Terms of Sale and Use

01Purpose

These terms govern access to and use of the ICOpedia service. ICOpedia is a monitoring platform for public tenders and individual expert assignments in Africa. It brings together notices published by public buyers and development funders, and provides search, alert and bid preparation tools.

The service includes the icopedia.org website and the application available at app.icopedia.org.

Anyone who creates an account or uses the service accepts these terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the service.

02Definitions

In this document, “we” and “ICOpedia” mean the publisher of the service, identified in section 3. “You” and “the user” mean anyone who accesses the service. “Consumer” means a user acting for purposes outside their commercial, industrial, craft, professional or agricultural activity. “Professional” means any other user. “Notice” means a tender notice, expression of interest, call for proposals or expert assignment published by a third party and listed in the catalogue.

03Publisher of the service

ICOpedia is operated by CLEF SARL. CLEF SARL is the legal business providing the ICOpedia service under these terms. Contact address: 7 Zone B Nord, Nouakchott, Mauritania. Email: contact@icopedia.org.

04Access to the service and accounts

Part of the service can be viewed without an account. Other features require an account, created with an email address and a name.

You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you give us and for keeping your credentials confidential. The account is personal. It may not be shared or transferred. Tell us immediately if you believe a third party has accessed it.

The service is reserved for adults. It is not intended for minors.

You may close your account at any time from your personal area. Closing the account deletes the associated data under the conditions set out in the privacy policy.

05Free trial

The seven day free trial is offered when subscribing to the first monthly plan. It is not attached to account creation.

The trial is offered on the monthly subscription only. The annual subscription is purchased without a trial.

Opening the trial requires registering a payment card. No amount is charged before the trial ends. A reminder email is sent three days before. The user may cancel in one click. Without cancellation before the deadline, the monthly subscription starts automatically at the applicable price.

The trial is granted once per person. We may refuse a new trial to an account created to circumvent this rule.

You may subscribe to a paid plan at any time, including during the trial.

06Plans and prices

The service offers a free plan and a paid plan called Pro.

The free plan gives access to the list of tenders (titles, countries, sector, donor, deadline). Opening a tender page and all other features are reserved for the Pro plan. It has no duration and no cost.

By card, the Pro plan is offered at two billing periods, at the user’s choice: 9 euros per month or 79 euros per year. Only these amounts are charged.

With mobile money, the Pro plan is paid once for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months, in the currency of the selected country, at the price shown on the Pricing page at the time of payment (in CFA francs: 5,000, 13,500, 25,000 or 45,000 FCFA).

Prices are inclusive of all taxes, in euros for card payments and in local currency for mobile money.

The Institution plan is 990 euros per year, with five licences included and 79 euros per year for each additional licence. It is billed by invoice and purchase order in the organisation’s name. It is not purchased online and is quoted on request, by email to contact@icopedia.org.

We may change our prices. A price change never applies to a period already paid for. For an ongoing subscription, the new price applies from the next renewal, and you are notified at least thirty days in advance, by email. You may then cancel before it takes effect.

07Payment

Payments are made online through the payment provider identified at checkout. We neither receive nor store your card details.

For purchases processed by Paddle, Paddle acts as the Merchant of Record (the legal seller of record) and handles payments, taxes, receipts and refunds. Its Buyer Terms and Refund Policy apply to the transaction, together with the additional refund entitlement in section 9.

For purchases processed through Stripe, Stripe handles the payment and CLEF SARL remains responsible for the sale and refunds. The refund entitlement in section 9 also applies to these payments.

For mobile money payments, pawaPay passes the payment to your operator (for example Orange Money, MTN MoMo or Moov Money) and CLEF SARL remains responsible for the sale and refunds. You confirm the payment on your phone with your PIN: we never receive this PIN and do not keep your phone number. The confirmation email states the end date of your access; transaction details are available on request at contact@icopedia.org. The refund entitlement in section 9 also applies to these payments.

Your purchase confirmation identifies the payment provider and provides the relevant billing information. If payment fails at renewal, we may suspend access to paid features after informing you. Access is restored as soon as payment is settled.

08Term, renewal and cancellation

The Pro subscription is entered into for the period chosen, one month or one year. It renews automatically at the end of each period, for a period of the same length, unless cancelled.

There is no commitment beyond the current period.

Access paid by mobile money covers the period chosen and does not renew automatically: there is nothing to cancel. It ends on the stated date unless extended by a new payment. A reminder is sent by email the day before.

You may cancel at any time, from your billing area. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current period. You keep access to paid features until that date. You may request a full refund within 14 calendar days of any payment, including a renewal, as described in section 9. Access to the refunded paid service ends when the refund is processed.

We may terminate or suspend your access in the event of a serious breach of these terms, in particular a prohibited use described in section 14. Except in an emergency, or where the breach makes continued service impossible, we first send you a formal notice which remains without effect for fifteen days. If termination is attributable to us and you have committed no breach, we refund the part of the subscription corresponding to the unused period.

09Refunds and withdrawal rights

All customers, including consumers and businesses, are entitled to a full refund on request within 14 calendar days of each payment date. This includes the first payment after a free trial and every subscription renewal. No reason is required, and use of the service does not affect this entitlement. No deduction is made for services already used.

Request a refund by emailing contact@icopedia.org or, for Paddle transactions, through paddle.net or the support link in your receipt. Provide your purchase email and order reference or payment date to help locate the transaction.

The ICOpedia Refund Policy forms part of these terms and sets out the refund procedure. For Paddle transactions, Paddle processes refunds within 14 days of approval; statutory withdrawal reimbursements follow the deadline measured from receipt of the request under Paddle’s policy. For payments processed through Stripe, CLEF SARL issues the refund within 14 days of receiving your request. For mobile money payments, CLEF SARL issues the refund within 14 days of receiving your request, to the original mobile money account (or, failing that, by another method agreed with you). Refunds use the original payment method, and bank posting times may vary.

This contractual refund entitlement does not limit statutory withdrawal or consumer protection rights, including rights for defective or misdescribed services. The optional withdrawal form in section 23 remains available. No waiver or proportionate deduction limits the full refund entitlement granted above.

10Availability, maintenance and changes

We use our best efforts to keep the service available at all times. We do not guarantee uninterrupted availability or the absence of errors.

The service may be interrupted for maintenance, updates or security reasons. Where a significant interruption is planned, we inform you in advance by a suitable means.

The service evolves. We may add, change or remove features. If an essential feature of the Pro plan is permanently removed during an ongoing subscription, you may cancel free of charge and obtain a refund for the unused period.

The service depends on hosting, payment and artificial intelligence model providers, and on the availability of source websites. A failure by these third parties may affect the service.

11Intellectual property

The platform, its code, its interface, its visual identity, its brand and its mascot Coco are the property of ICOpedia or of its licensors. They are protected by intellectual property law.

Your subscription gives you a personal, non-exclusive and non-transferable right of use, for the duration of your access, and for your own professional or personal needs. It transfers no ownership right to you.

Republished notices remain the property and the responsibility of their authors and sources. The documents you upload or write in the submission workspace belong to you. You grant us the strictly necessary right to host and process them in order to provide you with the service.

The structure of the catalogue, its selection, its enrichment and its organisation constitute a protected database. Any substantial extraction or reuse is prohibited without our written agreement.

12Collected content and accuracy of information

Notices published in the catalogue come from public sources, mainly the websites of public buyers, development funders and international organisations. They are collected automatically, then normalised, translated and enriched.

This information is provided as is. We do not guarantee that it is complete, accurate or up to date, nor that the original file is available. A notice may be incomplete, out of date, changed at source or withdrawn without our being informed.

The catalogue may include an extract of the official file together with its contact points, reproduced as published by the source.

Before bidding, you must check the information with the original source, whose address appears on each listing. You remain solely responsible for your decision to bid, for meeting deadlines and for complying with the rules of the procedure concerned.

We are neither the buyer, nor the organiser, nor an intermediary in the published procedures. We guarantee no outcome, and in particular not the success of a bid.

If you find an error in a listing, report it to contact@icopedia.org. We correct or remove it within a reasonable time.

13The Coco assistant and automated processing

The service includes a conversational assistant called Coco, as well as tender analysis and drafting assistance features. These features rely on artificial intelligence models supplied by third parties, identified in the privacy policy.

Answers produced by these features are generated automatically. They may be incomplete, imprecise or wrong. They constitute neither legal advice, nor financial advice, nor a guarantee of eligibility or compliance.

You must check any answer before using it, and in particular before including it in a bid. No warranty is given on generated content.

Artificial intelligence features are subject to usage quotas, shown in the application and liable to change.

You must not use these features to produce unlawful or misleading content, or content that infringes the rights of a third party.

14User obligations and prohibited uses

You use the service fairly and in accordance with the law.

It is prohibited to extract, copy, resell or redistribute the content of the catalogue on a large scale, by any means, including automated means. It is prohibited to circumvent usage limits, quotas or access controls. It is prohibited to share an account between several people, or to use someone else’s account. It is prohibited to disrupt the operation of the service, to test it without written authorisation, or to access data you are not entitled to. It is prohibited to upload unlawful content into the submission workspace, or content for which you do not hold the necessary rights.

A breach may lead to the suspension or termination provided for in section 8, without prejudice to our other rights.

15Liability

We provide a monitoring and bid preparation tool. We provide neither legal advice, nor public procurement advice, nor assistance in assembling a bid, unless separately agreed in writing.

For professionals, our liability is limited to direct and proven damage, and capped at the amount you have paid us over the twelve months preceding the triggering event. We are not liable for indirect damage, in particular the loss of a contract, loss of opportunity, loss of turnover, loss of data or damage to reputation.

For consumers, our liability applies under the general rules of law. The limitations above do not apply to them where the law prohibits them. Statutory warranties of conformity and against hidden defects apply as of right.

Nothing in these terms limits our liability in the event of gross negligence, wilful misconduct, personal injury, or in any other case where the law prohibits it.

16Personal data

The processing of your personal data is described in the privacy policy, available at https://icopedia.org/privacy-policy/. It forms an integral part of these terms.

The data controller is CLEF. For any question, or to exercise your rights, write to contact@icopedia.org.

17Links and third-party sites

The service links to third-party sites, in particular the portals of buyers and funders. We control neither their content, nor their availability, nor their terms of use. We are not responsible for them.

18Changes to these terms

We may change these terms, in particular to reflect a change in the service or in applicable regulation.

Any substantial change is notified to you by email or in the application at least thirty days before it takes effect. If you refuse the change, you may cancel free of charge before it takes effect. Continued use after that date constitutes acceptance.

The applicable version is the one in force on the day you use the service. The date of the latest update appears at the top of the document.

19Force majeure

Neither party is liable for a failure caused by an event of force majeure within the meaning of the applicable law.

20Assignment

We may assign these terms, and the rights and obligations arising from them, to a third party, in particular as part of a reorganisation or a transfer of business. You are informed of this. Your rights are not reduced as a result.

21Complaints

Any complaint is addressed to contact@icopedia.org. We reply within thirty days.

Consumers residing in the European Union keep the mandatory protections of their country of residence.

22Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms are governed by Mauritanian law.

For consumers, jurisdiction follows the applicable protective rules. A consumer may in particular bring proceedings, at their choice, before the court of the place where they lived when the contract was concluded or where the harmful event occurred.

For professionals, any dispute relating to these terms falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Nouakchott, including where there are several defendants or a third-party claim.

If a provision of these terms is held void or unenforceable, the remaining provisions stay in force.

23Model withdrawal form

To be completed and returned only if you wish to withdraw from a paid subscription, within the period set out in section 9.

To CLEF SARL (ICOpedia), 7 Zone B Nord, Nouakchott, Mauritania, contact@icopedia.org.

I hereby give notice of my withdrawal from the contract for the supply of the service below.

Plan subscribed to: [ ]

Date of subscription: [ ]

Consumer name: [ ]

Consumer address: [ ]

Email address of the account: [ ]

Date: [ ]

Signature, if the form is notified on paper: [ ]

24Contact

For any question about these terms, contact CLEF SARL, operator of ICOpedia, at contact@icopedia.org. Contact address: 7 Zone B Nord, Nouakchott, Mauritania.