Consultancy on Business development services for SME capacity building - RFP-UGA-SERV-2024-002

Founded in 1956, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading international NGO and one of the few with a specific expertise in forced displacement. Active in 40 countries with 9,000 employees and supported by 7,500 volunteers, DRC protects, advocates, and builds sustainable futures for refugees and other displacement affected people and communities. DRC works during displacement at all stages: In the acute crisis, in displacement, when settling and integrating in a new place, or upon return. DRC provides protection and life-saving humanitarian assistance; supports displaced persons in becoming self-reliant and included into hosting societies; and works with civil society and responsible authorities to promote protection of rights and peaceful coexistence.

DRC operates across 10 countries in the East Africa and Great Lakes (EAGL) region, with regional support based in Nairobi, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda. The regional office supports country offices with programming and operations expertise as well as support service functions.

Purpose of the consultancy

DRC is seeking the services of a business development service (BDS) provider to offer support to businesses that DRC is investing under the Refugee Investment facility (RIF) in partnership with iGravity. The BDS provider will work with RIF investees to offer BDS support in areas identified across a wide range of BDS services including strategy, marketing, accounting and finance, management, operations, procurement, sales, targeting, data management, IT systems and customer engagement.

Background

The Refugee Investment Facility (RIF) is a pilot initiative being implemented jointly by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and iGravity - a Swiss firm specialized in impact investment and innovative finance solutions. The RIF provides loans and technical assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises directly impacting refugees and their communities in refugee hosting districts, based on four impact parameters: increased employability, increased decent and sustainable employment, increased access to services and products, and financial inclusion. The RIF is currently targeting to invest in enterprises located in Uganda and Jordan but this consultancy will only cover Uganda and potentially Kenya

Objective of the consultancy

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide short term technical support to investees of the RIF in areas that need business development support

The consultant will be required to offer short term technical assistance to businesses across Uganda in various areas of business operation based on the needs of the business itself. The aim of the technical assistance is to support the growth of the business and support building capacity in areas that the business identifies as weak. Each technical assistance assignment will be as such:

Scoping of business needs and support that can be offered within the budget
Implementation of business development services onsite with the business
Reporting back to DRC team and iGravity to highlight services implemented
Scope of work and Methodology
To be negotiated with DRC’s RIF Project Lead.

Deliverables

The Consultant will be tasked with several assignments on a rolling basis, supporting different businesses across the BDS spectrum. Each assignment will likely follow the below process:

Preliminary analysis report

A needs assessment report detailing training and capacity development needs of the for the RIF investees

The consultant/ BDS provider develops Preliminary analysis report on current needs of the RIF investee

Programmatic BDS Approach

1 Final draft of programmatic approach document outlining the technical assistance approach to the RIF investees.

2) Delivery of BDS to the identified RIF Investee

After the initial kick-off meeting, the BDS provider provides the TA support to the RIF investees based on the BDS areas that were decided upon.

Final report

A final report including recommendations of on-going support needs of the RIF Investees

Detailed Technical Assistance report for each of TA recipients

The Consultant will provide the documentation by email

Duration, timeline, and payment

The total expected duration will be on a rolling basis

Eligibility, qualification, and experience required

The consultant / BDS provider should have a multidisciplinary team with key qualifications and competencies as follows :

Demonstrated experience working with SMEs across Uganda
Demonstrate understanding of Uganda context including entrepreneurial ecosystem, key private sector actors, SME development, capacity building and related initiatives.
Minimum of 5 years practical experience in delivering business development services, business ecosystem influencing work, or access to finance initiatives with documented proof of such activities
Should have knowledge and experience in finance and impact Investment within the humanitarian context, ideally in East Africa
Should have knowledge and experience in gender and women rights issues that relate to the private sector and business development including knowledge and experience in gender lens investing.
Strong writing skills and experience in producing written material for a range of audiences including communications and media.
Ability to work rapidly with staff in the field to identify trends, needs and operational capacity, and provide analysis to shape actions
Capacity to work in a multi-sector team, in complex environments, with knowledge of good security practices
Demonstrated understanding of Ugandan socio-economic context
Qualification: A master’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, International Development, Project Management, Economics, Statistics or any other relevant field, etc. A higher-level degree or credential shall be an added advantage.

Language requirements:
Written and spoken fluency in English
Technical supervision

The selected consultant will work under the supervision of:

DRC Uganda and Regional Team
iGravity
Location and support

The assignment can be carried out remotely with travel to the offices of RIF investees across Uganda’s refugee hosting districts

Travel

Up to 50% travel is anticipated but this is subject to a rapidly changing context and needs

Evaluation of bids

Administration Evaluation A bid shall pass the administrative evaluation stage before being considered for technical and financial evaluation. Bids that are deemed administratively non-compliant may be rejected. Documents listed below shall be submitted with your bid.

Technical qualification
For the award of this assignment, the evaluation criteria below will govern the selection of offers received. The evaluation is made on a technical and financial basis. The proposed offers by bidders will be evaluated using, inter alia, a weighted criteria as described below

Technical qualifications (50 %)

The technical approach addresses the key aspects and deliverables of the ToR. (30%).
The strategy draws on sector good practice and is relevant to the tasks (10%).
The technical approach will deliver the required outputs, within the deadlines (10%)
Profile and Qualifications (40%)

The candidate meets the profile and qualifications for the TOR –(15%)
The consultant(s) have similar or other relevant experience in offering Business Development services to SMEs – preferably practical experience- (15%)
The consultant(s) have relevant experience in capacity building for SMEs. (5%)
The consultant(s) provide examples of previous work carried out in this field of work- (5%)
Interview (10%)

Capacity development and facilitation skills (Interview including proposal presentation). (10%)
Based on the initial screening, DRC will invite selected bidders for an interview.The financial offer will then be weighed against the technical offer. The total cost of the financial offer including tax should be mentioned in the DRC Bid Form annex A.2, with the budget breakdown

Financial Evaluation
All bids that pass the Technical Evaluation will proceed to the Financial Evaluation. Bids that are deemed technically non-compliant will not be financially evaluated.

Requirements

i) Financial proposal – should be all inclusive of any cost associated with this consultancy and be itemized wherepossible. Also notethat the totalcost of financial offer will be indicated in annex

A.2 form, and the fees should be quotedin USD and shouldaccount for 15% withholding tax for

non-residents and 6% withholding tax for Ugandaresidents.

Proposals failing to meet the above minimum requirements will not be considered further.

DRC will conduct reference checks from at least 2 previous works as an additional mandatory requirement.

Confidentiality

All information presented, obtained, and produced is to be treated as DRC’s property and is considered confidential for all other purposes than what is outlined in the ToR. Upon signing the contract, the selected consultant will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement. The material prepared by the consultant cannot be sold, used, or reproduced in any manner (partially or in full) by the consultant without prior permission from DRC.