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Terms of Reference: reVive Central Africa

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Designing an Investment Development Hub in Cameroon: Feasibility Studies, Project Proposal, and Stakeholder Engagement under the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI)

The Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) “Regional private sector facility” aims to develop and scale up commercial investment in tropical commodity supply chains while making them deforestation-free and socially inclusive at the landscape level. In response to the CAFI Call for Expressions of Interests 2023/03/PRIV, IDH has received a preparation grant from CAFI to conduct feasibility studies and design a complete project proposal to develop an Investment Development Hub that will operate in Cameroon, building on IDH’s experience from similar projects in Colombia and East Africa.    

The vision of the Investment Development Hub is to demonstrate that with specialised and localised technical assistance alongside the right capital mix, more projects can become ready for investment while promoting sustainable land management, forest protection, and improving the conditions of smallholder farmers. The Hub will offer a mix of Technical Assistance (TA), Seed Capital investment and linkage to Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) while also linking up projects to members of a Finance Network (FN) which can offer larger, commercial-sized financing. The TA and seed capital investments will support the transition to sustainable land use activities, generating ecosystem benefits that can be monetised through the PES scheme. The PES scheme, in turn, will create an additional revenue stream and enhance the projects’ attractiveness to private sector investors, convened through the Finance Network. Together, these components will create a positive feedback loop: improved ecosystem services generate financial returns, attracting more private investment and enhancing sustainability outcomes. This preparatory grant will also enable IDH to confirm the depth of the pipeline on the ground to deploy the funding and to better connect with other initiatives in the region to facilitate cooperation and synergy. The project proposal will aim for the highest possible level of impact in terms of GHG emission reductions and removals, improving income, job creation, and private sector investment mobilisation.  

Assignments Overview 

IDH seeks service providers for three distinct assignments to support the preparatory phase over eight months, encompassing Inception, Feasibility Studies, and Project Development. These efforts will culminate in a full project document submission to CAFI’s Executive Board. The assignments are as follows: 

  1. Investment Development Hub Feasibility Study and Project Proposal Development (ProDoc): Deliver a comprehensive feasibility study and full project proposal for the Hub in Cameroon. 
  2. Carbon Payment for Environmental Services Program Design: Develop a detailed proposal for the IDH PES program in Cameroon, focusing initially on the Grand Mbam landscape. 
  3. Stakeholder Consultation Support: Provide assistance to IDH and its partners for consultations and stakeholder engagements in Cameroon during the preparatory phase. 

Through these Terms of Reference (ToRs), IDH seeks to engage service providers who can deliver high-quality outputs aligned with the ambitious objectives of our partnership with CAFI.   

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