Avis d’appel d’offre pour l’élaboration d’un cadre politique pour exploiter le potentiel des micro, petites et moyennes entreprises pour la reprise économique de la pandémie post-COVID-19 menée par le secteur privé au Nigéria

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK GROUP

Nigeria Country Department

Expression of Interest

The African Development Bank hereby invites Consulting firms to indicate their interest in the following Assignment : Developing a Policy Framework to Harness Potential of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises for private sector-led Post-COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery in Nigeria.

Department issuing the request : Nigeria Country Department (RDNG)

Place of Assignment : Nigeria

Duration of the Assignment : 12 months

Tentative Date of Commencement : 28 December 2020

Deadline for expression of interest : No later than Tuesday, December 8^th, 2020 at 17:00 hrs, GMT.

Expression     of     interest      must     be     received     electronically      at     email       address:

[email protected] and [email protected]

Detailed Terms of Reference

1. CONTEXT :

The African Development Bank (the Bank) has extended a crisis response budget support operation (C19RSP) worth US$288.5 million to the Nigerian government to support its efforts of meeting spending needs in view of reduced revenues. As part of the C19RSP, the government committed to undertake some reforms and actions to ensure effective utilization of the resources and support to the MSMEs to mitigate impact of the pandemic on their businesses. The effectiveness of these measures will depend on the nature, scope and implementation modalities and robustness of the framework to operationalise these actions.

One of the identified areas of Bank’s support is to strengthen the Central Bank of Nigeria’s capacity to operationalise the COVID-19 related credit interventions by issuing the relevant guidelines on the implementation modalities. The guidelines should also cover implementation of similar interventions with features of the COVID-19 schemes for supporting MSMEs. This will ensure that the CBN has a robust and integrated framework for establishing, implementing and monitoring and performance evaluation of its MSMEs credit financing schemes.

2. OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT :

The aim of this assignment is for the Bank to strengthen institutional capacity and drive evidence-based policy dialogue with the government and specifically the CBN in developing an implementation mechanism of the C19RSP and identifying relevant accompanying policy reforms needed to underpin the implementation of proposed intervention measures. The proposed study should, among other things, first identify the depth of the impact of the pandemic on the MSMEs, which sectors have been mostly affected and the coping mechanisms for affected businesses. The study should also identify key policy reforms needed to harness the potential of the MSMEs in driving post-COVID19 economic recovery and emerging opportunities for creation of quality jobs and wealth. The study will also recommend a practical framework for the implementation and monitoring and evaluation of impact of the proposed reforms.

3. SCOPE OF THE ASSIGNMENT :

In order to achieve the objectives of the assignment, the successful firm will perform the following specific tasks and activities :

1. Undertake a diagnostic study to assess the impact of COVID-19 on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and assess the effectiveness of the interventions created by the government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and / or through the private sector led financial institutions in mitigating the impact ;
2. Identify COVID-19 compliant and post-pandemic financial and non-financial products suitable for the needs of the MSMEs with appropriate risk-sharing facilities to de-risk lending to this segment of the credit market ;
3. Assess to what extent MSMEs lack of technical and managerial capacity to develop bankable projects is a hindrance in accessing credit and other available financing options ;
4. Based on results of the study, draw up the guidelines and policy framework to guide CBN’s support to COVID-19 impacted MSMEs through deposit money banks; Propose other policy measures that will enhance lending to MSMEs to at least 5% of total banks credit to the private sector during 2021-2022 from the current 1% of total banking sector and to about 10% by 2024. Increased lending to MSMEs should ultimately improve domestic credit to private sector from about 12% of GDP in 2019 to 16% of GDP by December 2021-2022 and 20% by 2024 ;
5. Prepare a report complete with proposed deliverables outlined above and the schedule of implementation of each component ;
6. Throughout the execution of this assignment, the consultant will consult widely with the relevant key stakeholders (CBN and other relevant government agencies, including and especially SMEDAN; deposit money banks and other financial institutions; representatives of MSMEs to ensure ownership of outcomes of the recommended measures and framework.

4. SELECTION CRITERIA :

Required academic qualifications and experience :

1. For the Team Leader, at least a master’s degree (PhD preferred) or its equivalent in applied economics, monetary economics, industrial economies, public sector economics, public policy analysis, or a related field. In addition, Authored and published peer reviewed articles on MSMEs in journal. A minimum of 15 years of relevant consulting experience in the area of the assignment is required ;
2. Team members should have a minimum of a master’s degree in any of the stated fields above. They should have a minimum of 6 years of relevant consulting experience of similar assignments.

Required competencies :

1. Excellent report-writing skills and distinguished track record in the assignment ;
2. Ability to think critically and to analyse and resolve complex economic and policy issues affecting MSMEs in Nigeria ;
3. Knowledge of the Nigerian political and economic landscape and their implications on the performance of MSMEs ;
4. Proven capacity to deliver quality policy relevant knowledge products in a timely manner ;
5. For this assignment, excellent written and verbal communication skills in English is a must.

5. REMUNERATION :

The successful consultant will be paid a fee for the duration of the project commensurate with qualification for the task and satisfactory delivery of all the outputs, in line with the Bank’s guidelines on remuneration of consulting firms.

6. REPORTING AND SUPERVISION OF THE ASSIGNMENT :

This assignment has high stakes requiring close engagement with relevant stakeholders within the Bank and across different government agencies in Nigeria to ensure unqualified buy-in of project outcomes. The Bank will facilitate meetings between the consultant and government agencies as well as other stakeholders relevant to the assignment.

From the African Development Bank, the assignment will be executed under the direct supervision of the Senior Director for the Nigeria Country Department of the Bank. For technical reporting and backstopping, the consultant will liaise closely with the Lead Economist and the Principal Investment Officer for the Nigeria Country Department.

From the government side, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning (FMFBNP) will constitute a technical team to oversee the assignment. The team shall comprise experts from the FMFBNP and the Central Bank of Nigeria with a designated contact focal person to coordinate all correspondence with the Bank and the consultant. The consultant shall provide regular updates and progress on milestones as per the below schedule of deliverables.

7. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE :

This assignment will be undertaken within a period of 12 months. Thus, the Consultant shall execute all elements of this assignment during this period, effective from date of signing the contract. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the consultant may be required to work both virtually and in-person, depending on the re-opening date of the Bank’s offices in Nigeria.

Specific deliverables during the project implementation are as outlined below.

All questions relating to this assignment should be addressed to:

Mrs. Akabike Chinwe ([email protected]) and Mr Bernard Okpe ([email protected] with copy to [email protected] and [email protected].