Request for a Consultancy work to provide Business Development Services for women-owned enterprises and entrepreneurs in Addis Ababa 

Section 1: Background

CARE is a global leader within a worldwide movement dedicated to ending poverty. We are known everywhere for our unshakeable commitment to the dignity of people. CARE works around the globe to save lives, defeat poverty, and achieve social justice. We seek a world of hope, tolerance, and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and all people live with dignity and security. We put women and girls in the center because we know that we cannot overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities. This Core Values Commitment describes who we are, what we do, and how we do it. It reflects our Core Values of TRANSFORMATION, INTEGRITY, DIVERSITY, EXCELLENCE, and EQUALITY, which serve as a foundation for all that we do.

Section 2: Project overview

Advancing Women Enterprises is a 3-year project designed to enhance 3,000 existing early-stage, women-led micro, and small enterprises in the formal and informal sectors in five sub-cities and 16 woredas of Addis Ababa city administration through financial and non-financial services, entrepreneurship, and business skills development, and enabling social and regulatory environment needed to overcome barriers and achieve their business goals. The project targets young women between the age of 18-35 who engaged in both the formal and informal sectors, plus a series of strategic partners.

Section 3: Objective of the consultancy        

General Objective of the Consultancy

To create platform where MSEs have access to continuous Business Development Services (BDS) support on operational and financial aspects of their business from experts.

The project is looking for an experienced consultancy firm to provide Business Development Services (BDS) to 100 Women Owned/Led Businesses and Enterprises to improve their performance, develop their leadership qualities, to realize their vision/goal, and transition to next growth stage. The 100 women-owned/led enterprises will be identified by the project from the 3,000 project beneficiaries located in the five sub-cities. The consultancy firm will provide technical and practical support to strengthen their capacities and provide tailor made support to women owned enterprises to increase their capacity to deal with business and financial management issues, marketing and networking, risk management and goal setting and general planning. In addition, the consultancy firm will work to motivate and inspire mentees, to build their confidence and provide opportunities to discuss work-related issues and generate possible solutions. In addition, the consultancy firm is expected to provide Training of Trainers (ToTs) for 12 project staff members we a capacity development program to allow them to provide a similar Business Development Support approach.

Section 4: Scope of work

The proposed work is to develop and implement a customized and fit for purpose six (4) month BDS service for identified 100 women owned/led enterprises located in five sub-cities of Addis Ababa. The program is an important part of the Advancing Women Enterprises Project with the intention to effectively support women owned businesses. It will empower the targeted women at different stages of the enterprise development lifecycle with capacity building and training, individual and group business coaching, mentorship, compliance to laws, technical hand-on support to solve issues/challenges.

The specific activities that comprise the focus of the work includes but not limited to the following

·      Organize orientation and briefing session to understand and map needs

·      To develop and/or adapt proven and evidenced based BDS for 100 young women owned enterprises and business

• To develop a capacity development plan to be implemented over a 3-4month period.
• To organize Peer 2 Peer learning meetups and conduct 1-1 coaching.
• To provide technical and practical facilitation support that responds to ‘bottlenecks/ challenges’ confronted by women owned businesses
• To provide ToT training on BDS to 12 project staff members.

·      To produce evidence demonstrating positive impact and practical change in knowledge, improved practice and performance by women owned enterprises

·      As feasible, to facilitate periodic knowledge building/ learning session through webinars, creating digital community, etc

·      To generate an end of service report based on the outcomes of the service, challenges, what is working and not working, and lessons and good practices

Section 5: Expected deliverables

The service provides is expected to deliver the following products:

CARE and the service provider will collaborate to enable the targets under the AWE Project to gain services through the service provider platforms.

·      Submit a midterm report at the end of the second month of the implementation period to show the progress of the task.

·      Produce final progress report including the outcomes of the achievements of the program Lesson Learnt and recommendations

Section 6: Timeframe

The time frame for this assignment is for four months from July 1, 2022, to October31, 2022

Section 7: Roles and responsibilities of the project

·      Provide the list and contact address of the selected targets

·      Organize meetings for the orientation and briefing 

·      Facilitate training/workshops for group mentoring

·      Will cover the cost of venue, refreshment, and transport allowance for project targets

Job Requirements

Section 8: Required qualification and experience

To be considered for this assignment the consultancy firm must demonstrate the following capacities, skills, and experiences: -

·      Have at least degree in business administration/marketing/management or relevant field

·      At least 5-7 years’ professional experience in the fields of Enterprise development, business skill and entrepreneurship training, mentoring, and coaching of women owned micro and small enterprises

·      Demonstrate experience in motivating and inspiring youth

·      Demonstrate knowledge and familiarity of micro and small enterprise ecosystem support including access to finance, marketing, promotion 

·      Ability to communicate

·      Have a proven track record in public and corporate communications and document production 

·      Ability and experience in using social media/internet to share information, to provide training and for E-mentoring or other digital platforms

Section 9: Submission of proposal

A consultancy firm who meets the requirements should submit a proposal, which should include the following:

·      Cover letter describing how the consultant’s previous experience matches the work objectives as well as the candidate’s interest for providing the services. This letter should not be longer than one page.

·      Technical proposal containing the interest and motivation of the consultant, methodology and approach, timeline/work plan, comments on the Terms of Reference (TOR), brief experience and profile of the consultant, and any other relevant information regarding the specific assignment. A work plan for this assignment should be developed in relation to the methodology suggested by the consultant and the time frame set for this assignment.

·      Copy of the following:

o  Renewed business license

o  TIN

·      CVs, including detailed work experience and education

·      No other annexes or attachments should be included.

·      Financial Proposal. The consultant should estimate the cost and prepare a detailed budget to the key activities or phases in the work plan. This should be presented in a separate envelope and should indicate the breakdown of the proposed cost.

Section 10: Selection/evaluation criteria

The selection committee will review all applications after the submission deadline. All applicants must meet the minimum requirements described under session 8. The following are the evaluation/selection criteria for the technical and financial proposals: 

Technical

SN

Criteria

Points (100%)

1

Understanding of ToR

10%

2

Methodology and approach

30%

3

Proposal presentation

10%

4

Relevant experience, past performance in relevant job, and relevant trainings

30%

Overall assessment

80%

Financial

SN

Criteria

Points (20%)

1

Budget realism and reasonableness

15%

2

Bottom line price analysis

5%

Overall assessment

20%

How to Apply

Applicants should submit their technical proposal and financial proposal separately. The technical and financial proposals constitute 80% and 20% of the total evaluation score, respectively. The three consultants with the highest technical points will have their financial proposals evaluated, and the bidder with the highest total of technical and financial scores (with their respective weights) will be selected. CARE Ethiopia has the right to contact short listed and potential candidates to present their proposal to the team and negotiate on terms and conditions if required.

Section 11: Payment Modality

1.      Upon signing contractual agreement= 10%

2.      After submitting the mid-term progress report= 40%

3.      After submitting and approval of final report= 50%

The Deadline to submit the proposal is XX 2022. All applications clearly marked as “Advancing Women Enterprises Business Development Service” and submit both technical and financial proposals in a separate sealed envelope as per the Term of Reference (ToR) in-person to CARE Ethiopia, Procurement Unit, Addis Ababa, around 22 Mazoria, behind Lex Plaza building, next to Ha’Geez Cultural Restaurant.

CARE reserves the right to reject all non-responsive or otherwise unacceptable proposals.