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Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 17 Sept 2026, 15:52 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Private Sector Development Programme in Sierra Leone

Official notice Competition analysis

Authority: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Central government)

ServicesAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Sectors: Administration, defence and social security services (75) Delivery listed: Sierra Leone (SL)
Planned pipeline value£7,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 30 Nov 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 Mar 2030 · up to 31 Mar 2031 with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is undertaking early market engagement (EME) in advance of a potential future procurement for a new private sector development programme in Sierra Leone.

This programme is expected to complement a joint FCDO-British International Investment (BII) programme, Horizon Sierra Leone, which focuses primarily on unlocking near-term investment opportunities. The proposed new programme will focus on strengthening the underlying conditions required to make investment in Sierra Leone's tradable sectors, particularly agriculture and manufacturing, more attractive, productive, and inclusive.

Indicative areas of support may include:

  • Provide targeted support to investors and businesses to identify opportunities, reduce market-entry risks and costs, test new business models, and unlock investment through market scoping, feasibility studies, pipeline development, business viability assessments, and piloting innovative financing solutions
  • Technical assistance and advisory support to businesses that strengthen market systems and create wider benefits to sector(s), including providers of inputs, logistics, infrastructure, capital goods, and other enabling services.
  • Support to anchor firms to adopt more inclusive business practices, including employing more women into better-quality jobs, promoting women into leadership positions, and strengthening sourcing from women-owned businesses within supply chains.
  • Provide targeted assistance to government ministries, departments, and agencies to deliver priority reforms that unlock sectoral growth, improve the business environment, and strengthen the financial sector.

CPV: Foreign economic-aid-related services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 3 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Apr 2027 – 31 Mar 2030 (3 yrs) · up to 31 Mar 2031 with extensions
Delivery listed: Sierra Leone (SL)Eligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible
Extensions: Extension options published
75211200 Foreign economic-aid-related services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office buys Foreign affairs and other services (CPV 7521): the notice lists a non-UK location

No market comparison: the notice lists a non-UK delivery location. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Foreign affairs and other services (CPV 7521) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerForeign, Commonwealth and Development Office · division 75
The marketDelivery in Sierra Leone
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

How often small and medium firms win.

Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 5 of 34 known-size awards · market: not compared
15%—

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no winner locations published · market: not compared
——

The notice lists delivery in Sierra Leone, so this procedure has no confirmed single UK region; the buyer’s figure reads its other awards, each against its own delivery region.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 decided notices · market: not compared
55 days—

Half of these awards have an award date within 55 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

The buyer’s share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 6 of 38 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: not compared
16%—

Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.

How many bids did past lots attract?

i

How many bids past lots received.

Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.

Past bids do not predict this tender.

Last 36 months.

This buyer12 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 75
25% had one bid
The marketNot compared: the notice lists Sierra Leone
Buyer · select a colour for counts
1 bid25%
Buyer: 3 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
2–333%
Buyer: 4 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
4–625%
Buyer: 3 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
7+17%
Buyer: 2 of 12 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

Where winning prices landed against estimates.

Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyer6 lots with estimate and award · broad CPV 75
50% below estimate
The marketNot compared: the notice lists Sierra Leone
Buyer · select a colour for counts
Below estimate50%
Buyer: 3 of 6 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%50%
Buyer: 3 of 6 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate0%
Buyer: 0 of 6 lots with an estimate and award.
2

Assess each lot
i

What past awards tell you about each lot.

See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.

No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #136 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£7.0m

This lot lists only non-UK delivery addresses. Supplier examples below come from UK award history and are not checked for this delivery area.

Expected competition
i

How many bids this lot may attract.

The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.

This lot has only non-UK delivery countries in its published addresses, so the UK model forecast is withheld.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—Non-UK location in notice
This lot lists only non-UK delivery addresses. Check the tender documents for the actual site; no UK competition forecast is shown.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the award price may land.

The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.

—Non-UK location in notice
This lot lists only non-UK delivery addresses. Check the tender documents for the actual site; no UK price forecast is shown.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

A past supplier may not bid again.

SupplierThis buyer’s earlier contractLotAward valueWhy listed
Mott MacDonaldEarlier contractSierra Leone Secondary Education Improvement Programme (SSEIP)notice published Aug 2022—£2.4mMatched as the earlier contract

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Who could compete for this lot?

Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.

None is confirmed as a bidder.

Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.

About this data
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
  • Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
  • Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
  • Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
17 Sept 2026, 15:52 BST
Last source update
17 Sept 2026, 15:52 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-088343
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Foreign economic-aid-related services
Delivery area in notice
Sierra Leone (SL)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0774b7 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

17 Sept 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published39 days ago
    17 Sept 2026, 15:52 BST
  2. Market engagement27 days ago
    29 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST

    Suppliers should access the FCDO eSourcing portal (Jaggaer) to view and participate in the opportunity referenced in this notice. Suppliers who are not yet registered should complete the online registration process at fcdo.bravosolution.co.uk ↗.

    All communications and clarification questions must be submitted through the messaging facility within the portal. Responses may be shared with all interested suppliers to ensure a fair and transparent process.

    The information provided in this notice is indicative only and may be subject to change. The Authority reserves the right not to proceed with any procurement or contractual arrangement

    Engagement Process Description

    FCDO intends to hold an EME event to:

    • Introduce the proposed programme.
    • Seek market feedback on the proposed scope, delivery approach, and design.
    • Better understand market capabilities to inform potential delivery models.
    • Inform the development of the Terms of Reference and procurement strategy.

    The event will be held virtually on:

    • Date: Wednesday 30th September 2026
    • Time: 10:00 to 11:00am British Summer Time (BST)

    To attend the event, please register your interest using the following link: forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx ↗

    Supporting documents will be made available on the FCDO Supplier Portal at least one week prior to the event.

    Please note that the information provided at this stage is indicative only and does not constitute a commitment to procure. The final scope, requirements, budget and contractual arrangements will be confirmed in any future Tender Notice.

    .

  3. Today
    27 Oct 2026
  4. Tender notice expectedin 34 days
    30 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
  5. Contract startsin 155 days
    1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    17 Sept 2026, 15:52 BST
    UK2

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PXRR-8771-PHVX King Charles Street, London, London, SW1A 2AHContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure