UNCDF Jobs - 43746- Country Strategy Development and Business Planning

Country Strategy Development and Business Planning Expert for Financing BoP Energy Access (Up to 5 specialists)

Advertised on behalf of

UNCDF

Location :

Home- based with possibility of travel to Inclusive Finance UNCDF programming/other countries in Asia & Pacific and Africa

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Mar-2014

Application Deadline :

20-Feb-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

CleanStart Programme

The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have developed a global programme to support 2.5 million poor people to obtain access to reliable and affordable clean energy through microfinance (called CleanStart). To this end, CleanStart will support 18 financial service providers (FSPs) across six countries in Asia and Africa to build their capacity in providing financing for clean energy systems. In parallel, the programme will also strengthen the supply chains of technologies being financed and advocate for policy and business environments that promote the growth of energy markets serving low-income people.

CleanStart (2012-2017, US$26.1) will be delivered through four outputs:

Finance for Clean Energy to strengthen capabilities of 18 FSPs to provide microfinance for clean energy to low-income households and micro-entrepreneurs;
Technical Assistance for Clean Energy to remove barriers to the successful deployment of those technologies and services for which the selected MFIs will provide microfinance;
Global Knowledge and Learning toenhance understanding and awareness globally of the potential for microfinance to scale-up access to clean energy and make available the tools and knowledge needed to scale-up access to clean energy beyond the project; and
Advocacy and Partnerships to create an enabling policy and business environment to expand microfinance for clean energy.

CleanStart finalizes the selection of target countries based on a market assessment to understand key trends and issues that shape the energy market for low-income people in the country, as well as the level of demand for CleanStart from key actors in the energy and microfinance sectors. Provided preliminary assessment findings show sufficient demand and enabling environment, CleanStart develops a detailed country level strategy which serves as the framework for country-level investment. At the country-level, CleanStart will assist financial service providers (and possibly energy service providers) to develop business plans for energy financing which will be reviewed for financial and technical support by CleanStart, resulting in performance-based agreements. CleanStart also aim to consolidate learning from these country strategy preparations into knowledge products accessible to a wider audience.

To meet growing demand and commitments, CleanStart will supplement its core programme team by retaining, maintaining and growing a flexible network of technical specialists. The roster of technical specialists will be hired on rolling 1-year retainer contracts and whose services will be sought as and when needed.

The Programme Implementation Unit is housed in the UNCDF Asia-Pacific Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand.

UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and Inclusive Finance

UNCDF invests its funding and technical capabilities in financial systems in LDCs and other developing countries by facilitating the development of microfinance markets at the macro, meso and micro levels. It maintains a strong emphasis on building retail capacity to deliver quality microfinance services to poor people, but it also invests in supporting discrete policy work and strengthening country infrastructures to support retain institutions where necessary to maximize outcomes of our investments at the retail level. UNCDF’s financial-systems approach and results have received strong endorsement from CGAP’s SmartAid for Microfinance Index.

Duties and Responsibilities

The first objective of this consultancy is to provide support to the UNCDF CleanStart Programme Manager to develop specific, focused country strategies with a clear resources and results framework for at least two countries. Second objective is to assist with business planning activities for access to energy financing. A third objective is to develop a set of country assessment and strategy tools, as well as business planning process modules and tools for CleanStart, as well as a wider audience.

Scope of Work

Working under the direct supervision of the UNCDF CleanStart Programme Manager and in close collaboration with other CleanStart stakeholders and service providers as assigned, the consultant will be responsible for the following:

Refine completed market assessments, or carry out new ones in countries where no assessment has previously been carried out;
Refine market assessment methodology and tools, based on experience gathered from multiple assessments already carried out;
Develop at least two country strategies (or country business plans) with a clear and realistic resources and results framework, and through employing an inclusive and consultative process with different stakeholders (with an emphasis on those interested and/or active in the BoP energy financing space) and including different modalities of implementation including those related to Public-Private-Partnership;
Assist with executing Request for Proposal processes as required, from the initial Expression of Interest stage to the signing of the final performance-based agreement stage;
Provide quality assurance and support on business planning training courses to financial service providers (and energy service providers) as required;
Develop a specific business planning for energy lending training tool-kit that can be widely used and publicly disseminated;
Provide concrete recommendations on streamlining the process from assessment phase through to initial country strategy implementation, including the Request for Proposal process and selection of financial institutions for investment (including the due diligence process);
Refine tools from Request for Proposal through to Performance Based Agreements stages;
Provide assistance where new, innovate form of energy financing are piloted (such as PAYGO models related to mobile communications technology, electronics and pre-paid systems);
Assist with developing appropriate reporting and monitoring and evaluation tools for the above.

The specific tasks will be defined in the TOR for each assignment, and may cover some of the above-mentioned issues, depending on the needs of the CleanStart Programme, availability of the consultant and man-days set aside in the retainer contract.

Expected Outputs/Deliverables:

Country strategy (or country business plans) and assessments;
Standard tools/formats for country assessments and strategy development;
Standard tools/formats for selection of financial institutions for investment (including due diligence process), including a specific business planning training tool-kit;
Business planning training evaluation reports.

Competencies

Strong quantitative and financial abilities, including in developing financial projections, calculating IRR, and analyzing financial statements;
Strong command of Excel;
Strong proven functional skills in analytical writing; experienced in producing concise, executive-level reports and presentations, training modules and materials.
High-level communication and presentation skills, using PowerPoint, PDF editing software, often incorporating graphics, flow-charts, diagrams or other visual tools to convey information;
Knowledge of microfinance or energy lending or other financing tools at the micro-level;
Knowledge of carbon markets, impact investing, or mobile communication technologies is considered desirable;
Good interpersonal skills and experience in working effectively in a multi-cultural environment, with sensitivity to diverse opinion.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

Postgraduate qualification in business, finance, marketing, economics, accounting, energy, electrical engineering or related fields.

Years of experience:

At least five years of total professional experience with proven competence in any of the areas detailed in the scope of work;
At least two years of private sector work experience;
Extensive experience in business management and planning, process streamlining, results-oriented process management;
Experience in carrying out market assessments (including survey work of various kinds), feasibility studies, institutional analyses, or developing full country strategies or business plans;
Experience in working with a diverse set of stakeholders at different levels in the public, private and civil society sectors;
Experience in working with development assistance projects (preferably those of the UN or international financial institutions), from concept phase to final impact evaluation phase is an asset;

Language Skills:

Fluency in English is required; proficiency in French would be an asset.

Documents to be included when submitting the application form online

Interested individual consultant must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate your qualifications:

Proposal (Reply online): Brief motivation letter (not more than two pages) indicating why the applicant thinks is an outstanding candidate for the job, with a brief description on how the scope of work will be dealt with;
Financial proposal (Reply Online): The financial proposal must indicate daily professional fee in USD;
Detailed Personal CV and/or UN P.11 Form ( Upload Online).

Evaluation Criteria:

Technical Criteria weight: 70%

(Experience related to services: 30%; Written proposal/test and interview result: 50% and Expertise & Availability: 20%)

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% technical points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

Financial Criteria weight: 30%

The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.