Terms of Reference (ToR) to Provide Specialised Business Development Support to Cooking Energy Companies/Cooperatives in ReCIC Project
1. Background
1.1 SNV Netherlands Development Organisation in collaboration with GIZ is implementing the ‘Reducing Climate Impact of Cooking in Rwanda through improved cooking energy systems (ReCIC) Project’ for the last two years. This project is part of the multi-donor-funded global Energising Development (EnDev) Programme, being implemented in some 21 countries across the world, with GIZ (German Technical Cooperation) as the programme manager.
1.2. The EnDev ReCIC project in Rwanda is implemented by GIZ and SNV through a market-based approach, in partnership with private sector companies and cooperatives. The first phase of the project ended in October 2022 and the current second phase will continue till March 2024. SNV, as one of the implementors of the project, has the following scope of work:
1.2.1 Management of Cooking Energy Business Growth Fund (CEBGF): a business challenge fund that aims at:
• Targeting capable businesses involved in the clean cooking sector to take part in the competitive challenge fund,
• Technical and grant support (in-kind and cash) to cooking energy businesses (Companies and Cooperatives) across Rwanda selected on a competitive basis,
• Build production, business development, marketing and sales capacities of companies selected to receive support under CEBGF.
1.2.2 Technical and Material (in-kind) Support to ICS Producers (Companies and Cooperatives) in Selected Districts, outside CEBGF:
• Targeting producers, unlikely to be competitive for the challenge fund
• Providing technical support in product development, quality control, business development, distribution and retailing, including the development of business plans
• Providing material support (raw materials, tools and equipment) for ramping up production and sales, with an approach of performance-based incentives
1.2.3 Market Promotion Support & Credit Finance Piloting
• Demand side management through mass media, community mobilisation and cooking demonstrations
• Piloting a micro-credit financing model to support the IC customers.
1.3 As mentioned above under 1.2.1 and 1.2.2, the project has the plan to support producers – both those operating under the CEBGF grant and those operating outside it, to strengthen their production, business development, marketing and sales capacities. There is a need to conduct structured coaching and mentoring sessions for these producers, to provide technical and operational input and expertise, so that their capacities are strengthened to provide quality goods and services to the customers.
1.4 The ReCIC project envisages recruiting consultants (consulting firm) to work with the project team, in developing and implementing an individual growth plan (business plan), starting with capacity-building initiatives, aiming at strengthening production, business development, marketing and sales skills of the cooperatives/companies (both operating under the framework of CEBGF grant and outside it).

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2. Rationale
2.1 Under the framework of the CEBGF, ReCIC Project has selected fourteen private companies to receive technical and financial support for innovations in design, production and distribution as well as in scaling up their businesses for ICS and solid biomass fuel, like briquettes and pellets. This selection was carried out through a rigorous process during the SNV ReCIC Project Phase 1 period, engaging a consulting firm called Inkomoko, contracted by GIZ involving SNV. The year-long process with online application and multiple stages of assessment, including due diligence visits, also involved business incubation training leading to the development of business plans.
2.2 Besides these, there are five cooperatives/companies, being supported by the project, which are not part of the CEBGF grant scheme. Most of the companies, even the CEGBF grantees, lack a proper understanding and capacity to develop and implement business plans. As a pre-requisite for selection and as mentioned above, the CEBGF grantees did prepare their business plans, with a lot of hand-holding under the CEBGF business incubation programme during SNV ReCIC Phase 1. However, most of them are still not fully strengthened to operationalise and further improve their business plans. They are still not sufficiently conversant with the basics of business management. For example, they are unfamiliar with concepts like market segmentation, niche market, target audience, etc. Because of such limitations, including for the assessment of business ideas, they often struggle to grow.
2.3 They need to be familiar with (i) the current state of business and growth projections, (ii) competitor(s)/partner(s) analysis, (iii) primary sources of sales/revenues of current business and dependencies, (iv) the customer profile, (v) new and unexplored market opportunities, (vi) new domains/products/sectors appropriate for business expansion, which may complement the existing business, (vii) the long-term view, especially with regards to the initiatives being proposed, and (viii) the potential new revenue areas and the possible options for cost-savings. These capacities and the business plan are essential for them to move towards an investment-ready situation (for equity and debt investment) while being bankable (bank debt/loan investment) and remaining competitive in the market.
2.4 These companies need capacity strengthening through the provision of a wide range of supports (technical capacity building, product development, business development, sales and marketing, cleaner and energy-efficient production, occupational health and safety), in disseminating new or innovative goods or services to the customers.
2.5 This terms of reference (ToR) elaborates objectives, scope and methodology of the assignment to be carried out by the consultant to strengthen the business capacity of these companies.
3. Scope and Objectives
3.1 The overall objective of the assignment is to support the ReCIC project to develop and implement a set of activities to help implement the individual growth plans (business plans), developed by the CEBGF grantees during the phase 1 period. This will involve a quick review of the already developed business plans of the CEBGF grantees and helping the companies/cooperatives outside the CEBGF grant scheme, to develop their business plans, while in parallel or starting with capacity-development initiatives aiming at strengthening production, business development, marketing and sales skills of the cooperatives/companies.

3.2 The specific scope of work for the CEBGF winner comprises the following:
• Identification of specific needs of the fourteen CEBGF winners to effectively implement their growth/business plans in the fields of product (stove and fuel) development, production, quality management, marketing, sales and retail system development, and other tailor-made capacity strengthening activities.
• Identification of specific needs of five cooperatives/companies operating outside the CEBGF grant scheme, to help them grow and strengthen their business skills and develop their business plans.
• Formulation of capacity building and business development interventions and implementation of these interventions through limited classroom training followed by individual coaching and mentoring the companies/cooperatives based on their specific needs, to further sharpen their business understanding and skills and to accelerate the implementation of their business plans. In doing so, the hardcore technological matters will be left to the companies/cooperatives to handle by themselves, without expecting direct help from the ReCIC Project Team, including the consultant.
• Assisting the CEBGF winner companies in formulating an individual strategy to move towards the development of an investment-ready business plan, with potential linkage with other organisations/projects e.g., GET.Invest or Acuman.

4. Approach and Methodology
4.1 The consultant will work in close collaboration with the ReCIC Project Team (GIZ and SNV), companies/cooperatives operating under the framework of the project and other relevant stakeholders, e.g., EDCL. The consultant is expected to lead in: (i) conducting capacity and business development needs assessment, (ii) engaging stakeholders on capacity development initiatives, (iii) formulation of a capacity development plan, (vi) implementing the capacity development plan, and (v) evaluating the effectiveness of capacity development initiatives. Such capacity-development initiatives should aim at (i) fostering the long-term commitment and plans of companies to grow, (ii) co-creating applicable solutions with stakeholders, (iii) strengthening the overall business ecosystem, and (iv) supporting technical, business management and adaptive capacities of the companies/cooperatives.
4.2 The assignment involves activities to be implemented on the ground, together with the ReCIC Project Team. The consultant shall draft and share the tailor-made capacity and business development package with a list of services to be delivered to each beneficiary company/cooperative for comments and approval of the ReCIC Project Team. Such tailor-made packages will also be developed and approved in view of the relevance to the ReCIC Project, particularly the scope of the CEBGF grant support. The approved list of services shall be finally shared by the consultant with the beneficiaries, individually through emails or letters.
4.3 The ReCIC Project Team will assist the consultant i) to coordinate with companies/cooperatives to ensure the effectiveness of the capacity-development initiatives, ii) to manage the logistics, particularly transport, accommodation and physical training /coaching/mentoring logistics, and iii) provide overall project management oversight and leadership.
4.4 The task (project management and leadership) of the Project Team will include providing necessary inputs, comments and approval for the deliverables like inception report, needs assessment report, capacity development intervention plans with pre-defined methodologies and targets and assignment completion report.
4.5 The Assignment Completion Report must be accompanied by a service delivery confirmation letter or an email from the Chief Executive of each company/cooperative.
4.6 The Government of Rwanda (GoR) has published ministerial guidelines for clean cooking technologies intending to enforce the adoption of modern clean cooking practices in households and institutions transitioning from traditional biomass energy carriers to clean and energy-efficient technologies that deliver associated socio-economic, health and environmental benefits. The guideline restricts the dissemination of lower tire ICS (tier 2 and less) in the country effective from January 2024. Any fuel or appliances that do not comply with the set technical requirements of the guidelines shall not be included in a national Clean Cooking Program. The consultant should keep this in mind while developing business development plans and explore the opportunities for the existing companies/cooperatives producing tier-2 ICS to upgrade and produce Tier-3 (or above) ICS.

5. Expected Deliverables
S. No. Deliverables Means of Verification Due by

1 A short Inception Report with details on the approach, methodology, activity plan and human resources. Inception Report 1 week from the contract signing date
2 Need Assessment Report with identification of specific needs of the fourteen CEBGF winners and six cooperatives/companies operating outside the CEBGF grant scheme. Need Assessment Report 5 weeks from the contract signing date
3 Capacity Development Plan with the formulation of capacity and business development interventions including design and development of a capacity building handbook to be used as a master training reference document for board members, management and staff of targeted companies/cooperatives Capacity Development Plan 2 months from the contract signing date
4 Implementation of these interventions through limited classroom training followed by coaching and mentoring the companies/cooperatives to further sharpen their business understanding and skills and to accelerate the implementation of their business plans Service delivery confirmation letters or emails from the Chief Executives of the beneficiaries 8 months from the contract signing date
5 Formulation of strategy to move towards the development of an investment-ready business plan Service delivery confirmation letters or emails from the Chief Executives of the beneficiaries 9 months from the contract signing date
6 Submission of a draft assessment completion report illustrating the process, activities, outcomes and recommendations for the way forward Draft Assessment Completion Report 9 months from the contract signing date
7 Final assignment completion report with the incorporation of final comments from SNV and GIZ. Final Assessment Completion Report 10 months from the contract signing date
6. Consulting Team Composition & Tenure
6.1 The assignment is to be undertaken by a consulting firm with sound experience in designing and implementing capacity and business development interventions for SMEs, preferably decentralised energy companies or cooperatives in Africa.
The team must consist of a team of 4 consultants, with the following qualification and fields of expertise:
1. Team Leader (with 30 working days) – with a master’s degree in business management, economics, finance or another relevant field and a minimum of 15 years experience in the business or development field, including in a lead role in designing and implementation of SME capacity and business development interventions, preferably for decentralised energy SMEs, in the context of international development in developing countries. English language proficiency is a must.
2. Business Development Experts – 3 (each one working 60 days) – with a master’s degree in business management, economics, finance or another relevant field and a minimum of 8 years experience in business or development field, including in designing and implementation of SME capacity and business development interventions, preferably for decentralised energy SMEs, in the context of international development in Rwanda. English and Kinyarwanda language proficiency is a must.
6.2 The total duration of the assignment will be 11 months from the date of signing the contract, including for settlement of the final payment. All 4 team members are supposed to be based in Kigali, Rwanda. No separate travel time or cost shall be borne by SNV for any member if he or she needs to travel from another place.

7. Proposal Evaluation Criteria
7.1 The following criteria will be employed for the evaluation of the proposals:
1. Essential Criteria
• Applicant must be a legally registered consulting firm in Rwanda with a minimum of 3 years of operation completed (validated by audit/tax clearance reports).
• The applicant must have 4 team members, with the minimum qualification and years of experience, as mentioned above.
• The bid must be submitted in 2 separate envelopes for technical and financial proposals, and
• the following documents must be submitted:
o Organisational profile.
o Team composition and the working days, as per ToR
o Updated CVs of the 4 team members, highlighting their qualifications and experiences.
o Proposed activities and plan and responsibility division among the team members.
If the above two must criteria are met, then the bid shall enter further evaluation.
Technical criteria for evaluation (weightage 70%)
The following set of pre-defined technical criteria will be used in the evaluation. Failure to secure min. 50% in the technical criteria (i.e. 35% out of 70%) will automatically disqualify the applicant.

Financial evaluation criteria (weightage 30%)
7.2 The minimum bidder gets 30 and others will get lower than this, on a pro-rata basis. There could be a need for a negotiation of the scope of work and budget, based on the proposal to make it in line with the basic design of the MTR, budget limitations, etc.

8. Associated Costs
8.1 The consultant shall not include costs of subsistence allowance and other logistics required for travel for the need assessment, coaching, mentoring and other necessary activities, outside Kigali. SNV will take care of such costs, by itself.
9. Duration and Payment Terms
9.1 The assignment will last for 10 months from the date of signing the contract, including for settlement of the final payment. The payment of consulting fees will be done in phases as shown below:

Deliverable % of Payment
Contract signed 20% of the contract value
Deliverables 1,2 and 3 30% of the contract value
Deliverable 4 30% of the contract value
Deliverables 5, 6 and 7 20% of the contract value

10 Submission of Letter of Interest
• The consultants should submit the letter of interest (LoI) to the Operation Officer Mr Bonkey Ruzirabwoba (bruzirabwoba@snv.org) no later than April 21, 2023 5:00 Pm Rwanda time highlighting their understanding of the assignment, number of days, daily rates and the total costs, excluding any expenses related to for example, logistical arrangements. Recent CVs of the 4 team members, highlighting qualifications and experience, including similar assignments carried out in the past must be submitted with the LoI.
NB: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted 
We do not appreciate third-party mediation based on this advertisement.