Round 2 shortlist

It is great to be back up and running at full speed... After a bit of a hiatus, we are now moving into the second phase of Round 2. A recent meeting of the ABIF Investment Panel approved a shortlist comprising 33 concept notes from 32 applicants, and earlier this week we held a workshop for all of the shortlisted applicants and our approved consultants.

Overall, the quality of concept notes in Round 2 was higher than Round 1, reflecting a much more effective marketing campaign and a growing understanding of what ABIF is all about. As a result the shortlist this time is longer than it was in the first round, and I am confident that we will see a lower attrition rate from shortlist to final application.

We also have the benefit of additional resources to support applicants through the second phase of the application process when they have to prepare a business plan, a financial model and a development outcome statement. As well as allowing more time for the sector specialists to provide feedback to applicants when they submit their draft business plans in early May, we also have a dedicated business plan specialist who will support applicants and consultants throughout the process.

The two day workshop that we had this week covered a lot of ground. After running through the roles of everyone involved (applicants and consultants, the sector specialists and expert advisers, the Investment Panel and DFID), we went through the business plan structure, introduced the improved financial model and explained what we mean by development outcome.

We do not expect our private sector applicants to become development specialists or their companies to become development agencies, but it is important that they understand that achieving a tangible development outcome is the principal justification for the grant funding from DFID and AusAID. We make it clear that this development outcome is an integral feature of the business models that we fund - what our applicants call customers or workers or suppliers, we call target beneficiaries.

We also went through the ABIF project assessment criteria and explained how we select projects for funding. By explaining this in detail, we hope that when the final selection is made those that fail to receive a grant may be disappointed, but at least they will understand the rationale behind our decision.

Among all of this, we constantly stressed on the importance of transparency and integrity. We have recently introduced an Applicant's Code of Conduct (available in Dari, Pashto and English from our project website) that explains our policy on illegal or corrupt practices and explains how anyone can report any suspicions they may have in this regard. It is an unfortunate fact of life that corruption is rife in Afghanistan, and we are determined to do everything that we can to prevent or detect corruption and to protect our own colleagues from malicious allegations (a real risk in this environment, especially when people are disappointed that they have not received a grant).

Finally, we introduced our list of approved consultants, local business development service providers who we have vetted and are available to provide support to applicants. Applicants are free to select a consultant from this list, introduce their own consultant to us for vetting or go for a DIY approach. So long as they use an approved consultant, they are eligible for a 50% cost contribution from ABIF of up to US$5,000. This amount has been selected based on how much work is involved in providing a fundable business plan and local market rates. Beyond vetting approved consultants, we do not get involved in the commercial arrangements between applicant and consultant, we want to encourage them to get used to negotiating a deal and then working together in a professional way.

The feedback from the 70 or so people who attended was entirely positive. The deadlines for the remainder of Round 2 are tight, but at least we are now starting from a solid foundation of a high quality shortlist and a good shared understanding of what is required.