1.0 The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund

AECF is a development institution that builds the resilience of rural and marginalized communities by catalyzing innovative private sector business models with patient capital and growth support services across Sub-Saharan Africa. Launched in 2008, the AECF has mobilized over US $356 million to date, leveraging more than US $658 million in matching capital and improving the lives of more than 19 million people in 2018 alone through jobs and increased household incomes. The AECF has so far supported 268 companies in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa across 40 value chains in our focal sectors of agribusiness and renewable energy.

To deliver on our strategy, we will continue to focus on the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors, increase support to climate-smart technologies, refine our challenge model, expand regional presence, deepen the focus on gender, youth and employment by expanding our products and partnership approach to better meet our investees’ current needs; and ensure they rapidly scale and transition to external financing and sustainability thereby attaining our vision of ‘a prosperous, enterprising and resilient Africa’.

2.0 About AECF’s Investments Advisory Services

In delivering on the strategy, AECF’s Investments Advisory Services (IAS) department is increasingly providing value added support to AECF investee companies in Africa to accelerate their business growth, resilience, and impact delivery. The IAS team works with the investee companies to identify capacity gaps through conducting business diagnostics and providing advisory services that will increase business performance and sustainable delivery of social impact. Based on the emerging priority needs of our investees, key advisory services have been categorized under strategy & strategic management; financial management; marketing, distribution & customer service; leadership and organization development; production and operations; integration of environmental and social management; and investment readiness & capital raising.

3.0 About Qotto BF SARL

Qotto BF SARL is a company established in 2018 in Burkina Faso specializing in distribution of modular solar home systems (SHS) throughout the country. The company aims to expand its distribution and installation capacity by opening a few distribution hubs in the regions. The company is using the AECF grant to set up 12 additional distribution centers across Burkina Faso and to scale up the distribution and installation capacity of the modular SHS.

4.0 Purpose and Deliverables of the Assignment

The objective of the assignment is to work with the Qotto team to integrate gender in their processes, with special emphasis on the sales and distribution component/teams of the business. The team wants to master how to scale the successes registered from the quality and sustainability of the clients that are brought in by their female agent network. They have realized the need to grow their high-flier female sales agents to more supervisory roles, and to help them become more productive. Gender will be integrated across the entire supply chain and operations including the executive leadership, with a clear demonstration of the value that this will generate for the company.

The services will be delivered by an individual (fluent in French), who will plug into the AECF’s Advisory Studio. The assignment will be considered as one engagement, and this should be reflected in the proposal.

3.1 Specific Duties and Responsibilities of Consultant

a) Review the company’s strategy and conduct a gender audit.

b) Work with the team to demonstrate the value for integration of gender solutions in their value chain

c) Work with the team to prepare a gender action plan that clearly states how gender will be integrated at various nodes of the company’s supply chain.

d) Train the team in how to mainstream gender across all operations, budgeting, decisions, learning and development plans, hiring and HR policies/strategies and to strengthen the company’s business case for gender integration.

e) Train the female sales team and other female staff in leadership and management.

f) Train the management team and other staff members to be gender sensitive/responsive.

3.2 Outputs and Reporting Requirements

Comprehensive TA delivery report, detailing:

a) Gender Audit

b) Gender strategy and a costed action Plan with an emphasis on recruitment and empowering women in the sales and marketing team.

c) The business case for gender integration

d) Training report and manual on gender mainstreaming

e) Training report on leadership and management

f) A short learning paper on insights from the exercise in relation to the business environment context and stage of business

4.0 Duration of Service

The duration of the service will be 20 – 30 man-days spread over a period of six months. This service is expected to commence on 26^th March 2021.

5.0 Proposal Submission

Qualified consultants (individual or institutional consultants) are invited to submit the proposal (in English) that includes the following:

a) Qualification and experience of the individual/institution.

b) Approach and methodology to undertake this assignment.

c) Previous experience in similar assignment(s).

d) Detailed financial budget (in USD) and work plan.

e) Technical and Financial proposals will need to be submitted as separate documents.

6.0 Qualifications

• A specialist in gender integration and mainstreaming in private sector-led business models.

• Experience in gender integration in Renewable Energy businesses will be an advantage.

• Experience in Leadership and Management training/coaching

• BA Social Science degree or equivalent

• At least 7 years’ experience in the field.

• Experience in conducting gender assessments and gender smart solutions for small and growing businesses in emerging economies.

• Must be fluent in both English and French

7.0 Reporting

The consultant will be accountable to AECF Manager – Partnerships and Gender

8.0 Pricing

The AECF is obliged by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes on service contract fees as well as ensure VAT, at 16%, is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position with regards to provisions of Kenya tax legislation when developing their proposals.

9.0 Evaluation Criteria

An evaluation committee will be formed by the AECF and shall include employees. All members will be bound by the same standards of confidentiality. The vendor should ensure that they fully respond to all criteria to be comprehensively evaluated.

The AECF may request and receive clarification from any Vendor when evaluating a proposal. The evaluation committee may invite some or all the Vendors to appear before the committee to clarify their proposals. In such event, the evaluation committee may consider such clarifications in evaluating proposals.

In deciding the final selection of qualified bidder, the technical quality of the proposal will be given a weighting of 70% based on the evaluation criteria. Only the financial proposal of those bidders who qualify technically will be opened. The financial proposal will be allocated a weighting of 30% and the proposals will be ranked in terms of total points scored.

The mandatory and desirable criteria against which proposals will be evaluated are identified in the table below.

Key Areas for Evaluation/ Assessment

Weighted Award

a) Technical Proposal

80

i) An understanding of the consultancy requirements:

· Demonstrate understanding of the assignment

5

· An in-depth understanding of Gender integration models that work for the private sector, with a short demonstration of what works and what doesn’t work for the private sector.

15

ii) Methodology and work-plan for performing the assignment: Demonstrate capacity to deliver the task(s) within a realistic timeline, based on the consultancy days designated per task.

Present a clear and comprehensive strategy and work plan for this assignment

20

iii) Relevant services undertaken by the bidder in the past engagements: Demonstrate relevant experience.

25

iv) Detailed reference list indicating the scope and magnitude of similar assignments:

15

· Letters of reference from past customers for the lead consultant or the consulting organization.

b) Financial Proposal: Clarity, relevance, reality to market value/ value for money of cost for the assignment (inclusive of any applicable tax).

20

10.0 Disclaimer

AECF reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party.