Consultant for Proposal Writing, Ethiopia

1. Background and Context

Ethiopia is one of the first countries in Africa to develop a green growth strategy. Ethiopia’s leadership, and its early attempts through greening its economy to achieve more inclusive growth, are of real interest in a world in which alternative growth models for long-term sustainable development and social equity have rapidly become a priority in government, business and civil society. The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) has developed a Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy. The CRGE vision aims to build a climate-resilient green economy and to make the country carbon neutral by 2025. Whilst the commitment to sustainable growth is there, there are still many challenges to address in order to effectively reach these goals. Within the business sector, there is awareness of the government’s green aspirations, but so far, the political will for developing a green economy has not yet translated into a large number of practical incentives or meaningful funding available to private ventures.

Another major hurdle to green growth is significant unemployment, especially for youth and women, and entrepreneurship skills are not well established. Unemployment rates are high in Ethiopia at 19.1% and, without substantial growth in sustainable job creation, these figures are set to rise. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) reports that Ethiopia has one of the lowest rates of entrepreneurial activity in Sub Saharan Africa. In 2012 only 12.5% of adults (18-64) were in the process of starting a new business or running a business compared to the regional average of 29%, however, Ethiopians have very favourable opinions of entrepreneurship..

About Reach for Change

Reach for Change is an international non-profit founded in Sweden in 2010 and has since worked in 18 countries across 3 continents. Our vision is a world where all children and youth reach their full potential. We’re working towards this vision by finding local social entrepreneurs and empowering them to develop and scale innovative solutions that help children and youth to better lives.

Reach for Change Ethiopia was registered in 2015. We envision a green, sustainable economy in Ethiopia where everyone has the opportunity to have a decent quality of life and reach their full potential. Our work to date in Ethiopia has positioned us as the leader in our field and has demonstrated that entrepreneurship can be harnessed as a major force for social impact including driving the green economy. It has also proven that there is huge opportunity and demand for developing entrepreneurship in Ethiopia and that our methods work. However, there are still big barriers in regard to skills gaps, complex regulatory frameworks, access to funding and inadequate local initiatives working on the key ecosystem challenges. Achieving our vision at a national level requires establishing collaboration and partnership with key actors in the sector.

Reach for Change is currently implementing a pilot project funded by the IKEA Foundation to catalyze green businesses in Ethiopia. The aim of the project is to cultivate a strong pipeline of new green enterprise start-ups that will create green jobs and inspire young people to start sustainable, green businesses. This project is part of a wider strategy to contribute to the green economy in Ethiopia. Reach for Change plans to implement programs working with later-stage green enterprises as well as contributing to the development of the green economy ecosystem development by working with other partners and government. The intention is to scale this pilot nationally, working with technical schools and universities in order to build a broad pipeline of sustainable green businesses, generating more green jobs and ultimately contributing to building a thriving green economy in Ethiopia.

1. Purpose of the Consultancy

Reach for Change is looking for a proposal writer, who will in collaboration with Reach for Change Ethiopia and the global team, take the lead in developing a compelling, evidence-based proposal for:

1. Nationwide scale-up of the Catalyzing Green Business project with relevant implementing partners, private sector partners and funding partners (brought to the project by the consultant)
2. Develop a global position paper on Climate Change for Reach for Change to determine its added value and scope in relation to Climate Change

The consultant will bring to Reach for Change a comprehensive program design process and develop a feasible scale-up strategy and full donor proposal (including work plan, budget and logframe) for the nationwide scale-up, based on the pilot currently being implemented. The consultant will propose the most promising sectors and focus for the project, collect missing data, identify and bring onboard relevant private sector partners, implementing partners and donors willing to fund the scale-up. One possible funding source could be through the P4G application. If deemed relevant, the consultant in consultation with Reach for Change and other partners will identify the business model and commercial partner who have transformative partnerships that meet P4G’s criteria, especially the businesses engaged in and with experiences from Circular Economy in the country.

The consultant will have previous experience from developing and writing successful integrated, multi-sectoral, proposals involving several stakeholders for institutional donors. It is desirable that the consultant or its team members/network also brings relevant expertise on issues relating to climate change, green growth, green business development, agribusiness, entrepreneurship development and job creation in Ethiopia and other African countries.

1. Deliverables

The principal delivery of this consultancy will be a finalized and acceptable

1. Evidence-based nationwide scale-up proposal (including log frame, work plan and budget) of the IKEA project with relevant implementing partners, funding partners and private sector partners
2. A global position paper for Reach for Change to determine its added value and scope in relation to Climate Change

Other deliverables shall include:

An inception report, complete with an understanding and interpretation of the TOR, constructive comments, work plan, financial plan and implementation schedule of the assignment, and any other issues that need to be raised at the onset of the assignment.

1. Duration

The duration of the contract shall be approximately 60 working days in and is subject to change depending on the agreed deliverables.

1. Qualifications and Experience

This assignment will be undertaken by a team of national and/or international consultants.

Required Skills and Experience

The consultant or team will have the following skills and experience:

Education

Advanced degree (PhD or Master’s) in international development or other relevant field.

Experience:

• At least 5-10 years of experience in similar assignments in international development
• Demonstrable successful experience in writing competitive, winning proposals for institutional donors (EU, USAID, GAC, UN to name a few).
• Proven practical experience in project development and implementation in the fields of climate change (mitigation and/or adaptation) and Green and Circular Economy, agribusiness, SMEs development with strong programme design skills, including the capacity to prepare logical, coherent, and consistent technical documents including log frames and budgets.
• Demonstrated experience and understanding of the Global and Local Green and Circular Economy landscapes and Ethiopian Environmental and business Legal and Regulatory Frameworks are required.
• Extensive technical knowledge of climate change issues and policy, in Ethiopia and Sub-Saharan countries, is required.

Competencies

• Ability to work in close collaboration with a group of national and international experts, meet strict deadlines and plan the work according to priorities;
• Excellent English speaking/writing skills and presentation skills are required
• The ability to write clearly and concisely is a requirement
• Flexibility to adapt to any subsequent changes in the terms of reference.
• Willingness and ability to travel to the field to conduct assessments and gather primary data.