About AECF
AECF is a leading development finance organization that helps businesses innovate, create jobs, and leverage investment to build resilience and sustainable incomes for rural and marginalized communities in Africa. AECF’s goal is to bridge the investment gap between early-stage businesses and commercially mature entrepreneurs serving the poorest communities.
AECF provides patient capital to innovative new business models in the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors in sub-Saharan Africa through various financing instruments, including grants, zero-interest loans, guarantees, and working capital facilities. AECF financing products are complemented by technical assistance to enhance the viability and sustainability of our beneficiary companies, namely (i) advisory services to improve the internal capacities of beneficiary companies (ii) investment support to raise commercial capital in significant volumes, and (iii) advocacy to improve local or regional governance policies.
AECF has successfully implemented programs in 26 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, supporting over 536 businesses, raising $480 million in program funding, leveraging $850 million in additional capital, and impacting 33 million lives.
The objective of AECF’s new 2021-2025 strategy is to strengthen the resilience and sustainable incomes of rural and marginalized communities in Africa. Through catalytic financing, AECF catalyzes and supports the commercialization of new ideas, business models, enterprises, and technologies designed to increase agricultural productivity, expand access to energy, and reduce poverty while addressing cross-cutting issues of women and youth.
Our Gender-Focused Investment Strategy
AECF’s ambition for gender-responsive investing stems from its vision to create a prosperous and enterprising rural Africa, which continues 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 corporate gender-responsive investment strategy, which outlines the approach taken to invest with a gender lens to drive lasting change for poor rural people. In this strategy, AECF commits to achieving certain important targets – at least 50% of development impact accruing to women across the investment portfolio, 35% of portfolio businesses being led by women, and 40% of jobs created in these businesses being held by women – and to reorienting the investment process to find, nurture, and grow businesses that provide innovative solutions to increase gender equality in rural communities at the household, enterprise, and market levels.
AECF’s strategy aims to integrate gender analysis into all investment activities and to design and host inclusive investment processes that provide equal access to finance for women entrepreneurs and businesses working for and with women. AECF continuously seeks to gather and share information on its experiences in gender integration with funders, partners, investment recipients, and the various 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. AECF seeks to increase its voice and leadership in the global Gender Lens Investing (GLI) sphere with the goal of becoming the leading Gender Lens Investing Institution in Sub-Saharan Africa, in line with one of our three core values, which calls on us to lead by example. The Gender Strategy also supports and reinforces other core values, as we think about impact and value our employees inclusively.
About the Investing in Women’s Entrepreneurship for a Greener Economy in Benin and Burkina Faso program
The Investing in Women’s Entrepreneurship for a Greener Economy in Benin and Burkina Faso (IIW-B&BF) program is a six-year gender transformation and economic inclusion program implemented by AECF with funding from Global Affairs Canada. The program aims to economically empower women as entrepreneurs in sectors with a high positive impact on the climate in the areas of technological innovation, digital technology, agriculture, production, processing, crafts, and trade to remove the barriers that prevent them from contributing to the development of their businesses.
The program aims to improve the participation and economic resilience of women entrepreneurs in a greener economy in Benin and Burkina Faso. This includes improving access to finance for women-owned SMEs, women’s cooperatives, and emerging women entrepreneurs; improving the capacity of women owners and managers of SMEs and women’s cooperatives to sustainably develop the value chains in which they primarily work, using climate-smart approaches; and overcoming entrenched social and cultural resistance to women’s empowerment at the national, sectoral, and community levels.
Mission context
AECF is seeking the services of gender experts from consulting groups, consultancies, women’s rights organizations, etc. Consultants should have extensive experience working in gender-focused interventions in West Africa, with preference given to those familiar with both the gender equality landscapes in Benin and Burkina Faso to ensure regional contextual knowledge. Consultants are expected to provide a range of services related to gender issues and technical assistance for the IFEV program in Benin and Burkina Faso. Gender experts will be under the supervision of the IFEV Benin and Burkina Faso Program team, primarily the Gender Expert.
The mission
The expected results of the program are:
- Improving the performance, climate resilience and sustainability of women-owned micro, small and/or medium-sized enterprises in a greener economy
- Improving the political, legal and regulatory environment for effective participation of women entrepreneurs in a greener economy.
Practically speaking, we plan to have by the end of the program:
- An increase of at least 50% in the number of women-led SMEs accessing financial services
- A 25% increase in the use of climate-smart practices by women entrepreneurs.
- Two policies integrating gender and female entrepreneurship
- Laws in favor of women entrepreneurs
The IFEV Benin & Burkina program includes the following main elements:
- Section 1 Part 1: Investment in SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises)
For concessional loans to SMEs
- Allocation of a minimum fund of 50,000 Canadian dollars
- And a maximum amount of 750,000 Canadian dollars
For SME grants (non-refundable)
- Allocation of a minimum fund of 50,000 Canadian dollars
- And a maximum amount of 750,000 Canadian dollars
The funding awarded will have a grant/participation ratio of at least 1:0.5 (100% grant/50% participation).
- Section 1 Part 2: Investment in FIs (Financial Institutions and Financial Services Intermediaries)
For concessional loans from MFIs
- Allocation of a minimum fund of 150,000 Canadian dollars
- And a maximum amount of 750,000 Canadian dollars for grants verified by MFIs (non-repayable)
- Allocation of a minimum fund of 100,000 Canadian dollars
- And a maximum amount of 500,000 Canadian dollars
For financial institutions and financial services intermediaries (FIs), the range of financing, which can be a combination of grants and loans, or a 100% loan, is between a minimum of CAD 100,000 and CAD 1,000,000.
Duration of the financing contract: 4 years
- The funding awarded is accompanied by a grant/participation ratio of at least 1:1 (100% grant/100% participation).
- Component 2: Investment in cooperatives and women’s organizations
- Allocation of a minimum fund of 75,000 Canadian dollars
- Maximum fund amount 300,000 Canadian dollars
The funding awarded has a minimum grant-to-equity ratio of 1:0.25 (100% grant / 25% equity).
All matching contributions may be in-kind and may also be made in cash.
- Duration of the financing agreement: 4 years
Pays d’experience:
- Benin, Burkina Faso in agnostic sectors with Agribusiness as a priority.
Roles and responsibilities
Assistance technique
- IIW-Benin and Burkina Faso will provide technical assistance on gender equality and women’s empowerment, business management, and climate-smart agriculture.
- The provision of technical assistance will draw on the strength and support of multiple stakeholders. These include professional organizations, business associations, community-based organizations, women’s rights organizations (WROs), financial institutions (FIs), and government ministries and agencies, including those responsible for agriculture, gender, environment, trade and industry, among others.
- Gender experts will work closely with national ministries of gender, agriculture, economy, trade, etc. to ensure alignment with national policies and advocate for inclusive economic policies.
Deliverables and schedule
Consultants/firms are expected to:
- Contribute to in-depth expertise on the link between gender inclusion and climate resilience.
- Contribute in-depth expertise on women’s economic empowerment through entrepreneurship in fragile and conflict-affected markets.
- Design and implement gender transformation impact analysis frameworks.
Specific deliverables include:
Phase 1: Start-up and context analysis (week 1)
- Deliverable 1: Work plan and schedule for the consultation.
- Deliverable 2: Diagrammatic presentation via the literature review, the issues, the opportunities and the recommendations; and the study questions to be explored in depth and a refined methodological proposal from the council (maximum 10 slides).
Phase 2: Preparation of data collection and gender analysis in the indicated areas (week 2)
- Deliverable 3: Methodology and data collection tools, with context analysis based on the synthetic review (max 15 pages + annexes).
Phase 3: Regional Data Collection (Weeks 3 and 4)
- Deliverable 5: Initial presentation of data collection
Phase 4: Data analysis, report including recommendations. (Weeks 5 to 8)
- Deliverable 6: Field report with detailed notes from interviews with partners and target groups, highlighting challenges, good practices and possible synergies.
- Deliverable 7: Written report (30 p max – without annexes), including a 1 to 2 page executive summary summarizing the main gender issues identified and the main recommendations/strategic directions.
Reports and Timelines
Duration of the mission : 2 months
Payment structure
The distribution of payments will be based on key milestones, depending on the mission deliverables, and will be paid after satisfactory approval by the AECF. All payments will be based on key milestones.
Submission of the proposal
The consultant(s)/firm must demonstrate the following qualifications:
- Advanced university degree (at least a Master’s degree or equivalent) in social sciences, gender studies, international development or a field relevant to AECF’s sectoral work.
- At least 10 years of progressively responsible professional experience at international level and proven experience in the field of Gender and development/humanitarian action.
- Strong technical, programmatic and research skills related to Gender; as well as sector expertise in one of the following sectors: agribusiness, women’s empowerment, youth engagement, disability and women’s intersectionality.
- Ability to contextualize and integrate Gender into program and intervention approaches in complex and fragile ecosystems.
- Fluency in French; knowledge of English is an asset.
- Technical and financial proposals must be submitted as separate documents, in accordance with the requirements of the evaluation criteria.
- Daily cost of an expert in USD.
- In accordance with the requirements of the evaluation criteria
Rates
The AECF is required by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes from service contract fees and ensure that VAT, at 16%, is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure they have a clear understanding of their tax position under Kenyan tax law when preparing their proposals.
CONSULTANTS MUST PROVIDE THEIR FINANCIAL PROPOSAL EXCLUDING VAT .
Evaluation criteria
An evaluation committee will be formed by the AECF and will be composed of employees. All members will be bound by the same confidentiality standards. The consultant must ensure that they fully meet all criteria to be fully evaluated.
The AECF may request and receive clarifications from any consultant during the evaluation of a proposal. The evaluation committee may invite some or all consultants to appear before the committee to clarify their proposals. In such a case, the evaluation committee may take these clarifications into account when evaluating the proposals.
In the final selection of qualified bidders, the technical quality of the proposal will be weighted 70% based on the evaluation criteria. Only the financial proposals of technically qualified bidders will be opened. The financial proposal will be given a weight of 30% and the proposals will be ranked based on the total number of points obtained.
The mandatory and desirable criteria against which proposals will be evaluated are identified in the table below.
Main areas of assessment
Notation
(A) TECHNICAL PROPOSAL
70
(i) An understanding of counselling needs;
· Demonstrate understanding of the task (Understood – 5 points, No understanding – 0 points)
5
· A thorough understanding of investment norms and trends from a gender perspective. (Has some understanding – 5 points, No understanding – 0 points)
· Understanding of agriculture, renewable energy, women’s economic empowerment, youth engagement, fragile context and climate change in sub-sectors in sub-Saharan Africa will be an added advantage. (Has knowledge – 5 points, No knowledge – 0 points)
10
ii) Methodology and work plan that will provide the best added value to the mission:
· Demonstrate the strategy and ability to complete the task(s) within a realistic timeframe, based on good value for money. (Demonstrates – 25 points, Does not demonstrate – 0 points)
25
· Strategy demonstrating the ability to perform part of this task virtually. (Has a strategy – 6 points, No strategy – 0 points)
6
iv) Relevant services provided by the bidder in the context of past assignments:
· Demonstrate relevant experience and recent engagements with private sector companies in investment readiness or development projects. Experience in supporting companies in the agriculture and climate-smart technologies sub-sectors in sub-Saharan Africa is an added advantage. (Yes – 15 points, No – 0 points)
15
(v) Detailed reference list indicating the scope and scale of similar missions:
· At least 3 signed reference letters from former clients or associates of the specialist, clearly indicating the previous support provided as well as the value and impact on the business or project supported. (3 points for each signed letter)
9
(A) FINANCIAL PROPOSAL
· Clarity, relevance, realism in relation to the market value/quality/price ratio of the mission (excluding taxes).
· The financial proposal may also be an indicative estimate guided by the proposed methodology, investment preparation interventions or daily rate.
30
Score total
100
Disclaimer
AECF reserves the right to determine the process, the number of shortlisted participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to modify this schedule at any time without notice, and reserves the right to withdraw this call for tenders at any time, without notice and without obligation to compensate and/or reimburse any party.
How to apply
Application
AECF is an equal opportunity employer. AECF considers all interested applicants based on 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.
- AECF invites qualified consultants/firms to send a proposal presented in English or French to [email protected], clearly marked “ Terms of Reference for Gender Experts for the Women Investment Program in Benin and Burkina Faso “ETUDES” to be received no later than March 25, 2025 at 5:00 PM East Africa Time (GMT +3) addressed to: AECF, Procurement Department.
- All clarifications and/or questions should be sent to [email protected] no later than March 17, 2025 at 5 p.m. EAT
