Objectives

The primary objective of this tender is to appoint a reputable service provider to develop, implement, and support a scalable Trade Finance Rating Model for financial and non-financial institutions. The model aims to support credit risk assessment, including Probability of Default (PD), Loss Given Default (LGD), and Exposure at Default (EAD), aligned with Basel III/IV, IFRS 9, and other standards. It should provide trade payment behavior insights, support stress testing, and be adaptable for phased deployment across Africa, supporting trade finance transactions under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

Scope

The scope includes:

• Design and delivery of a comprehensive credit rating model supporting Phase 1 (funded/unfunded lines to financial institutions) and scalable for Phase 2 (broader trade finance products).
• Provision of a cloud-native, SaaS-based solution supporting high-volume, real-time assessments with multi-user collaboration.
• Integration capabilities with other systems via APIs, including data ingestion, reporting, and audit functionalities.
• Development of detailed documentation, user guides, and model methodology.
• Provision of training, knowledge transfer, and ongoing support for a period of 36 months.
• Compliance with data privacy (e.g., POPIA), encryption, role-based access control, and audit trail requirements.
• Support for stress testing, impact analysis, climate risk assessment, and scenario analysis.

Technical Requirements

The technical specifications include:

• Calculation of PD, LGD, and EAD using statistical methods with historical and current data.
• Support for multiple stress-testing scenarios with impact reporting.
• Standardization of financial statement data across multiple languages and accounting standards (IFRS, etc.).
• Support for various trade finance instruments such as receivables financing, reverse factoring, forfaiting, and trade credit insurance.
• Incorporation of ESG and climate impact factors into credit assessments.
• Real-time data ingestion with early warning signals and continuous recalibration of risk metrics.
• Role-based access, multi-factor authentication, and encryption of data at rest and in transit.
• Audit trail with timestamped logs, exportable reports, and compliance with Basel III/IV and IFRS 9 standards.
• Deployment flexibility as SaaS, supporting auto-scaling, high availability, and disaster recovery.
• Comprehensive documentation, user training, and ongoing technical support with SLAs.

Skills and Competency Requirements

The service provider must demonstrate:

• Extensive experience in developing and implementing credit risk models, particularly for trade finance and banking sectors.
• Proven track record of delivering at least three similar projects in the last five years.
• Expertise in statistical modeling, data analysis, and financial statement standardization across multiple languages and standards.
• Capability to support scalable, cloud-native SaaS solutions with high performance and security features.
• Ability to provide detailed documentation, training, and knowledge transfer to DBSA staff.
• Knowledge of regulatory standards such as Basel III/IV, IFRS 9, and data privacy laws (e.g., POPIA).
• Strong project management skills with reporting to DBSA’s governance structures and adherence to SLAs.
• Demonstrated ability to integrate with existing systems via APIs and support real-time data processing.