Azerbaijan Business and Professional Association Development | RFI USAID AZERBAIJAN

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFI USAID AZERBAIJAN

The opportunity titled "Azerbaijan Business and Professional Association Development" is not a traditional grant solicitation yet, but a Request for Information (RFI) issued by USAID in Azerbaijan (USAID-Baku). An RFI is essentially an information-gathering step used to understand what kinds of organizations are active in a space, what they can do, and what ideas they have, before an agency decides whether and how to design a future program. In this case, USAID is asking interested public and private parties to submit written input describing their capabilities and their interest in joining a possible "co-creation" process, meaning a structured, collaborative design effort where multiple stakeholders help shape potential solutions and program approaches rather than receiving a fully pre-designed plan from the donor.

The core goal behind the RFI is to surface innovative ways to build partnerships between civil society organizations (CSOs) and the private sector that can strengthen business and professional associations in Azerbaijan. These associations can include sector-based business groups, professional networks, and other membership organizations that support firms and professionals through services such as advocacy, training, standards development, market linkages, and collective problem-solving. USAID links this association-strengthening focus directly to a broader economic objective: promoting economic growth in Azerbaijan's non-oil sector. That framing reflects an emphasis on economic diversification, reducing reliance on oil revenues by supporting other industries and improving the business enabling environment through stronger private-sector institutions and collaboration with civil society.

A notable element of the opportunity is USAID's stated intent to work together with the Government of Azerbaijan during the co-creation process. The RFI positions this collaboration as part of sustaining and advancing USAID's longer-term partnership with the government, and also with Azerbaijan's private sector and citizens. Practically, this suggests the agency is exploring a model that is not only donor-driven but aligned with national priorities and grounded in local stakeholder engagement, which can influence everything from program governance to which sectors and regions are prioritized.

The information collected through the RFI is intended to inform planning for a USAID/Azerbaijan Industry Day in Baku, as well as the design of a potential later co-creation process. Industry Day events typically function as market research and stakeholder convenings where implementers, companies, associations, CSOs, and other actors share ideas, discuss constraints and opportunities, and signal what kinds of partnerships or interventions are realistic. The RFI responses therefore serve as an early signal to USAID about who is interested, what expertise exists locally and internationally, what partnership models could work, and what kinds of activities might be feasible and impactful.

From the source details, the opportunity is categorized broadly as "Other" for opportunity category, funding instrument type, and funding activity category, reinforcing that it is not yet a standard competitive funding announcement. Eligibility is listed as "Unrestricted," meaning USAID was open to receiving information from any type of respondent, without limiting it to nonprofits, universities, companies, or specific nationalities. The CFDA number is 98.001, which is associated with USAID's foreign assistance programs. The RFI was created on 2019-09-20 and had an original closing date of 2019-10-01. No award ceiling or expected number of awards is provided because an RFI does not typically commit funds or specify award structures; instead, it helps USAID decide whether to issue a subsequent solicitation such as a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), Request for Applications (RFA), or Request for Proposals (RFP).

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as USAID testing the landscape for a future initiative focused on strengthening Azerbaijan's business and professional associations through CSO-private sector collaboration, with the strategic purpose of expanding growth in non-oil parts of the economy. Organizations reading this RFI would generally be expected to respond by describing relevant experience (for example, association capacity building, public-private partnerships, workforce development, policy advocacy support, member services design, or sector competitiveness work), proposing ideas or models for collaboration, and explaining how they could participate in an Industry Day and later co-creation activities.

• The Azerbaijan USAID-Baku in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Azerbaijan Business and Professional Association Development" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 98.001.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-09-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-10-01. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for RFI USAID AZERBAIJAN

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