Background

The Better Than Cash Alliance (UNCDF)

United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to inclusive finance and investment capital. Established by the General Assembly in 1966 and with headquarters in New York, UNCDF is an autonomous UN organization affiliated with UNDP.

Based in UNCDF, the Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) is a partnership of 70 governments, companies and international organizations that accelerates the transition from cash to digital payments in order to reduce poverty and drive inclusive growth by:

• Advocating for the transition from cash to digital payments in a way that advances financial inclusion and promotes responsible digital finance.
• Catalyzing the development of inclusive digital payments ecosystems in member countries to reduce costs, increase transparency, advance financial inclusion-- particularly for women-- and drive inclusive growth; and
• Conducting research and sharing the knowledge and experiences of our members to inform strategies for making the transition.

Billions of dollars in cash payments and transfers are made daily in emerging and developing economies, including payment of salaries, social welfare and relief, payments to suppliers, remittances, etc. The problems with these cash payments include a lack of transparency, accountability and security, as well as inefficiency. Individuals who receive cash payments are often part of the 1.7 billion excluded from the formal financial sector.  This means they are excluded from access to a range of appropriate and affordable financial services to help them save safely take advantage of economic opportunities and reduce their vulnerability to risk.

Shifting these payments from cash to digital has the potential to improve the lives of low-income people,

particularly women, while giving governments, the development community and the private sector a more transparent, time and cost efficient, and often-safer means of disbursing payments.

From a corporate perspective, payments completed in the value chain of businesses represent some of the most significant payment flows of national economies. To highlight this impact, the Alliance published a report on “The Future of Supply Chains: Why Companies are Digitizing Payments" showcasing how companies in different business sectors have benefited from digital payments in their supply chains and play an important role in building an inclusive digital payment ecosystem. Thus, the Better Than Cash Alliance is committed to supporting digitization of companies' payment flows in different business sectors across the corporate payment grid (B2B, B2P, B2G, and P2B).

The Better Than Cash Alliance Team’s Core Values are the following: 

• Achieving together
• Striving for excellence
• Service oriented
• Results oriented

For more information on BTCA, please visit the website: http://www.betterthancash.org/

Project Description: Last-Mile Distribution in Ethiopia

Unilever has been working with various partners to develop, in different countries around the world, an inclusive distribution model called Shakti, reaching out to women in low-income rural communities. In Ethiopia, Unilever is collaborating with a social distribution enterprise called Kidame Mart and the BOP Innovation Center to implement an ‘open-basket’ distribution model where women micro-entrepreneurs sell a mixed basket of products from Unilever and other producers.

Currently financial transactions between micro-retail entrepreneurs (Shakti agents) and the distribution enterprise are done in cash. Enabling digital payments and other digital financial solutions for the micro-retailers can help them increase revenues and scale their businesses. The recent Unilever partnership with Mastercard and Kenya Commercial Bank in Kenya, documented by the Better Than Cash Alliance (“Jaza Duka” platform case study) shows for example that retailers grew sales by 20% in the first six months of accessing digital working capital loans, based on retailers’ digital purchasing history with Unilever. Digital payments can also contribute to help retailers in the Shakti programme access additional financial services, such as savings, and promote better control of finance by women.

Unilever Ethiopia and UNCDF Better Than Cash Alliance are looking to hire a Digital Financial Services expert consultant to (1) explore how digital payments might be able to reduce cash collection in Unilever supply chain and enable access to financial services for the participating women and (2) contribute to the development of Ethiopian rural digital payments ecosystem.

Duties and Responsibilities

Based within Unilever Ethiopia team, with supervision from the Better Than Cash Alliance Private Sector Digital Innovation Lead and the Better Than Cash Alliance Africa Regional Lead, the consultant’s key responsibilities are as follows:

Phase 1: Assessment of existing Shakti payment processes, readiness of Shakti agents and Digital Payments ecosystem in Unilever focus regions

Activities A, B and C of phase 1 will need to be undertaken in parallel.

A.      Review existing financial, operational and payment processes of Shakti program for digital payment opportunities

•  A1) Map the existing payment flow (including amount, frequency, players, speed, costs and other elements) between a sample of Shakti agents, supervisors, bank branches and Kidame-Mart. Analyze the pain points / inefficiencies and costs associated with cash payments and identify both the opportunities and the challenges for digitization.
• A2) Among the various drivers of Shakti agents’ portfolio delinquency (including information from the survey under points B4 and B5 below), analyze the impact of payment collection issues on the bad debt of Shakti agents for Kidame-Mart and Unilever Ethiopia. Review existing Shakti agents’ selection process to see if increased assessment of financial and credit profile of Shakti agents can be beneficial.
• A3) Assess the potential of integrating the current digital tools and platforms, developed by Unilever and Kidame-Mart, with third party digital finance platforms to develop value added services (digital credit and savings) for the agents (using information gathered through activities A1 & A2).

B.      Analyze Shakti agents’ financial behavior and business needs

• B1) Working closely with Kidame-Mart and selected supervisors, create and implement a survey for a sample of Shakti agents with the goals of describing Shakti agents’ current financial behavior (both formal and informal services) and the financing needs of their businesses. Collect information from Shakti agents on:
  • financial behaviours, identifying categories of how they typically pay, save, borrow currently, including why there is potential payment delinquency to supervisors.
  •  existing access to and need for financial services to run their businesses,
  • awareness, usage, challenges for adoption of digital financial services/payments.
•  B2) Analyze the data to create a typology of agents (including financial profile) to allows clear recommendations for DFS payments solution, product design and delivery channels which will help to increase uptake of digital payments by Shakti agents. This framing will be used as input to enable Unilever select and negotiate the relevant digital financial service/ payments providers.

Landscaping of existing digital payment solutions in Unilever Ethiopia Shakti locations and recommendation for partnership development

• C1) Through meetings, interviews and existing secondary data, provide a current landscape of Digital Financial Services (DFS) solutions in Ethiopia in terms of providers, agents distribution, pricing, transaction limits for example, with a focus on the communities where Shakti program is (or planning to be) deployed. This landscape will include the work of other players engaged on the development of rural payments ecosystems in Ethiopia, such as World Bank, Ethiopia 'Cash Working Group' members and USAID for example.
• C2) Provide options and recommendation on best way forward to integrate digital payments into Shakti processes and growth model, e.g. best location, product design and partners needed to pilot digitization. The options will address important challenges for adoption of digital payments in rural areas linked to the current DFS ecosystem in Ethiopia and what would be needed to overcome these challenges.
• C3) Based on A, B, C, above, if there is a viable solution as decided by Unilever Ethiopia and the Better Than Cash Alliance, design a pilot implementation plan for a pilot project. Provide expertise to Unilever Ethiopia, and by extension Kidame-Mart, in partnership development discussions with digital financial service providers and other important partners in DFS

Phase 2: Pilot development and documentation

Pilot development

If decision is made by Unilever Ethiopia and the Better Than Cash Alliance to pursue a pilot, provide ongoing oversight, project management and feedback on the preparations for DFS pilot implementation, including engagement with Unilever, Kidame-Mart and selected financial partner. This can include but not limited to selecting location for pilot, characteristics of financial services, incentives for adoption and link with mobile money agents.

 Documentation and learnings

Document the learnings on digitization process and dissemination: At the end of the project, the overall experiences and lessons learnt should be documented in a final public learning paper, that will be written in close consultation with Unilever Ethiopia and the Alliance before becoming publicly available.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

  Institutional Arrangement

 The consultant will be hired by UNCDF Better Than Cash Alliance and sit in Unilever Ethiopia office. He/ She will work under the direction of Unilever Ethiopia Shakti program manager based in Addis Ababa, with supervision from the Better Than Cash Alliance Private Sector Digital Innovation Lead and the Better Than Cash Alliance Africa Regional Lead.

A project steering Committee will convene regularly (monthly or more if needed) to review project progress, address any issues, and provide feedback and clearance on deliverables or when necessary. The project steering committee will be constituted by members of the Better Than Cash Alliance and Unilever.

 Duration of the Work

This is an assignment that will have an initial duration of six months. However, the performance control/ monitoring mechanism will be applied from the start date.

Duty Station

a)       The duty station/location for the contract duration is Addis Ababa in Ethiopia; If the expert is located outside of Ethiopia, s/he must be able to come as needed to work with Unilever in Addis Ababa and relevant programme locations.

b)      Frequent travel within Ethiopia is expected and will be organized under the rules and requirements of Unilever Ethiopia.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates ethics and integrity;
• Demonstrates political acumen and calculated risk taking;
• Demonstrated excellent writing, editing and communications skills to an international standard including correspondence, reports, talking points and briefing material; essential
• Builds own competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation;
• Creates and promotes open communication;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Conducts fair and transparent decision making;
• Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability;
• Shows strong corporate commitment.

Functional Competencies:

Professional

• Project management lifecycle
• Ensures the full implementation of a project to obtain results;
• Conceptualizes more effective approaches to programme development and implementation and to mobilizing and using resources;
• Anticipates constraints in the delivery of services and identifies solutions or alternatives;
• Makes effective use of UNCDF’s and other Better Than Cash Alliance member resources and comparative advantage to strengthen partnerships;
• Creates networks and promotes initiatives with partner organizations;
• Creates an environment that fosters innovation and innovative thinking;

Technical:

• Solid skills in market assessments, strategy development and data analysis/management (spreadsheets, etc.)
• Understanding of key issues and international good practice relating to financial inclusion and digital payments
• Excellent presentation and representation skills in multicultural contexts
• Ability to translate complex technical ideas to a non-technical audience in both verbally and in writing

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications:

• A Master’s degree in economics, public/business administration, ICT, social sciences, or related discipline or the equivalent experience; and
• Additional training related to digital financial services is highly desirable.

Experience:

•  A minimum of seven (7) years dedicated experience in digital finance, payment systems or electronic payments required;
• Working experience in the Ethiopian payments ecosystem sector highly desirable;
• Experience in the formulation of strategies and implementation procedures in digital payments at the private sector level;
• Experience in effectively leading or managing technical assistance to a very diverse group of clients or members and maintaining positive relationships with peers;
• Specific experience for digital inclusive finance in rural areas an added advantage;
• Detailed and knowledgeable about the Ethiopia payments landscape, including digital payments regulatory environment and technology partners,
• Working knowledge of current developments in payment technologies, including innovative payment methods (e.g., digital government, mobile financial services, pre-paid/reloadable/other cards, etc.);

Languages:

• Written and spoken fluency in English is required
• Amharic is not a requirement but highly recommended;
• Working proficiency in another Ethiopian language highly desirable.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Payments will be made based on the percentage of contract price corresponding to the deliverables stated above, and upon confirmation of UNCDF that the individual has delivered on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner. 

Recommended Presentation of Offer

The following documents are requested:

• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability;
• Personal CV indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment.
• Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive Daily Fee price. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNCDF under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNCDF. 

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Consultants will be evaluated based on UNDP’s cumulative analysis method. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract shall be made to the consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable vis-à-vis the requirements of the TOR and the project operating environment; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (70%) and financial (30%) criteria.

The Better Than Cash Alliance will conduct a review of a profile (technical evaluation) that matches applicants experience and expertise to the key tasks outlined in the consultancy. These are detailed under each of the following Key work areas noted above:

• Technical expertise in inclusive finance, digital finance, payment systems or financial services in rural areas in Ethiopia (40 points);
• Program development and implementation management, especially related to rural ecosystem (25 points);
• Stakeholder and partner consultation (25 points).
• Policy and regulatory efforts in Ethiopia (10 points); 

Only the top candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points in the review of profile will be considered for Technical Interviews.  Technical interviews will explore the same key work areas, in greater depth, with the same weighting.

Technical proposal = Review of a profile through desk review (30%) + Technical Interview (40%).

//...