bank Financial Management (FM) Team in accordance with the applicable Project financial management arrangements.

The Expression of Interest is the first stage of the selection process. Following review of Expressions of Interest, OPM shall develop a shortlist of eligible Financial Institutions and thereafter, shortlisted institutions will be invited to submit detailed Applications in response to a Request for Applications (RFA).

Further information and the Request for Applications (RFA) containing the detailed requirements, submission instructions, eligibility requirements, evaluation criteria and other relevant information will be provided to the shortlisted firms at the detailed selection stage. Interested Financial Institutions are advised to carefully review the requirements of this EOI and submit their Expressions of Interest together with the information and supporting documentation specified herein.

Expressions of Interest must be delivered in written form by 7th October 2026 at 11:00am (East African Time) to the address below by hand, courier or email to:

The Permanent Secretary
Attn: Project Coordinator - DRDIP-II
Office of the Prime Minister
Postel Building, 5th Floor, Plot 1, Nile Avenue
Kampala, Uganda
Telephone: 256 417 770500
E-mail: info@drdip2.go.ug
Copy to: ismael.bukenya@opm.go.ug