Duty Station: AU member states
Deadline for the Applications: 6th April 2020
Contract Post Level: Short term
Starting Date: As soon as possible
Introduction and Background
The subject of employment creation and in particular, youth employment has been of immense interest to African Union member states and AU-IBAR as well. In the last few years, AU-IBAR has dialogued with the regional, national governments, private sector companies, research organizations, policy institutions and international partners on youth and women employment issues given its importance to development and in line with the African Union Agenda 2023, CAADP and AU business plan as well as AU-IBAR Livestock and Fisheries sector development strategies for eliminating extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity and creation of decent jobs.
Multi-stakeholder collaboration and partnerships play a critical role in addressing women and youth unemployment, farmers’ access to lucrative markets and those mechanisms that ensure good quality produce, consumer satisfaction and improved collaboration among market chain operators/actors. In this regard there is need to build strategic partnerships in the drive to link women and youth in rural and urban space to finance, technologies, skills, infrastructure and lucrative markets.
AU-IBAR would like to commission ecosystem mapping study focused on business incubation support structure development of selected and potential women and youth enterprises in Africa. The activity is aimed at creating opportunities for job and employment creation using incubation ecosystem building model for support of selected enterprises. The activity will provide empirical data to guide incubation support and mentorship for the selected and potential enterprises, decision-making processes, investment support, business performance and reporting together with other stakeholders especially national governments, private angel investors and regional economic bodies in Africa. The objective of the proposed study is to produce incubation ecosystem map of animal resources in Africa with evidence based models, technologies, innovations, technical infrastructure, reliable information on youth statistics for incubation support, investment decision making, incentives and benefits for various youth and women categories and potential roles and responsibilities of various actors towards employment creation focused on livestock and fisheries sector in Africa.
The ecosystem study will obtain results from key actor such as experts, Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, NGOs, Development Partners, Private Sector, Incubators, incubates, SMEs, Research Institutions and Universities on what works and what is the current knowledge on women and youth employment in both the rural and urban areas of Africa. The technical report of findings showing profiled enterprises, actors in business incubation space, existing successful models for job creation, existing infrastructure to leverage job creation and other partners/Government initiatives for job creation will be produced.
The process will lead to the development of data capture systems for women and youth in Africa using ICT-based solutions to inform Monitoring and Evaluation System development and development of a 10 year investment proposal for women and youth to be presented to various partners for financial support.
The report produced will assist African Union, women and youth enterprises, national governments, and partners in developing responsive incubation support to various projects and programs as well as implementation of existing initiative towards jobs and employment creation in Africa. The publication will serve as framework that will guide policy making and funding of women and youth employment projects in Africa.
Objective
AU-IBAR seeks to carry out an ecosystem mapping for business incubation support of women and youth enterprises in animal resources value chains in Africa. The ecosystem mapping activity seeks to contribute to increase women and youth’s access to financial products, access to technologies, successful models, incubators, accelerators, government programs, markets, credit services, inputs and land, benefit from economies of scale as well as develop mentorship support system for selected beneficiaries and other applicants in general. The study will present best practice business model for job creation in Africa and will be reflected in the development of investment proposals for women and youth.
Specific Objectives of the Consulting Assignment
The objective of the consulting assignment is to provide technical assistance and support towards development of regional incubation support models for women and youth in animal resources in Africa. The ecosystem map for animal resources business incubation support structure and input towards the development of 5-10 year investment proposal for resource mobilization and implementation of existing initiatives for animal resources in Africa.
The ecosystem mapping will include profiling potential business enterprises, successful incubators and accelerators, financing models for women and youth enterprises, existing partnership models and support infrastructure by national governments and regional entities in support for business incubation.
Scope of Work
The result of the consulting assignment will form the basis for the development of regional and Africa wide tailor-made model for business incubation support, employment creation by mapping existing models, and innovations locally and internationally suitable for specific women and youth categories and locations in the 5 regions of Africa.
In addition, the activity will generate information on the existing infrastructure and facilitate constituencies to support incubator establishment and job and employment creation opportunities for women and youth within the five regions in Africa.
Outputs
Specifically, the consulting assignment will produce:
- Map of animal resource-focused incubation hubs/centres and accelerators in each of the five regions of Africa,
- Map of the existing successful models for job and employment creation, infrastructure, human and institutional capacity for incubation support towards employment creation,
- Financing models and innovations with potential for upscaling and support women and youth job creation,
- Financing structures and models for startups and SMEs along targeting women and youth in Africa,
- Partnership models for job creation in the field of animal resources,
- Invention matrix and business model for job creation with specific regional models, innovations, type of incubators /Hubs and actors for consideration by regional and national governments and actors,
- Existing policies and standards within animal resources sector for consideration in business development, markets and incubation systems development.
Tasks to be Performed
Task 1: Mapping of existing Models, Incubators, infrastructure, human and institutional capacity for jobs creation through incubation support
- Identify existing successful models, incubators, SME/Hubs and Initiatives with high potential for jobs creation in five regions of Africa,
- Analyze the current systems and opportunities and their capacity for jobs creation,
- Establish the potential for innovation spaces, incubators, incubation ecosystems, supportive resources, human and institutional capacities,
- Develop a system for needs and competence profiling of women and youth animal resources agribusinesses in Africa to feed into human and institutional capacity development,
- Inform on the trends on jobs creation and emerging needs in the animal resources sector,
- Produce employment creation value chain map for Africa with clear roles, responsibilities and mandate against various categories of women and youth defined by national governments and regional institutions,
- Profile of innovative existing financing models and tools of engagement for youth and women employment.
Task 2: Produce Incubation support Intervention matrix map for women and youth enterprises along selected value chains and develop a business model for employment creation in Africa for consideration by selected projects or beneficiaries of AU-IBAR and its partners as part of project implementation technical support
Produce incubation responsive intervention matrix aligned to pipelines for development of incubators or enterprise selected in five regions of Africa. The report will also define existing supporting incubation ecosystem that feed into existing selected projects of line ministries, regional economic bodies, AU Agenda 2063, African Union Business plan, CAADP, LiDeSA and other initiatives of:
- Incubators and Incubator Networks in Africa
- Youth employment agencies and institutions
- Youth networks and associations in animal resources
- Women networks and associations in animal resources
- Farmer and trade associations and clusters in five regions of Africa
- Private sector forums and apex bodies at national and regional level
- Local and international development partners at regional level
- Systems and processes to develop pipelines that are bankable
- International development partners
- Financial institutions and bank with sound models for women and youth support
Approach and Tools
The consultant/consultancy agency will use all the creative tools for mapping and elaborating the ecosystem for job creation focused on women and youth categories identified by AU-IBAR and its stakeholders. The processes will be consultative and results guided by the following:
- Review project proposals submitted to AU-IBAR by women and youth,
- Review existing women and youth initiatives reports and literature,
- Review existing national, regional, continental and global incubator models in support for business incubation,
- Consultative meetings to define incubation ecosystem potential and support structure,
- Conduct strategic consultations and visits to identified actors during review process and business plan analysis,
- Facilitate an African-wide consultative and validation workshop combined with bilateral AU-IBAR beneficiary meeting to gather more information and wider understanding of the ecosystem for incubation support,
- Profile enterprises, starts ups and Incubates with high potential for investment and job creation in animal resources and possible financing framework or models,
- Submit draft report to the AU-IBAR for review and initial input,
- Incorporate feedback from the AU-IBAR and its partners,
- Submit final report and publication to AU-IBAR for wider sharing for possible support and investment.
Deliverables
- Inception report and hold a technical internal validation workshop
- Mid-term report
- Final report incorporating all the deliverables specified in Task 1 and task 2
Selection Criteria
AU-IBAR seeks an African organization, or African expert to conduct this study. The selection will be based on knowledge and expertise on the tasks and understanding of business incubation, model for job and employment creation in Africa.
The consultancy will be awarded on the basis of evaluation of CV (s), relevant documents and of the following proposals submitted by the consultant or organization to AU-IBAR:
- A Technical proposal of how the study will be conducted with clearly define activities, timelines and deliverables
- A Financial proposal for the conduct of the study. Cost of travels should not be include in the proposal as this will be catered for directly by AU-IBAR.
- The consultancy will be conducted in all 5 regions of Africa namely Western, Eastern, Central, Southern, and Northern African regions. Applications should clearly indicate the region (s) for which application is being made. Consultants are expected to submit their applications for the regions they are interested in and have capacity to do the study.
Educational Qualification
- Consultant and/or team must have a minimum qualification of a Master’s Degree in a field relevant to the assignment to be undertaken
- Affiliation to relevant recognized professional body
Technical Requirements and Experience
The Consulting individuals will have the following technical expertise:
- Over 10 years’ experience in business incubation management and enterprises developed focused on youth and women in Africa.
- Knowledge of women and youth networks and related business incubation programs in Africa
- Successfully managed and conducted similar studies in at least more than 5 African countries
- Proven understanding of business incubation models and animal resource women and youth enterprises or businesses in Africa
- Proven experience of working with Governments, private companies, International and local development partners, Universities, Business, government and private sector in job and employment creation
- Understanding of African Union Agenda and CAADP processes, LiDeSA as well as regional and national planning process
- Knowledge and expertise in business incubation management models with special focus on women and youth
- Has knowledge and understanding of national and regional animal resources value chains
- Understands regional specificities, dynamics and needs on incubation management
- A track record of setting of up networks for knowledge management and commercialization of agricultural technologies and innovation in Africa or other parts of the world.
- Has been able to commercialize scientific knowledge and technologies or create jobs using some innovative models and demonstrated understanding of job and wealth creation models.
- Has knowledge and is able to use creative tools and approaches in analyzing human capacities
- Understands the inputs and output markets systems for startups and SMEs in livestock and fisheries sector
Consultancy Duration and Fees
The number of person days for the consultancy will be based on the region and the assignment must be concluded within a period of two months from the date of signature.
The consultancy work shall start within 10 days or earlier after signing of work contract with AU-IBAR.
Equipment
The consultant will use his/her own laptop and other data capturing equipment deemed necessary during execution of the assignment.
Insurance Cover
The consultant will be responsible for his/her own medical and life insurance cover for the duration of the assignment.
How to apply:
Applications
Interested candidates should submit their applications accompanied by a detailed CV, copies of both academic and professional certificates and testimonials, names and addresses of three reputable referees, contact details (e-mail, telephone) by email to: procurement@au-ibar.org with copies to khalid.seid@au-ibar.org, susan.nzau@au-ibar.org by 6th April 2020 15:00 Kenyan Time.