National Consultant for SDG Investor Mapping Development (Lao nationality only)

Contract

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

Background

The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) articulate the United Nations’ universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity The UN estimates that achieving the SDGs requires overcoming a critical financing gap of US$ 5-7 trillion per year. It recognizes that the private sector has a fundamental role to play if the world is to achieve the Goals and ensure economic growth and poverty reduction that does not come at the expense of environmental damage, climate change as well as social and income inequalities. Private sector participation will be required at a larger scale than presently deployed through the global impact investment community. The 2030 Agenda and SDGs need to become a global framework for private actors to capture the benefits and trade-offs of sustainable development. This means encouraging greater SDG- aligned investments from institutional investors and corporations, using the 2030 Agenda as a proactive roadmap for capital deployment, rather than exclusively as a framework for the retroactive and often public finance focused assessment of impact.

To galvanize private sector investment and mobilize global private capital towards SDG aligned investments, The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has created SDG Impact as a flagship initiative to empower investors with clarity, insights, and tools to achieve the SDGs. SDG Impact has developed an impact intelligence tool - the SDG Investor Maps. The SDG Investor Map is a flagship tool of SDG Impact at the disposition of Country Offices. An SDG Investor Map is a piece of market intelligence managed/coordinated by UNDP Country Offices to help private investors (funds, financiers, corporations) identify investment opportunities and business models that advance the SDGs. The Maps provide the insight and tools needed by the private sector to increase their investments towards the SDGs. They can make a significant contribution to filling the financing gap by mobilizing private capital for the SDGs.

SDG Investor Maps are created using an established methodology which combines secondary data research (on existing development needs, policy priorities, and market opportunities) with interviews/discussions with public and private sector stakeholders to verify findings and contribute new insights. The data are analyzed to distill Investment Opportunity Areas and data-backed business models. The findings of the Investor Maps are synthesized in an Excel template and uploaded into a dynamic online platform https://sdginvestorplatform.undp.org/ where investors can search for the market intelligence on investment opportunities by a variety of functionalities, including sectors, regions, SDGs as well as return profiles, market size and timeframes of investments that most interest them.

The SDG investor mapping process will be taken forward in parallel with steps being taken by the Government of Lao PDR to establish a more holistic, public and private, approach to financing national sustainable development. The lessons and results of the pilot in Lao PDR will also contribute to the continued refinement of the SDG Investor Mapping process globally and importantly in the ASEAN region alongside the lessons from other countries where the maps have been completed or are currently being developed.

UNDP in Lao PDR is seeking for individual consultant(s) to support the research, analysis, synthesis, and stakeholder interviews required to create the Lao SDG Investor Map

Duties and Responsibilities

*The methodology to develop the SDG Investor Map will be provided by UNDP

Overall responsibilities:

Onboarding and training:

• Complete the orientation and technical training to understand the SDG Investor Map methodology including a thorough review of the methodology handbook and other accompanying resources;
• Develop a detailed work plan for the completion of the work along the lines of the methodology described, to fit into the final deliverable Excel template and for upload onto the SDG Investor Platform.

Research and map development:

• Undertake desk research (e.g. document review) and analysis across multiple steps of the Country Office Handbook methodology (development needs analysis using the SDGs as a framework; sector analysis; subsector analysis; subregion analysis; investment opportunity area analysis);
• Undertake in-depth analysis of public and donor development statistics (e.g., human development databases, ease-of-doing-business data, private investment flows) at subsector and subregion level;
• Using the methodology as a guideline, use the prescribed distillation process to identify private sector national development needs, policy priorities and private sector investment interest. This should potentially lead to identification of sectors, sub-sectors, regions, and investment opportunities;
• Identify, assess, document and analyze the key data sources needed to complete the Investor Map;
• Using the SDG lens, identify the subregions where there is both high development need within each subsector, and strong political/financial momentum to spur potential subsector growth;
• Highlight impactful business models within priority subsectors and subregions where new capital can facilitate scale,
• Identify potential areas where new business models are most needed but are currently not available due to low policy momentum or prevailing market dynamics ;

Stakeholder Mapping and engagement:

• Map out enabling environment in policy, regulatory, financial, partnership from both public and private sector perspective;
• Map an exhaustive list of key stakeholders from government, quasi government, the private sector, and relevant stakeholders who should be consulted for the development of the SDG Investor Map for Laos; Create a long (30-50) and shortlist (20-25) of prospective public and private sector interviewees;
• Map out risk factors i.e. obstacles and negative externalities, from the public and private sector perspective;
• Schedule and lead structured interviews using customized thematic questionnaires with local, regional, and global investors to deepen learnings from desk research and source additional insights on the ‘investability’ of long-listed opportunity areas. Key takeaways from all meetings and interviews should be documented to build institutional memory and for further collation and analysis;
• Engage relevant stakeholders who will provide peer review and expert inputs to the map development process;
• Conduct stakeholder consultations with governmental agencies, international and foreign country development agencies, the private sector, specifically constituted of the investor community and enterprises.—to verify findings and make a recording the results of the interviews;
• Provide inputs to the policy and regulatory environment companion analysis to include recommendations for government; this includes inputs to the parallel UN SDG Joint Fund (costing and financing strategy for the 9th NSEDP) and working with the relevant teams to knowledge share

Final product and deliverables:

• Compilation of research and insights with data sources in an excel template, to be provided by the UNDP office; and a narrative PowerPoint to document process and findings used of each step of the methodology;
• Response to quality assurance and inputs provided by peer reviewers from the UNDP and key stakeholders to create a high quality, standardized product;
• Upload the finalized database onto the global SDG Investor Platform;
• Create and maintain a process deck [PowerPoint] to document the process used for each step of the methodology to arrive at the desired output.
• Two policy briefs to advocate for reforms that may nudge greater private sector capital into the identified sectors.

Communication:

• Contribute to the crafting of update decks for UNDP stakeholders as necessary;
• Report to the UNDP Project Team regularly and as needed on work progress; and
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Facilitation:

• Assist with facilitation related activities to plan investor, government and private sector meetings to launch the SDG Investor Map for Laos – these might include the development of materials to be used for the event, etc.

Competencies

Core competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism;
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional competencies:

• Strong local networks: within the financial and corporate industries (banks, non-bank financial institutions, impact funds, HNWI, relevant philanthropies, development finance institutions), with relevant businesses, investment promotion agencies etc.
• Strong ongoing knowledge of market context, of national development needs, and economic/ political priorities
• Knowledge of the SDGs
• Knowledge of the local investment landscape, and close familiarity with needs of global investors
• Expertise in gathering and comprehensively analyzing country-level data as basis for identifying investment opportunities and developing data analytics on market sizing and defining key country hotspots
• Data analysis expertise, ideally with extensive expertise in research and an understanding of statistics
• Excellent advocacy skills relating to finance, business climate.
• Excellent analytical skills
• Ability to facilitate multi-stakeholder sessions
• Ability to navigate sensitive political environments
• Strong communication skills, including ability to produce high quality practical advisory reports and knowledge products

Required Skills and Experience

The Individual Consultant may have a team composition of 1-2 supporting team member(s).

The Individual Consultant will be responsible for the timely submission of all detailed deliverables. To the extent possible, the assignments/roles should be balanced to the supporting team members

The Individual Consultant Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in economics, development, finance, accounting, business administration, data science or related field.

Language:

• English (technical proficiency) and working knowledge of Lao would be an added advantage

Professional experience:

• Minimum 7 years of professional experience in finance in emerging or low-income markets, sustainable or impact finance, impact investment, private sector engagement, business development in developing countries, investment research, statistics, analysis;
• Proven experience of leading research in cooperation with international organizations or other bodies responsible for formulating and monitoring of public policies around sustainable finance.
• Experience of carrying out assessment and preparing reports on implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs);
• Strong knowledge of market context, of national development needs, and economic/ political priorities;
• Familiarity with mixed methods research, particularly the navigation of statistical databases;
• Familiarity with SDG Impact and with other activities undertaken in parallel to SDG Investor Maps (e.g. Impact Management, Impact Facilitation);
• Experience in the analysis and review of technical and legal documents such as policy documents and/or legal contracts; international agreements and conventions; economic and business-related reports and performance indicators; and
• Experience in liaising with public and private sector stakeholders and organizing and facilitating public and private sector stakeholder dialogue activities (workshops, round-table, discussions, etc.);
• Experience of working with international development agencies (donor and financial organizations, etc.);
• Experience with the Lao government and investment ecosystem would be an advantage.

The Supporting Team member(s) Qualifications and Experience:

The supporting team member(s) shall have at least a Bachelor’s degree in economics, development, finance, accounting, business administration, data science or related field and working experience in finance in emerging or low-income markets, sustainable or impact finance, impact investment, private sector engagement, business development in developing countries, investment research, statistics, analysis, project management, multi-stakeholder coordination; The supporting team member(s)’s CV(s) shall be provided with the Individual Consultant’s proposal for UNDP review.

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Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Technical Proposal:

• Explaining why you are the most suitable for the work;
• Providing a brief description on how you will approach and conduct the work, including the work schedule for the delivery of outputs/deliverables;
  1. P11 Form: Education and work experience, including past experience in similar projects and contact references of at least three references for whom you have rendered preferably the similar services;
  2. Financial Proposal From: Lump sum offer with clear cost breakdown against each deliverable.

Instructions for Online Submissions:

• Step 1: Please prepare all required documents electronically;
• Step 2: Combine all the required documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF; however, Word format can also be accepted) and upload to the UNDP Jobs website using the link above;
• Step 3: After that, you will receive an auto-reply from the UNDP Jobs website if your offer is received successfully.

Note: Any request for clarification must be sent in writing before the submission deadline to the following email:

korakot.tanseri@undp.org & surith.sengsavang@undp.org

Incomplete Proposals or Proposals received after the deadline will be rejected.