Call for expressions of interest, MAY 2024
for experts in gender lens investing
- L’Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund
AECF (Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund) is a non-profit development organization that supports innovative businesses in the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors with the aim of reducing rural poverty, promoting resilient communities and create jobs.
We catalyze the private sector by igniting and commercializing new ideas, new business models and new technologies designed to increase agricultural productivity, improve farmer incomes, expand access to clean energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve resilience to the effects of climate change. We finance high-risk businesses that struggle to access commercial finance; we are committed to working in frontier markets, fragile contexts and high-risk economies where few traditional financial institutions dare to go.
In 15 years, we have supported 425 businesses in 26 sub-Saharan African countries, impacted more than 31 million lives, created more than 29,000 direct jobs and leveraged $808 million in matching funds.
To learn more about AECF, visit www.aecfafrica.org
- Our gender lens investment strategy
AECF’s gender lens investment ambition stems from its vision to create a prosperous and enterprising rural Africa, which is pursued through our mission to unleash the power of the private sector to positively impact the lives of rural and marginalized communities in Africa. It is also detailed in the institutional gender lens investment strategy which describes the approach taken to invest in a gender lens in ways that drive sustainable change for the rural poor. In this strategy, AECF commits to achieving certain key figures – at least 50% of development impact accruing to women across the entire investment portfolio, with 35% of portfolio companies being led by women. women and 40% of the jobs created in these companies being occupied by women – and to reorient the investment process to find, nurture and develop companies that provide innovative solutions to increase gender equality in rural communities at the household, business and market levels.
AECF’s strategy aims to integrate gender analysis throughout investment activities and to design and implement inclusive investment processes that enable women entrepreneurs and businesses working for and with women to have equal access to financing. The AECF continually seeks to gather and share its experiences in gender mainstreaming with funders, partners, investment beneficiaries and the different ecosystems of the sectors and value chains in which we invest . AECF integrates attention to gender dynamics into the culture, practices, policies and processes of the entire organization and encourages and incentivizes its beneficiaries to do the same. The AECF seeks to increase its influence and leadership in the area of Gender Lens Investing (GLI), with the aim of becoming the premier Gender Lens Investing Institution in sub-Saharan Africa, in line with the one of our three fundamental values which calls us to take the lead. The Gender Strategy also supports and reinforces other core values such as “Think Impact” and “Valuing Our People” in an inclusive manner.
- About the mission
- Mission objective
AECF seeks the services of gender experts to provide a range of services and technical assistance both at regional and national level in different agribusiness and renewable energy programs and to accelerate the implementation of the GLI strategy . The selected candidates will be included on the list of gender consultants in order to be solicited for the next gender consultant missions.
- Champ d’application
Service categories:
- Gender and sector expertise: Provide technical assistance to conceptualize and operationalize gender mainstreaming in one or more AECF sector programs: The cross-cutting themes of youth, women’s empowerment and climate change are also discussed. It will also involve providing technical contributions in order to improve the consideration of the gender dimension in toolboxes, manuals, files, standards, training, process guidelines, management documents. program, policy projects, among others, sector specific or generic.
- Gender reviews, assessments and analyses: Conduct gender studies and contribute to the development of business models, value propositions, theories of change (TOC) for GLI vehicles and programs that analyze and address gender-related barriers and structural challenges; provide actionable recommendations to accelerate the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment.
- Gender research and evidence building: Develop and conduct gender research, market assessments using a combination of approaches, including scoping studies and strategic research for advocacy; support efforts to reduce the investment gap between men and women.
- Advisory Services: Providing SMEs, MFIs and banks with advisory services focused on integrating gender equality into business models, credit review and investor due diligence; support the development of systems, tools and processes to improve the adoption of transformative approaches to gender equality; providing SMEs with investment preparation and facilitation services specifically designed to raise gender-related funds across sub-Saharan Africa.
- Communication and knowledge management: Assess the organization’s existing knowledge sharing opportunities and platforms for gender-related content. Make recommendations to improve the accessibility, relevance and engagement of gender knowledge sharing initiatives.
Areas of expertise and skills:
- Develop an investment strategy with a view to equality between men and women (institutional level)
- Design and co-develop innovative investment instruments from a gender perspective, contribute to the establishment, fundraising and launch of innovative instruments.
- Design innovative financial instruments for transformative investments focused on gender equality
- Design and implement frameworks for analyzing the impact of gender transformation.
- Provide in-depth expertise on the link between gender mainstreaming and climate resilience.
- Provide in-depth expertise on women’s economic empowerment through entrepreneurship in fragile and conflict-affected markets.
- Providing advisory services to banks, MFIs and SMEs regarding gender inclusion, mainstreaming and transformation.
- Carry out the evaluation of programs and investment funds focused on gender equality.
- Carry out in-depth research and market assessments to test/validate the viability and suitability of innovative equality mainstreaming financial instruments and vehicles.
- Provide consulting services to integrate gender equality into business models and product design to maximize business impact and profitability.
- Provide advice to SMEs on preparing and facilitating investments for gender-responsive investors, including promoting SMEs to a pre-existing network of investors seeking gender-responsive investments on the entire continent.
- Develop tools to improve the creditworthiness of women-led MSMEs with banks, MFIs and digital credit providers.
- Organize design thinking, sensemaking and collaborative knowledge workshops or activities to generate knowledge products from AECF GLI funds and programs.
- Development of communications and storytelling products to promote the voices of women leaders.
Country of experience:
- Benin, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Nigeria, South Sudan
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Qualifications Experience
- Advanced university degree (master’s degree or above) in social sciences, gender studies, international development or in a field relevant to the sectoral work of the AECF.
- At least 10 years of progressively responsible professional experience at the international level and proven experience in the field of gender equality and development/implementation of humanitarian actions.
- Strong technical, programmatic and research skills in gender, as well as sectoral expertise in one of the following sectors: Renewable energy, agribusiness, blue economy, women’s empowerment, youth engagement, disability and women’s intersectionality .
- Demonstrated understanding of theories of change and pathways from intervention to outcome.
- Ability to contextualize and integrate the gender dimension into programs and intervention approaches in complex and fragile ecosystems.
- Technical expertise in at least one of the areas related to equality between men and women as described in the specifications.
- English proficiency ; knowledge of French is an asset.
- Submission of proposals
- Technical and financial proposals must be submitted in separate documents.
- The financial proposal must be submitted in USD.
- In accordance with the requirements of the evaluation criteria
- CONTRACT
The selected candidates will be included on the list of gender consultants in order to be solicited for the next gender consultant missions.
- Evaluation criteria
An evaluation committee will be formed by the AECF and may include employees of the companies to be supported. All members are subject to the same confidentiality standards. The specialist must ensure that all criteria are fully met for the evaluation to be complete.
The AECF may request and receive clarification from any specialist when evaluating a proposal. The evaluation committee may invite some or all of the specialists to appear before the committee to clarify their proposals. In this case, the evaluation committee may take these clarifications into account when evaluating the proposals.
During the final selection of qualified bidders for a given assignment, the technical quality of the proposal will be weighted at 70% based on the evaluation criteria. The financial proposal will be weighted at 30% and proposals will be ranked according to the total number of points obtained.
The mandatory and desirable criteria on the basis of which proposals will be evaluated are shown in the table below.
Key areas for assessment
Weighted price
(A) PROPOSITION TECHNIQUE
70
i) Understanding of consultancy requirements;
15
- Demonstrate an understanding of the mission
5
- In-depth understanding of gender lens investing norms and trends
- An understanding of agriculture, renewable energy, women’s economic empowerment, youth engagement, fragile contexts and climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa sub-sectors will be an added advantage.
10
ii) Methodology and work plan that will achieve the best value for the mission:
30
- Demonstrate the strategy and ability to complete each task within a realistic time frame, based on good value for money.
25
- Strategy demonstrating the ability to carry out a large part of the mission virtually.
5
iv) Relevant services provided by the Bidder under previous engagements:
15
- Demonstrate relevant experience and recent engagements with private sector companies in the area of gender-focused investing. Experience in supporting businesses in the areas of agriculture and renewable energy in the West and Central regions of Africa.
15
v) Detailed reference list indicating the scope and scale of similar missions:
10
- At least 3 reference letters signed by former clients for whom you have carried out similar missions.
10
(B) FINANCIAL PROPOSAL
30
- The financial proposal may be an indicative estimate guided by the proposed methodology or your cost structure, for example a daily fee in USD (applicable tax included).
30
Score total
100
How to apply
- Application details
The AECF is an equal opportunity employer. AECF considers all interested applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
- Interested consultants are requested to submit their technical and financial proposal to aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org no later than July 17, 2024 at 5 p.m. (EAT).
- All questions should be directed to the Purchasing Department email address by June 7, 2024.
- The subject of the email should be REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR INVESTMENT EXPERTS GENDER.-FRENCH AECF will not be responsible for not opening proposals submitted with a different subject or not responding to questions which have not respected the indicated deadline.
- Pricing
AECF is required by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes from service contract fees and ensure that 16% VAT is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax situation in relation to the provisions of the Kenyan tax laws when developing their proposals.
- Disclaimer
AECF reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, the number of pre-selected participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this schedule at any time without notice and reserves the right to withdraw this call offers at any time, without notice and without obligation of compensation and/or reimbursement to any party.
NB: The AECF does not charge an application fee for participation in the call for tenders and has not appointed agents or intermediaries to facilitate applications. Applicants are advised to contact the AECF public procurement department directly.
For more information, please visit our website by clicking on the link below.
- Application details
The AECF is an equal opportunity employer. AECF considers all interested applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
- Interested consultants are requested to submit their technical and financial proposal to aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org no later than July 17, 2024 at 5 p.m. (EAT).
- All questions should be directed to the Purchasing Department email address by June 7, 2024.
- The subject of the email should be REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR INVESTMENT EXPERTS GENDER.-FRENCH AECF will not be responsible for not opening proposals submitted with a different subject or not responding to questions which have not respected the indicated deadline.
- Pricing
AECF is required by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes from service contract fees and ensure that 16% VAT is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax situation in relation to the provisions of the Kenyan tax laws when developing their proposals.
- Disclaimer
AECF reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, the number of pre-selected participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this schedule at any time without notice and reserves the right to withdraw this call offers at any time, without notice and without obligation of compensation and/or reimbursement to any party.
NB: The AECF does not charge an application fee for participation in the call for tenders and has not appointed agents or intermediaries to facilitate applications. Applicants are advised to contact the AECF public procurement department directly.
For more information, please visit our website by clicking on the link below.https://www.aecfafrica.org/careers/appel-a-manifestation-dinteret-pour-des-experts-en-matiere-dinvestissement-dans-une-optique-de-genre-mai-2024
