GOVERNMENT OF LESOTHO
ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION SUPPORT PROJECT
TERMS OF REFERENCE
BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION ADJUDICATORS
1.BACKGROUND
The Basotho Enterprises Development Corporation (BEDCO) is a parastatal of the Government of Lesotho within the Ministry of Small Business Development, Cooperatives and Marketing (MSCM). It was established by the BEDCO Act No.9 of 1980, as amended. The core BEDCO mandate is “the establishment and development of Basotho owned business enterprises with particular emphasis on the promotion of entrepreneurial skills”. BEDCO’s focus is to assist the Basotho small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop entrepreneurship, business, and management capabilities through providing support via training; business consultancy and counselling; technical and financial assistance; machines, equipment, and workspace for hire; subcontracting; and raw material procurement.
In order to achieve their mandate BEDCO performs the following functions:
• Facilitation of the establishment and growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME)s.
• Promotion and entrenchment of an entrepreneurial culture in Lesotho.
• Facilitation of the establishment of incubation services.
• Advocacy for an enabling regulatory framework and appropriate licensing regime for MSME.
• Enabling access to finance and markets.
In 2018 BEDCO received support from the African Development Bank through the Government of Lesotho under the “Economic Diversification Support Project (EDSP) – 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, Business Development Service (BDS) 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 (BDSPs) for enterprise development.
In order to build on the successes of the PED project and to facilitate the recovery of the Lesotho economy especially post the COVID-19 pandemic, BEDCO in collaboration with EDSP intend to upscale business support to the MSMEs. This support offers a comprehensive solution to the issue of inaccessibility of finance and enterprise development support faced by Basotho start-ups and entrepreneurs. The project aims to support Basotho youth between the ages of 18 and 35 and women between the ages of 36 to 40 who want to start or expand their businesses in all the ten districts of the country. The area of focus for the enterprises should be in the priority sectors of manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, ICT and renewable energy. The programme is targeting 50 enterprises in 2022.
2. OBJECTIVE
The main objective of the assignment is to engage seven (7) people who are going to serve as adjudicators in the process of selecting 50 winners for Business Plan Competition. The purpose of the adjudication is to evaluate and score Business Plans submitted by MSMEs and select the best 50 considering the viability of the business plan, vision, and personal qualities of the participant/team to turn the business plan into a successful business.
3. SCOPE OF WORK
Working together with BEDCO team, the adjudicators are expected to evaluate the business plans based on their viability, vision, and personal qualities of the participant/team to turn the business plan into a successful business. In particular, the adjudicators are expected to perform the following tasks:
o Evaluate and score 200 business Plans in the first round of the competition to come up with the best 100
business plans.
o Prepare an evaluation report with recommendations on the best 100 business plans to be considered for
idea pitching.
o Evaluate and score 100 business plans in the second round of the competition (idea pitching process) to
come up with 50 winners.
o Undertake evaluation of the whole Business Plan Competition processes and make recommendations for
improvement where necessary.
o Compile a project completion report for approval by BEDCO.
4. DELIVERABLES
The adjudicators are expected to submit the following deliverable:
• Joint evaluation report with a short list of the 100 Business Plans.
• Joint evaluation report of pitching process with a short list of the best 50 Business Plans (winners).
• Joint Project Completing Report with recommendation on how the competition can be improved.
5. COMPETENCY AND EXPERTISE REQUIREMENTS
The Adjudicators are required to sign a declaration of confidentiality and commit to assess applications in an open, fair, and transparent manner. Moreover, the adjudicator should have the following competencies and expertise:
• At least 3 years’ experience in assessing and appraising business plans or MSMEs projects.
• An adequate knowledge of local and regional markets and business opportunities.
• Experience in assessing business plans on their feasibility and expected profitability, venture capitalists.
• Experience working for MSME support organizations and organizations that represent the interests of
youth.
• Experience working for Micro finance Institutions or commercial banks as loan officer.
• Should be a successful entrepreneur or former entrepreneur (who owned successful business in the past).
General Competencies:
a) The adjudicator must have carried out at least 5 assignments in the evaluation of Business Plans in local,
regional, or international Business Plan Competitions.
b) The adjudicator should demonstrate experience in one of four priority sectors including: Agriculture,
Manufacturing, Tourism and Technology including Renewable Energy.
c) Familiarity of the BPC platform will be an added advantage.
The adjudicator should be in possession of the following:
a) Master’s degree / Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or similar field.
b) At least 5 years practical experience in Business Administration related job or running a successful
business venture.
c) Evidence of evaluation of Business Plan Competitions or Business Idea Pitching Sessions.
6. TIME-FRAME
BPC consists of two rounds of evaluation sessions and adjudicators are expected to work on the assignment for 15 working days.
Deadline for applications: 22nd July 2022
For enquiries, contact Ms. Nthati Nyabela at [email protected]