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Ref.
2026/COLMICEFFI/15169

Job offer type
Experts

Type of contract
Service contract

Activity sectors
Sustainable development

Deadline date
2026/05/06 17:00

Duration of the assignment
Short term

Contract
Freelancer

Duration
3 months

Mission description

Expertise France is seeking a consultant/ an organisation to design and deliver a Masterclass in Circular Economy Finance for Financial Institutions in Sri Lanka.

Under the EU-funded CIRCULAR Project, Expertise France proposes the “Masterclass in Circular Economy Finance”, a targeted Technical Assistance and training programme to address the gaps identified above by positioning circular economy financing as a risk mitigation and value creation strategy for the financial sector.

The overall objective of this consultancy is to design and deliver the "Masterclass in Circular Economy Finance" for Financial Institutions in Sri Lanka. This training programme goes beyond general awareness and focuses on the practical transfer of technical skills. It is intended to equip credit officers, risk managers, investment analysts, and product developers within banks and NBFIs with the capacity to assess, price, and structure circular economy investments. 

The consultant will be required to translate environmental sustainability concepts into core financial decision-making frameworks, such as Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Net Present Value (NPV), and Risk-Weighted Assets (RWA), in line with local regulatory and banking standards. This should enable financial institutions to incorporate circular economy considerations into their risk modelling, and to better assess and integrate these opportunities into their mainstream lending and investment portfolios.

a)      Specific objectives of the consultancy

Expertise France seeks to engage a qualified consultant or organisation with demonstrated expertise in circular economy, sustainable finance and agri-food systems to design and deliver the Masterclass in Circular Economy Finance for Sri Lankan Financial Institutions.

Specifically, the consultancy will aim to:

1.      Strengthen the ability of financial institutions to identify and evaluate circular economy business models in the agri-food sector, with particular emphasis on contrasting the risks of linear versus circular systems, drawing on global research and guidelines on Circular Economy financing.

2.      Enable financial institutions to integrate circular economy considerations into credit appraisal and risk assessment, including risks related to waste, inefficiency, soil degradation, climate vulnerability, resource dependency and regulatory exposure.

3.      Build practical capacity in financial modelling and bankability assessment of circular food system investments including revenue diversification, cost savings, payback periods, IRRs and sensitivity analysis.

4.      Support the design of financial products that enable scaling of circular economy investments in the food sector in Sri Lanka including concessionary loans, transition finance, sustainability-linked bonds and other innovative and blended finance solutions.

5.      Promote institutional mindset change across departments and seniority levels, positioning circular economy financing as a core risk management and portfolio resilience strategy rather than a niche sustainability initiative.

 The Masterclass in Circular Economy Finance will be delivered virtually through self-paced e-learning modules in English. These modules will be hosted on local online platforms identified by Expertise France and made accessible to representatives from participating financial sector institutions. This delivery format has been selected to accommodate the demanding schedules of financial sector professionals and to allow participants to engage with the training content at their convenience. 

Expertise France will coordinate closely with participating financial institutions to ensure active engagement and completion of the trainings. Participating banks and NBFIs will formalise their engagement through MoUs with Expertise France and circular finance action plans that nominate internal circular champions and outline how they will be supported in applying learnings. This includes developing at least one circular finance product concept and identifying a pipeline of investment opportunities. Expertise France will further extend technical assistance support to Financial Institutions that are interested to launch circular bonds and financial products. The consultant will base the applied learnings on findings from the diagnostic review, using simulation exercises that reflect challenges in application of circular economy finance concepts. These may include exercises on due diligence, financial structuring and using tools such as scoring templates, risk assessment frameworks and due diligence checklists to guide participants through structured evaluation and decision-making processes.

PLEASE CHECK THE ATTACHED ToRS FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT AND THE EXPECTED RESULTS AND DELIVERABLES

Project or context description

1. Expertise France 

Expertise France is the French Public Agency for International Technical Cooperation. As a subsidiary of the Agence Française de Développement Group (AFD Group), it designs and implements projects which aim to contribute to the balanced development of partner countries, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and the priorities of France’s external action.

The agency achieves this goal by implementing national or regional projects in major areas of public action:

·       Democratic, economic and financial governance

·       Peace, stability and security

·       Climate, agriculture and sustainable development

·       Health and human development.

Expertise France promotes international solidarity by facilitating the transfer of skills, fostering peer dialogue, and mobilizing experts to support development cooperation aligned with the rule of law, human rights, and France’s Official Development Assistance priorities. For more information, please visit the website - www.expertisefrance.fr

2. CIRCULAR Project

“Circular Economy in the Food Sector (CIRCULAR)” project, is a three-year initiative funded by the European Union and partly co-funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project is jointly implemented by Expertise France (EF), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

CIRCULAR takes an integrated approach to promoting a circular economy in Sri Lanka’s food sector, focusing in particular on reducing food loss and waste, as well as limiting the use of Single-Use Plastics (SUP). The overall objective of the project is to promote a Circular economy approach in the food sector, while increasing resilience to food crises and climate change.The specific objectives (outcomes) of the project are twofold:

Specific Objective 1 (SO1): to increase recovery, processing and supply of edible and safe food surplus and/or waste for the benefit of vulnerable consumers and/or food producers (implemented by FAO). 

Specific Objective 2 (SO2): to enhance effectiveness of the sustainable production, distribution and consumption models related to food waste/loss and single-use plastic food packaging (implemented by EF and GIZ).

Expertise France contributes under the following outputs:

·       Output 2.1: Increased awareness (and behavioural change) among the general public, economic operators, consumers and civil society about public incentives, sustainable products, solutions and services on the market.

·       Output 2.3: MSME, startups, social enterprises, cooperatives have increased access to finance and BDS related to sustainable and gender sensitive business models and practices.

Via output 2.3, EF will be taking a holistic approach to increasing access to finance for Circular Economy targeting growth and expansion firms in the food sector requiring financing of $500,000 to $5 million. For this, Expertise France will be working with Accounting firms, certification bodies, insurance companies, banks, NBFIs, DFIs and other key actors in enhancing the circular economy financing ecosystem. 

3. Context

Globally and nationally, financial institutions are increasingly exposed to risks arising from linear production systems, resource inefficiency, climate vulnerability, and waste intensive business models. In the Sri Lankan agri-food sector, these risks when combined with climate change impacts such as heat stress, floods, and supply disruptions pose long term threats to portfolio resilience, food security, and financial stability. While demand and operations of circular economy solutions is growing, financial institutions face persistent challenges in:

·       Identifying and evaluating circular business models

·       Understanding and pricing risks associated with linear value chains

·       Integrating circularity into credit appraisal and risk modelling

·       Designing financial products for the active development of circular economy beyond pilot initiatives

·       Measuring, reporting, and managing circular economy and climate impacts

Required profile

The applicant will be a consultant or an organisation with a track record of delivering circular economy finance training to financial institutions, including experience in building capacity on risk assessment, financial modelling and product development.

 Education and training

The core team of the consultancy is expected to have advanced academic qualifications (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Finance, Economics, Sustainable Development, or related disciplines, and/or relevant professional certifications such as ACCA, CFA, or equivalent.

 Professional experience

·       A minimum of 15 years of professional experience specifically in Credit, Risk, Structured Finance, Sustainable Finance, agricultural value chains or circular economy is mandatory

·    The consultant should have strong technical expertise in finance, banking, or investment, with demonstrated experience in credit appraisal, financial analysis, risk assessment, and financial product development.

·       Proven knowledge of sustainable finance, circular economy financing models, or ESG integration in financial decision making is required.

·       The consultant should have prior experience in designing and delivering technical trainings for financial sector professionals, preferably through virtual or blended learning formats. This includes the ability to develop structured training content, practical case studies, and applied tools that support the development of circular financial products and investment pipelines.

·       Strong understanding of financing circular economy business models in the Global South

·       Proven experience in consulting and collaborating with government agencies, business chambers and financial institutions, would be a strong asset

 Skills

·       Excellent knowledge of Sri Lankan Financial Sector ecosystem and international development partners involved in Circular financing.

·       Excellent research and analytical skills.

·       Excellent listening, synthesis and communication skills.

·       Very good analytical, oral and written command of English.

Additional information

 Interested applicants should submit:

·       A technical proposal (maximum 3 pages) outlining methodology, relevant experience and detailing the suitability and interest to engage on this assignment.

·       A financial proposal providing cost estimates for each of the seven main tasks, along with their associated outputs, in EUR (excluding taxes and the amount of expected VAT).

·       A CV of the consultant/core team

The applications must be submitted on Expertise France platform through the following link:

 

N.B. All required documents may be submitted in a single PDF file, to be uploaded under the “CV” section.

and sent by e-mail to: habbipriya.karthigesan@expertisefrance.fr  

CC: (amila.bogahawatta@expertisefrance.fr) 

Deadline for applications: 06 May 2026 (17:00 Paris Time / 20:30 Colombo Time)

Selection criteria for applications

The selection process for candidates will be based on the following criteria :

  • Candidate’s training/skills/experience
  • Candidate’s training/diplomas related to the expert assignment
  • Candidate’s skills linked with the expert mission
  • Candidate’s experiences linked with the expert mission
  • Candidate’s expected linguistic understanding
  • Candidate's knowledges related to local context (country or region intervention)
  • Candidate’s understanding of cooperation project stakes

Deadline for application : 2026/05/06 17:00

File(s) attached : 2026 04 08_ToR_CE Masterclass for Financial Institutions _VF.pdf

Expertise France is the public agency for designing and implementing international technical cooperation projects. The agency operates around four key priorities :

  • democratic, economic, and financial governance ;
  • peace, stability, and security ;
  • climate, agriculture, and sustainable development ;
  • health and human development ;

In these areas, Expertise France conducts capacity-building initiatives and manages project implementation, leveraging technical expertise and acting as a project coordinator. This involves combining public sector expertise with private sector skills to drive impactful results. 

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