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 the REACT SSA Program

The AECF renewable energy financing is US $166 million with US $61 million dedicated to REACT SSA, a program supporting the private sector in Sub-Saharan Africa to meet the energy needs of rural communities. About 510 million people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) currently have no access to electricity and will not get grid access in the near future, resulting in a steady increase in the number of people without electricity until at least 2025. The slow progress and prohibitive cost of conventional solutions to the household energy crisis mean that cheaper and more accessible new clean technologies offer a better chance of improved access to energy for rural households in the near future. Over the last decade, clean energy technologies have become more economical than conventional generation for many applications, and the regulatory environment to facilitate their application has improved. Risk and market failures restrict innovation and prevent the development and use of successful business models and technologies.

The AECF’s engagement in the energy sector under REACT SSA is designed to catalyze the private sector to increase the supply of cleaner fuels, raise awareness of the dangers from indoor air pollution, demonstrate how new knowledge in renewable energy technologies can be put into practice in ways that benefit the poor especially women, provide evidence on challenges in policy formulation and implementation.

REACT technologies being financed by AECF include:

a. Renewable technologies such as hydro-power, solar energy, biomass, and wind energy

b. Small, household-level solar home systems, comprising of basic lighting, phone charging systems and radios, made available to large numbers of households through pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) systems.

c. Large solar-power stand-alone systems for productive use, comprising of phone charging systems, radio etc. and that can be used at small scale rural-based business premises to provide the required power.

d. Larger solar power systems that meet the full range of household needs and are still affordable for low-income individuals.

e. Larger centralized renewable power systems (mini-grids/ micro grids)/ utility models, with a distribution network that meet the full range of household/ business needs and are affordable for low-income individuals.

f. Production and/or distribution of cleaner fuels (e.g. ethanol) and energy-efficient cookstoves

g. Distribution models that support local entrepreneurship and growth of SMEs within a renewable energy product demand and supply chain

h. Innovative ideas that stimulate “next-generation” approach in the renewable energy sector

The target countries include Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Sudan and Somalia.

3.0 About the assignment **

3.1 Purpose of the assignment

The REACT SSA Liberia project, under the REACT SSA Program, has a total of nine AECF investee companies: four in off-grid solar (Easy Solar, Eco Power Liberia, SJEDI Green Energy Inc., and LEN Two Inc.); two in clean cooking (Green Gold Liberia, and Liberia Eco-Supply Ventures Inc.); two in mini grids (LIB Solar LLC, and HV WoodGas Technologies Inc); and one in e-waste (Green Cities Inc.).

AECF is seeking the services of a sales and marketing expert to support two of AECF’s investee companies in Liberia (Liberia Eco-supply ventures and Green Gold Liberia) to develop robust marketing, sales, and distribution strategies for their products. The assignment will commence with a market assessment and end with a costed and comprehensive sales and distribution plan for each of the companies. The services will be delivered by an individual, 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.

3.2 Specific duties and responsibilities (the “Services”) of the consultant

The consultant will be expected to deliver on the following scope of the assignment, for each of the two companies.

a) Assess the status of the organization and its environment (target market, customers, offerings, adaptation to business environment changes and challenges etc.)

b) Define the strategic mission and objectives around sales, marketing, and distribution.

c) Define each company’s competitive marketing, sales, and distribution strategy (based on industry analysis, SWOT, competitive position etc.) with benchmarked sales targets.

d) Develop a comprehensive marketing, sales, and distribution plan, including a fully costed 12month plan.

e) Train the team in marketing and selling.

f) Coach the team in planning and execution

g) Develop a sales and marketing training manual for onward internal use for training other staff

h) Prepare a learning paper with insights from the assignment, especially with respect to capacity building of the private sector to thrive in emerging/fragile economies.

3.3 Specific deliverables

For each of the two companies, the deliverables/outputs for this assignment are outlined below:

a) Report of the assessment of the current marketing, sales and distribution strategy and performance

b) A profile of current and potential customers, competitors, and marketing channels

c) A marketing, sales and distribution strategy pivoted to the changing business environment and industry trends, with a clear competitive advantage.

d) A costed marketing, sales, and distribution plan

e) Training report and manual for use by the investee companies for onward refresher trainings

f) A Learning paper on insights from the technical assistance provided, in relation to the business environment.

3.4 Duration of the assignment

The assignment will start in April 2021 for 50 days spread over a six-month period.

4.0 Proposal submission

Qualified consultants are invited to submit a proposal that includes the following:

a) Qualification and experience of the individual.

b) Approach and methodology to undertake this assignment underpinned by a demonstration of value for money.

c) Previous experience in similar assignment(s) with SMEs, including if any, those in the renewable energy sector and/or in emerging economies like Liberia.

d) A detailed financial budget (in USD) and work plan.

e) The technical and financial proposals will need to be submitted as separate documents.

5.0 Qualifications and experience

The minimum competencies and qualifications include:

a) Master’s degree in Business Administration or related field.

b) Professional certification in areas like marketing and/or strategy will be an added advantage.

c) Good analytical and presentation skills

d) Good coaching skills with flexibility to support the companies in diverse areas during the coaching period. Certification in coaching will be preferred.

e) Experience in developing and scoaching teams through execution of robust and practical sales and marketing strategies for SMEs, preferably in the renewable energy and clean cooking sectors.

f) Experience in training sales teams and developing simple and effective go-to-market channels/strategies.

g) More than 7 years of marketing strategy development experience for SMEs in SSA (Sub Saharan Africa.

h) Experience in training and coaching of senior and middle management teams in strategy execution.

i) Experience in developing training material.

6.0 Reporting

The consultant will report to the Advisory Manager – Investment Advisory Services.

7.0 Evaluation Criteria

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

The AECF may request and receive clarification from any consultant when evaluating a proposal. The evaluation committee may invite some or all the consultants 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 80% 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 20% 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) TECHNIAL PROPOSAL

80

i) An understanding of the consultancy requirements;

15

· An in-depth understanding of models that facilitate market strategy development, strategy reviews, strategy stress-tests and gap analysis, strategic management encompassing areas of marketing, sales and distribution and other critical aspects of the business.

· Understanding of the context of Liberia.

· Understanding of how to develop the competitive advantage of companies.

· Understanding of development of sales and marketing strategies and plans

· Understanding Renewable Energy, PAYGo models and clean cooking sub-sectors in sub-Saharan Africa will be added advantage.

ii) Methodology and work-plan that will deliver the best value on the assignment:

30

· Demonstrate a practical, effective, and tailored strategy to deliver each of the task(s) within a realistic timeline, underpinned by value for money.**

· A critique of the strategies and approaches that will not work in the context of the businesses (based on their stage and business environment)**

iv) Relevant services undertaken by the bidder in the past engagements:

25

· Demonstrate relevant experience and recent engagements with private sector companies in strategy development, strategy review, gap analysis. **

· Demonstration of the results/impact of the sales and marketing strategies on the companies supported by the bidder in the past.**

· Demonstrate relevant experience in Marketing and sales strategy development.

· Experience in training sales and marketing teams

· Experience in supporting companies in the Renewable Energy and clean cooking sub-sectors in sub-Saharan Africa is added advantage.**

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

10

· At least 2 Letters of reference from past clients to the consultant

(B) FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

20

· Clarity, relevance, reality to market value/ value for money of cost for the assignment (inclusive of any applicable tax)

9.0 Tax

The AECF is obliged by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes on service contract fees as well as ensure that VAT, 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.

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.