ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION SUPPORT PROJECT
REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (EOI)
(INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT)
20 BUSINESS COACHES TO SUPPORT MSMEs
Financing Agreement Reference: 2100150036596
Sector: Enterprise Development
Project ID No.: P-LS-KF0-002
The Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho has received financing from the African Development Fund towards implementation of the Economic Diversification Support Project and intends to apply part of the agreed amount for this loan to payments under the contract for Business Coaches to Support BDSPs.
In 2018, BEDCO received support from the African Development Bank through the Government of Lesotho under the “Economic Diversification Support Project – Promoting Enterprise Development (PED) to support the growth and development of MSMEs in Lesotho”. The project has been completed and delivered the following: (i) The provision of seed capital through a Business Plan Competition to ten (10) MSMEs, (ii) The development of a business incubation strategy, a virtual incubation system and the incubation of the of the ten (10) MSMEs. and (iii) The development of a business development growth strategy including the capacitation of twenty (20) Basotho Business Development Service Providers for enterprise development.
In order to build on the success of the PED project and to facilitate the recovery of the Lesotho economy especially post the COVID-19 pandemic, BEDCO intends to upscale business support to the MSMEs. Towards this, through the support of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Corporation has launched the second round of the business plan competition which is intended to award 50 start-up youth MSMEs.
The purpose of the coaching service is to provide coaching and mentoring support to the 100 business plan competition winners.
The aim of the assignment is to; i) Carry out a diagnosis and develop a technical plan of the assigned incubates; ii) Provide guidance in implementing the technical plans to the assigned incubates; iii) Provide sector specific support to their allocated BPC winners; iv) Monitor the entrepreneur’s progress along the technical plan trajectory and leverage necessary resources and expertise as required; v) Ensure quality control by providing technical support to the entrepreneurs; vi) Provide on-going coaching and mentoring, with specific deliverables in the Business Development Plan (BDP); Progress Reporting against the milestones that have been specified in the BDP; vii) Identify additional support to be provided to entrepreneurs and; viii) Expand their value offering in making it relevant for entrepreneurs.
The estimated duration of this assignment is two (2) months from the date of signing the contract.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry, Business Development and Tourism now invites eligible Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in providing these services. Interested consultants must provide their Curriculum Vitae (CVs) indicating that they are qualified to perform the services (Bachelor’s Degree in ICT, Agriculture, Tourism, Renewal energy and Manufacturing Development Management or any similar field; Post Graduate qualification will be an added advantage;10 years’ experience working in sector specific industries (ICT, Agribusiness, Tourism, renewable energy, and Manufacturing); Evidence of owning a fully functional business in one of the sectors (ICT, Agribusiness, Tourism, renewable energy, and manufacturing; Have experience in helping Micro and Small start-up businesses; The incumbent should have business acumen, communications and interpersonal skills, and report writing skills; The incumbent should have experience in coaching and monitoring small businesses.
Establishment of the short-list and the selection procedure shall be in accordance with the Procurement Policy and Methodology for Bank Group Funded Operations, dated October 2015, which is available on the Bank’s website at http://www.afdb.org.
Interested Individual Consultants may obtain further information and the Terms of Reference for the assignment from Economic Diversification Support Project (EDSP) offices during office hours (08.00 hours to 16.30 hours) at the below physical address or request electronic copies of the document via the below email address.
Expression of Interest (EOI) should be hand delivered to the address below or via email by the 25th November 2022 at 16:30pm, clearly marked “Business Coaches to support BDSPs”.
The Project Manager
Economic Diversification Support Project
1st Floor, Matanki House
Corner Kingsway and Balfour Road
P.O. Box 747, Maseru 100, Lesotho
Email: [email protected] with a copy to [email protected]
Tel.: (+266) 22 315 100