Employment Promotion Programme IV – Sierra Leone

Call for expression of interest (EoI) to conduct training for project beneficiaries in basic product quality development in sub-sectors of agribusiness, fashion, ICT, tourism/transport and energy/construction. 

PN: 20.2105.3-001

Background 

The Employment Promotion Programme IV (EPP IV) in Sierra Leone is co-financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union. The programme is steered and hosted by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. EPP’s goal is to enhance the employability of young people on both the supply (TVET) and demand (private sector) side. During EPP III, 175 business promoters (BPs) were supported through the “Facility 4 Innovation” (F4I). The overall implementation required the provision of equipment, tools, raw materials, inputs, entrepreneurship training, certification and formalisation enterprises. Some key elements of the implementation package like training on quality product development were not conducted and has prevented the BPs to compete with similar products or services in the market.  

Objectives

The aim of the EOI is to find interested consultants to provide quality product development training to 151 BPs to enhance their capacity to deliver quality product or services to their customers. The consulting firm will support the businesses to enhance products’ quality at every steps of the products’ life by looking into:

• the sourcing, managing and storing of main raw materials/inputs, 
• the product’s transformation process (from the raw materials to the end-product), 
• the packaging and transportation process, namely the hygiene standards to meet market requirements,
• the incorporation of customers feedbacks in product development,
• the branding and marketing of a quality product.

The BPs operate in different sectors: agro-processing (oil, flour, nut paste, poultry, rice, baby food, etc.), merchandizing (carpentry, printing, restaurant, etc.), fashion (shoes, weaving, tailoring, etc.), energy, construction (bricks, tiles, etc.), tourism and transport. The consultant will be expected to offer quality product development trainings to the businesses either individually or in small groups by sub-sectors. The number of necessary training sessions is estimated to be around 40.

Specific tasks to be performed

The contractor will be responsible for providing the following services:

• Using the excel sheet of F4I entrepreneurs, cluster beneficiaries according to subsectors and geographic locations for the purpose of training. 
• Together with the entrepreneurs, perform a training need assessment to determine the skills gap or quality product development bottle neck(s). 
• Develop relevant training curriculum, training instruments and tools to guide the training, based on the training need assessment.
• Develop training plan and share with EPP team to support consultant in inviting F4I entrepreneurs. 
• Roll out the training sessions with all 151 BPs.

The contractor will prepare training modules, conduct training and steer the pool of experts (national, short and long term) assigned to perform specific tasks. The assignment requires subject-matter specialists to perform the need assessment, draw the training curriculum and facilitate the training. 

Location

The businesses are in 11 districts (Bo, Bombali, Falaba, Kailahun, Kenema, Koinadugu, Kono, Moyamba, Port-Loko, Pujehun and Tonkolili). The training locations will be decided by the consultant based on the business locations and the number of businesses per group.

Duration of assignment

The anticipated period for the assignment will span from September to January 31^st, 2023.

Key Deliverables

• Report on the need assessment among the BPs
• Training curriculums based on the need assessment, to be approved by the EPP team prior the training
• Report on the training sessions

Eligibility criteria and documents to be submitted by the enterprise

Enterprises interested should submit an Expression (EoI) of Interest to receive the integral Terms of Reference. The firm must have (hands on) successfully implemented interventions of similar programs (business improvement training through quality product development) in Sierra Leone. Expertise in identifying specific needs in improving the quality of the product will be an added advantage. The main proposed personnel must have prior experiences in providing capacity building in each of the following sectoral products/services: agro-processing, merchandizing, fashion, energy, construction, tourism and transport. The EoI should include: 

• the CVs of the personnel proposed for the assignment
• the work plan for the assignment

Submission of Expressions of Interest

Consulting firms should submit their “Expression of Interest – “product development training” via Email to SL_Quotation@giz.de  not later than 13^thSeptember, 5 PM local time, clearly marked with “Expression of Interest – ‘’ CoSoft No 83418500 Product development training”.