81281070-Strengthening the Business Development Service Market in Ethiopia

Project Description: The project "Private Sector Development in Ethiopia (PSDE)" aims to improve the growth opportunities for the Ethiopian private sector, especially for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), start-ups and small and growing companies (SGBs). It does so in particular by strengthening institutional and other key actors in the field of private sector development and innovation. The project consists of four outputs: (1) Public institutions act in a way that promotes businesses; (2) Chambers and associations are strengthened; (3) Intermediaries in the innovation ecosystem are strengthened; (4) The range of services offered by business development services (BDS) providers is improved. This tender covers an essential part of Output 4. In addition to Addis Ababa, the project concentrates on the regions Oromia, Sidama, SNNPR, and Amhara, while implementation in Amhara is expected to require a tailored approach due to the volatile situation. Output 4 aims to strengthen the private BDS market in Ethiopia, notably by improving the quality of the services offered by Business Development Service Providers (BDSPs) for MSMEs. Selected BDSPs will be enabled to offer high-quality and needs-oriented consulting services. They will be qualified to professionalize their services and obtain international certification. The demand for the improved services will be enhanced through the introduction of a voucher scheme to provide support to businesses to access certified BDS. For the purpose of this assignment, BDSPs refers to private consultants and consultancies, also referred to as management consultants, business consultants, and business advisory service providers. However, as public BDS and other forms of BDS are widely used in Ethiopia, a certain percentage of such service providers will also be incorporated in selected activities. Services provided by these BDSPs can be summarized in four main categories, namely business management and development, financial management, technical development, and technology-oriented / digital transformation. Special emphasis is also placed on the following themes: business linkages, business continuity management, resource and energy efficiency, investment planning and management, access to financial services, digital transformation, as well as soft skills. Scope of the Assignment: The overall objective of this assignment is to implement an essential part of output 4. The contractor is responsible for achieving output indicator 4.1 "40 Ethiopian BDSPs have obtained international certification for new or additional services" and other indicators, thereby contributing to the module objective of an increased satisfaction of businesses with BDS and ultimately improved business performance. The contractor is responsible for the following work packages: 1) Evaluation of existing studies on BDS and BDSPs 2) Awareness raising for BDS among businesses, (potential) BDSPs and other actors, with particular emphasis on regions 3) Strengthen women-led BDSPs 4) Training and certification of management consultants 5) Promote the visibility of Ethiopian BDSPs in the market 6) Development of tailored voucher system (VS) for BDS 7) Twinning of MSMEs with BDSPs The implementation is not limited to BDSPs in Addis Ababa but is supposed to cover BDSPs in selected Ethiopian regions. The contractor shall build on the assessment of the BDSP market currently being undertaken by the project which will shed more light on the BDS landscape and also pre-identify around 50 BDSPs for further support under this assignment. That assessment is expected to be completed at the time when this contract will start. As the current situation in Ethiopia is volatile and the course of the pandemic cannot be predicted, the assignment requires a flexible, iterative and adaptive approach on the part of the contractor.