Experts for a Roster of Technical Assistance (TA) Consultants within LDCIP - Long-Term Agreement - Home-based with possibility of travels

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UNCDF - United Nations Capital Development Fund

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Home-based; Travel;

Application deadline 2 years ago: Friday 10 Dec 2021 at 23:59 UTC

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Contract

This is a International Consultant contract. More about International Consultant contracts.

Background

Founded by a General Assembly resolution in 1966, the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 46 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers financial solutions that try to mobilize public and private resources, both internationally and domestically, to reduce poverty and support local economic development.

UNCDF’s expertise is in three primary areas of work: (1) development and financing of inclusive digital economies through a market development approach, largely driven by digital finance and innovation; (2) local development finance through fiscal decentralization (including local climate adaptation finance), municipal finance and structured project finance, to drive market transformation in local economic development; and (3) investment finance, to drive capital accumulation and market transformation in financially underserved areas, including investment sourcing, due diligence, de-risking, deployment of loans and guarantees, and crowding in of investment capital from domestic and international investors. Women’s and youth’s economic empowerment is specifically articulated across all UNCDF work in terms of objectives, approaches, theory of change, targets, and indicators.

UNCDF uses a combination of grant, reimbursable grant, loans, guarantees and technical assistance to support early-stage businesses, SMEs, projects, microfinance institutions and municipal investments. Up till today UNCDF’s use of loans and guarantees has been growing and there is now an even higher ambition to make better and wider use of these financial instruments. UNCDF has also seen a strong increase in demand for its loan and guarantee services from other UN agencies, not least UNDP. In response to the need to deploy different kind of risk tolerant capital, a blended finance impact fund was launched by Bamboo Capital Partners, the BUILD Fund, as the result of a joint initiative between UNCDF and this private asset manager. The BUILD Fund will be complemented by the sidecar BUILD Enterprise Resource Technical Assistance Facility (the “BUILDER TA Facility” or “BUILDER TAF” or “BUILDER”). Together, BUILD and BUILDER will constitute the first investment initiative to integrate the lessons learned from UNCDF’s past experiences to create a new, innovative approach for investments into SMEs in LDCs.

2. Context

UNCDF accomplishes its catalytic investment activities through the LDC Investment Platform (LDC IP). The LDC IP provides the technical know-how to expand the deployment of capital instruments to a growing pipeline of companies and projects in the “last mile” in LDCs. The platform has a team of investment professionals with significant transactional expertise in LDCs and impact investing backgrounds. The LDC Investment Platform (LDCIP) team supports UNCDF’s two operational divisions (Inclusive Digital Economies and Local Development Finance) as well as agencies from the wider UN system on issues related to investment finance and innovative SDG financing.

Overall, the aim of the LDC IP is to support an ecosystem that (a) demonstrates to domestic and international investors that LDC markets can and do generate returns, provide opportunities for successful investment, and merit the attention of a wider range of investors; (b) uses those demonstration effects to support policy and regulatory improvements and scale up of what works by other actors; and (c) helps a number of companies advance to the next level of growth where more commercial funding will replace the concessional funding.

Early-stage SMEs, financial service providers and projects in the LDCs often lack access to sound systems, procedures, resources (including human capital) and best practices (not to mention funding) that would allow them to graduate to improved operations, governance and therefore increased levels of sustainability and impact. Technical assistance support will enable these prospects or investees to positively and substantially transform their operations and human capital over time and reach sustainable growth and impact in the communities that they serve.

LDCIP is looking to build a cohesive and well-knit team of TA Consultants, with prior substantive work-experience and strong technical expertise in providing TA to business entities involved in the following target sectors:

Food Security & Nutrition (SDG 1 and SDG 2): this area focuses on investments into the agricultural sector. It targets small and medium scale agricultural farms as well as agricultural businesses along entire agricultural value chains that will be financed directly or indirectly. Prospective investees include eco-friendly cooperatives, commercial farms, aggregators, agribusiness software providers, processing companies or other eco-friendly focused businesses which on-lend to the agricultural sector, to fund for instance smallholders.

Green Economy, climate finance & Renewable Energy (SDG 1 and SDG 7): this area focuses on investments to mitigate the effects of climate change and to drive clean energy access to “last-mile” communities. Prospective investees include solar and hydro off-grid or mini-grid renewable energy investments, as well as industrial scale renewable energy and selected on-grid installations.

Blue Economy (SDG 14): this area focuses on investments in sustainable solutions within fisheries, tourism/eco-tourism, agriculture, aquaculture and coral farming, infrastructure, waste and pollution management, ocean and coastal ecosystem restoration and protection, etc.

Financial Inclusion and Innovation (SDG 1 and SDG 9): this area focuses on investments that ensure that a range of financial products are available to all segments of society, at a reasonable cost, and on a sustainable basis. Prospective investees include financial services providers and fintechs, such as payment aggregators, money transfer companies offering a variety financial products and services through digital delivery channels (such as mobile phone networks)

Local Infrastructure (SDG 1 and SDG 11): Focuses on investments for the financing of catalytic infrastructure (including, but not limited to, transport, communications, marketplaces) with high local economic development impact.

Three lines of business development services will be offered to the target TA recipients:

• Pre-investment TA support or Investment Readiness advisory support. This line of business includes for example the preparation of a prospective investee for due diligence; rebuilding financial statements; updating accounting and financial tools and procedures; the registration and valuation of assets; the preparation of strategic/business plans; financial modeling of historical and future business performance; understanding foreign currency exchange risks and defining currency hedging strategies; understanding the mechanics of debt and other financial obligations; assessing market and sector dynamics and prepare alignment of the entity with the same in order for future growth; compliance with the local and – if relevant – the international regulatory environment; assessing the current state and establishing targets regarding ESG criteria; etc. Investment Readiness support should be aligned with the investment strategy.

• Post-Investment TA support or Core Business Areas advisory support. This line of business includes the design and implementation of Standard Operating Procedures; implementation of adequate processes and controls for operational and financial management; adopting digital systems and processes to improve cash, inventory and receivables management; design and execution of strategic personnel and governance strategy; design and execution of customer segmentation strategies; developing effective sales and marketing strategies; etc. Post-investment support should be aligned with the investment strategy.

• Impact and ESG support: Impact and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) will be cross cutting TA areas. The intent is to equip the TA recipients with basic knowledge and tools on how to set and operationalize their ESG, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through a strategy to ensure compliance with the reporting requirements of the investment vehicles). This could entail training and webinars to Board and management, designing ESG and/or impact measurement frameworks, support in measuring and monitoring selected impact indicators, etc. in a way to improve business models (e.g., decide to outreach more youth and women, adopt a gender-lens approach in product development, etc.), better articulate their impact narrative and communicate the achieved impact internally and externally to key stakeholders, etc.

In order to respond to the various needs of the target TA recipients, UNCDF will be looking at individual experts demonstrating different skills and experience relevant to the above-mentioned sectors, such as:

- MSME finance, project finance, digital financial services, inclusive finance, impact finance, sustainable development,

- Blue economy finance, climate finance, etc.

- Strategic planning, business planning, market studies, feasibility studies, etc.

- Governance/Board training and risk management,

- ESG and impact management; impact assessment; norms, best practices and standards related to each priority sector; monitoring and evaluation,

- Financial controlling and management, portfolio management, credit and risk management, financial analysis, audit (internal/external), internal controls, accounting, etc.

- Manufacturing, production and operations (procurement, logistic, transport management, value chain management, business process optimization/engineering, standard operating procedures design, etc.),

- Human resource management, soft skills training, technical skills training (design and delivery), andragogy, coaching, mentoring, project management, etc.

- Knowledge management products,

- Marketing, communication, distribution, alternative distribution channels, etc.

- Client relationship management,

- MIS and ICT management etc.

- Legal and compliance

Some investment opportunities will be sourced from the wider UN system and those agencies may need more elaborated support in identifying TA needs and performance of TA due diligence. Some TA opportunities may be related to investments that would need to be referred to the BUILD fund. In such cases, the TA Consultant will prepare the TA transaction in accordance with the BUILDER TAF operating guidelines.

UNCDF shall enter into a non-exclusive long-term agreement (LTA) with the selected TA Consultant(s) and shall provide terms of reference including scope of work, specific deliverables and time frames for each TA project, as and when required.

Prospective individuals are requested to take note of the following:

• This solicitation is for a Long-Term Agreement (LTA) for one year and renewable up to three years linked to satisfactory performance of the individual consultant. “LTA” refers to a mutual arrangement whereby the Consultant will provide services as required, over a specific period of time.

• An LTA is a mutual arrangement between UNCDF and an individual to provide the required services at an agreed fixed price applicable whenever provision of services is called-off at any time over an initial period of 12 months, with potential extension of up to 2 more years, depending on various factors such as funding availability, continued project need, and performance.

• Under an LTA, UNCDF does not warrant that any quantity of services shall be called-off during the term of this Agreement. Where a request for services arises, UNCDF shall directly contract the Consultant based on its need to carry out those activities.

A specific Term of Reference (TOR) outlining the outputs for each assignment shall be provided, which shall be aligned within the framework TOR under the LTA, and an Individual Contract would be issued to the Consultant, detailing the time frame for the call-off, but adhering to the fixed pricing agreed on the framework LTA.

Duties and Responsibilities

3.1.****Scope of Services

Under the supervision of the LDC IP TA Facility Manager, and in close collaboration with other UNCDF and LDCIP colleagues mainly in-country, the TA Consultant will specifically:

  • Assist UNCDF in the execution of its technical assistance transactions including:
    • Support in conducting TA needs assessments using UNCDF’s tools;
    • Provide business advice and monitor business development in line with terms of reference that will be defined for each TA project;
  • In selected cases, assist in committees’ work to assess and ensure quality of proposed investment opportunities” as an independent member for the TA facility committee or the investment committee (or any related governance structures), respecting confidentiality and conflicts of interest rules;
  • In selected cases, be present and provide responses to questions from the committee members;
  • Provide recommendations to UNCDF on how to improve future TA projects design, implementation and monitoring based on the TA implementation process s/he is in charge of;
  • Produce knowledge management products and contribute to UNCDF’s work related to policy recommendations based on the TA transactional work. It will be important to continuously build new knowledge from providing business development services in different geographies and thematic areas and be able to share that knowledge with UNCDF’s constituency. The building of knowledge, mainly through the TA transactions (and the loans and guarantees), may lead to supporting UNCDF in shaping policy recommendations for decision makers, and contribute to the technical assistance continuous improvement process.

The call-off for the services shall be formalized by virtue of an email request from the TA Facility Manager of the LDC Investment Platform (or any UNCDF staff acting on behalf of the TA Facility Manager). Any other originator of the call-off emails shall not be considered official and cannot be used as a basis for invoicing for services rendered, except the emails transmitted by the TA Facility Manager of the LDCIP Team (or any UNCDF staff acting on behalf of the TA Facility Manager).

The call-off email shall indicate the scope of works, the estimated level of efforts (number of man-days) and any important requirement to implement the services. The work that will be indicated in any call-off e-mail MUST fall within the broad scope of services listed above.

In response to the call-off, the interested TA Consultants are expected to submit a proposal which should be valid for 120 days.

3.2.****TA Project Deliverables and Milestones

For each TA project, the TA Facility Manager will release a specific TOR detailing the background, the objectives of the services, the scope of works, the specific deliverables and reporting requirements, the duration, the expected outcomes, the qualifications, and expertise of the TA Consultant, etc.

The table below is given as an example of the standard framework of the key activities, deliverables and estimated timeline that will be detailed further in each TOR.

Key Project Activity

Deliverables/ Milestones

Timeline

Project kick off, inception meetings and institutional diagnostic

An inception report with adjusted activities plan that must be agreed upon with the TA recipient

Latest 15 days after the kick-off meeting

Stage 1 - Project activities implementation

Progress report 1 based on agreed milestones/deliverables as per specific TOR

Ideally 4 to 6 weeks after the project kick-off.

Stage 2 - Project activities implementation

Progress report 2 based on agreed milestones/deliverables as per specific TOR

As per specific TOR or TA consultant’s proposed methodology

Stage 3 - Project activities implementation

Progress report 3 based on agreed milestones/deliverables as per specific TOR

As per specific TOR or TA consultant’s proposed methodology

Stage 4 – Project activities implementation

Progress report 4 based on agreed milestones/deliverables as per specific TOR

As per specific TOR or TA consultant’s proposed methodology

Phasing out activities and closing workshop

PowerPoint presentation or minutes of the closing workshop

Within one week after the end of the project activities implementation

Project completion activities

Final report

Within 15 days after the end of the closing workshop

3.3.****Payments

The TA Consultant shall be required to submit invoices listing the completed milestones/deliverables and work rendered during the given period as per contracted project. Payments shall only be released upon submission of ALL of the following documents accumulated over the duration of the assignment:

  1. Email call-offs from TA Facility Manager of the LDC Investment Platform (or any UNCDF staff acting on behalf of the TA Facility Manager);
  2. Deliverables/Outputs submitted to the TA Facility Manager of the LDC Investment Platform (or any UNCDF staff acting on behalf of the TA Facility Manager) in fulfillment of the requested services;
  3. Written acceptance of the deliverables/outputs duly signed by the TA Facility Manager of the LDC Investment Platform (or any UNCDF staff acting on behalf of the TA Facility Manager); and
  4. Approval of the due invoice by the TA Facility Manager of the LDC Investment Platform (or any UNCDF staff acting on behalf of the TA Facility Manager), which shall serve as an authorization to disburse the payment.

3.4. Duty Station and Travel

  • The TA Consultant will not be required to report to the UNCDF office. S/he is expected to render services from his/her home base. The TA project activities will require the TA Consultant to conduct work on a home-base mode and/or work in situ at different locations (TA recipient’s premises, end-clients’ premises, stakeholders’ locations, field, etc.).
  • Given the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the TA Consultant is expected to allow for remote working sessions and be equipped accordingly to ensure smooth remote implementation if needed be.
  • No facilities will be provided by UNCDF.
  • In the event that there is a travel outside of his/her home base, if the duty so requires, it will be paid for by UNCDF, in accordance with UNCDF travel policies as applied to consultants.
  • A separate ToR with clear deliverables, budget and timelines will be prepared and agreed prior to each field mission within the terms of the assignment.

3.5. Monitoring and Quality Control

The TA Consultant will work under the direct supervision of the LDCIP TA Facility Manager and in close collaboration with the in-country UNCDF teams

Competencies

4.1 Corporate Competencies

  1. Ability to promote the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNCDF;
  2. Demonstrate integrity by modelling the UN's values and ethical standards;
  3. Display cultural, gender, religion, race and age sensitivity and adaptability.

4.2 Functional Competencies

  1. Understands how a public funded agency like UNCDF functions;
  2. Understands how blended finance and donor-funded TA facilities operate, and their strategic alignment to sustainable investment;
  3. Understands how technical assistance projects are structured in order to add value to a prospective or an existing investment;
  4. Understands the common challenges of the target investees (SMEs, Financial Service Providers, infrastructure projects/companies, etc.), their investments and TA needs and the mix of various financing and TA instruments and support required at different growth stages—from incubation to scaling up to commercial viability;
  5. Demonstrates strong organizational management and leadership abilities (directing and guiding a group in completing tasks and achieving goals);
  6. Has strong analytical skills, research, exploration and analytical writing skills; experienced in producing concise, executive level reports and presentations;
  7. Demonstrates good interpersonal skills and experience in working effectively in a multi-cultural environment, with sensitivity to diverse opinions;
  8. Demonstrates problem solving capacities with a sense of consensus and flexibility;
  9. Demonstrates the capacity to implement the assignment remotely or within the applicable travel restrictions and social distancing rules through the application of digital media and tools, as required.

Required Skills and Experience

5. Required Skills and Experience.

5.1 Education

  1. Minimum BA level qualifications in business administration, development finance, sustainability-related graduate degree, SME finance, climate finance, blue economy finance, renewable energy, environmental studies, marine science, project finance, banking, economics, social sciences, agronomics/agri-finance, marketing, management, accounting, engineering, Information, Communication and Telecommunication or related fields.
  2. An additional project management or skills-related accreditations/qualifications/diploma, or similar, is regarded as an asset.

    5.2 Experience

  3. Experience: A minimum of 7 years of relevant experience working in advisory (as an individual consultant) or within a reputable consulting firm, the sustainable finance environment, preferably for/with a development finance institution, an impact investor, a development program, in the development finance sector or the private sector or a mix, or similar.

  4. A minimum of 5 years’ hands-on experience implementing technical assistance projects focused on business development support for SMEs, financial service providers and infrastructure projects/companies; and/or experience participating in specific committees (e.g., investment committee, technical assistance committee, etc.) as a member or as an independent member.
  5. Working experience in emerging/frontier markets, namely in at least 3 Least Developed Countries
  6. Working knowledge in at least one (and preferably several) of the priority business segments: Agribusiness, Fintech companies, Microfinance institutions, Financial institutions, Infrastructure projects/companies, or Blue Economy projects/companies.
  7. Experience in working for the UN System or for an international development finance institution is highly preferable.
  8. Working knowledge of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), ESG and impact management or assessment and best practices as they relate to the target sectors and private sector development.
  9. A minimum of 3 years in adult training and capacity building (workshop and training design and facilitation, coaching, mentoring, etc.)
  10. Proven expertise in at least three of the following domains:
  • MSME finance, project finance, digital financial services, inclusive finance, impact finance, sustainable development
  • Blue economy finance, climate finance, etc.
  • Strategic planning, business planning, market studies, feasibility studies, etc.
  • Governance/Board training and risk management
  • ESG and impact management; impact assessment; norms, best practices and standards related to each priority sector; monitoring and evaluation.
  • Financial controlling and management, portfolio management, credit and risk management, financial analysis, audit (internal/external), internal controls, accounting, etc.
  • Manufacturing, production and operations (procurement, logistic, transport management, value chain management, business process optimization/engineering, standard operating procedures design, etc.),
  • Human resource management, soft skills training, technical skills training (design and delivery), andragogy, coaching, mentoring, project management, etc.
  • Knowledge management products
  • Marketing, communication, distribution, alternative distribution channels, etc.
  • Client relationship management
  • MIS and ICT management etc.
  • Legal and compliance

    Further, the interested applicants should be able to demonstrate:

  1. Strategic thinking capability, with an entrepreneurial mind-set, as well as being adaptable and able to deal with large organizations.
  2. Active interest in contributing to the growth and development of the so called “missing middle” in emerging/frontier markets and understanding of the underlying market environments, opportunities and barriers to growth and access to finance.
  3. Ability to work in a multicultural environment.
  4. Computer literacy, including proficient use of Office Suite, communication tools and project management tools.

    5.3 Language

  5. Written and spoken fluency in English or French is required.

  6. A second UN language fluency is an added advantage. Bilingual English French is preferred.
  7. Speaking of a local language (of the country where the project will be implemented) is an asset.

    6. Candidate Evaluation Methodology

    6.1 Preliminary Screening

    Applications will be screened and only candidates meeting the following two criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

  8. Education: Minimum BA level qualifications in (one or more) business administration, development finance, sustainability-related graduate degree, SME finance, climate finance, blue economy finance, renewable energy, environmental studies, marine science, project finance, banking, economics, social sciences, agronomics/agri-finance, marketing, management, accounting, engineering, Information, Communication and Telecommunication or related fields.

  9. Experience: a minimum of 7 years of relevant experience working in advisory (as an individual consultant) or within a reputable consulting firm, the sustainable finance environment, preferably for/with a development finance institution, an impact investor, a development program, in the development finance sector or the private sector or a mix, or similar.

    6.2 Shortlisting by Desk Review

UNCDF will conduct a desk review to produce a shortlist of candidates by evaluating the following criteria using the corresponding points and grading scale (100 points):

  1. Education/Qualification (15 points);
  2. Language (5 points)
  3. Experience (relevance, geographical coverage, etc.) (80 points) as follows:

Experience Criteria - TA Consultant

Maximum Points

i. Experience: A minimum of 7 years of relevant experience working in advisory (as an individual consultant) or within a reputable consulting firm or international business or financial environment, preferably for/with a development finance institution, an impact investor, a development program, in the development finance sector or the private sector or a mix, or similar.

10

ii. A minimum of 5 years’ hands-on experience implementing technical assistance projects focused on business development support for SMEs, financial service providers and infrastructure projects/companies; and/or experience participating in specific committees (e.g., investment committee, technical assistance committee, etc.) as a member or as an independent member.

10

iii. Working experience in emerging/frontier markets, namely in at least 3 Least Developed Countries

10

iv. Working knowledge in at least one (and preferably several) of the priority business segments target sectors: Agribusiness, Fintech companies, Microfinance institutions, Financial institutions, Infrastructure projects/companies, or Blue Economy projects/companies

10

v. Experience in working for the UN System or for an international development finance institution is highly preferable

5

vi. Working knowledge of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), ESG and impact management best practices as they relate to the target sectors and private sector development.

10

vii. A minimum of 3 years in adult training and capacity building (workshop and training design and facilitation, coaching, mentoring, etc.)

10

viii. Proven expertise in at least three of the following domains:

- MSME finance, project finance, digital financial services, inclusive finance, impact finance, sustainable development

- Blue economy finance, climate finance, renewable marine energy, etc.

- Strategic planning, business planning, market studies, feasibility studies, etc.

- Governance/Board training and risk management

- ESG and impact management; impact assessment; norms, best practices and

standards related to each priority sector; monitoring and evaluation.

- Financial controlling and management, portfolio management, credit and risk management, financial analysis, audit (internal/external), internal controls, accounting, etc.

- Manufacturing, production and operations (procurement, logistic, transport management, value chain management, business process optimization/engineering, standard operating procedures design, etc.),

- Human resource management, soft skills training, technical skills training (design and delivery), andragogy, coaching, mentoring, project management, etc.

- Knowledge management products

- Marketing, communication, distribution, alternative distribution channels, etc.

- Client relationship management

- MIS and ICT management etc.

- Legal and compliance and compliance

15

MAXIMUM TOTAL POINTS:

80

6.3. Interview

The candidates who score the highest in the desk review and also meet the minimum threshold (70 points) will be invited for a Skype interview. The shortlisted candidates will be further evaluated against the following criteria: Relevant technical assistance experience; Area of knowledge; Understanding of the TOR; Teamwork and project management skills.

6.4. Financial Proposals

The shortlisted candidates will be rated on both technical and financial submissions, providing a weight of 70% to the technical offer and 30% to the financial offer.

6.5. Final Evaluation

The Final evaluation will combine the scores of desk review, interview and financial proposal with the following weights assigned to each:

  • Desk Review (30%) + Interview (40%)
  • Financial Proposal (30%)

6.6. Contract Award

The candidates obtaining highest qualifying score in the final evaluation will be offered to enter into a Long-Term Agreement with UNCDF.

7. Application Procedures.

All applications must contain the following information in one Word or PDF document (as the system only allows to upload maximum one document) combining the following:

  1. Cover letter with a summary statement of competencies in relation to the TOR - Please refer to the following link for a template:http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=29916

    1. Financial proposal: The financial proposal must indicate daily professional fee in USD which shall be the benchmark fee for the call offs during the LTA implementation. It shall be noted that Under the call offs, payment shall be deliverable-based. Please complete and submit the Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal available in this link: http://procurement- notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=29916. Please do not upload your financial proposal online, please send it separately to the email address [email protected] with the subject line:102948 - Experts for a Roster of Technical Assistance (TA) Consultants within LDCIP – Long-Term Agreement (LTA).

    2. Detailed Personal CV

8. REMUNERATION

Consultancy fees will be paid upon satisfactory completion of each assignment/milestone

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when traveling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org If the consultant is over 65 years old, UNCDF reserves the right to require full medical certification and clearance from the consultant’s physician prior to commencing the travel.

Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: jobs.undp.org