INVESTMENT READINESS FOR TANNERIES UNDER LISEC PROJECT – FOR SOLIDARIDAD IN ADDIS ABABA ETHIOPIA.

1. INTRODUCTION

Solidaridad Network is an international solution-oriented civil society organization working through eight regional expertise centres to transform markets to make them more sustainable and inclusive. Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa, one of the regional centres, is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya but with country offices in Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia. We bring together supply chain players and engage them with innovative solutions to improve production, ensuring the transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy that maximizes the benefit for all. We facilitate the strengthening of local capacity in developing countries, support the creation of enabling environments for economies to thrive, and improve market access.

Solidaridad established a country office in Ethiopia since November 2015 with registration # 3531. The office was re-registered on July 11, 2019 under the CSO proclamation 1113/2019. Currently, Solidaridad is implementing the Leather Initiative for Sustainable Employment Creation (LISEC) Green jobs project, which is funded by the EU. The main objective of the project is to strengthen social cohesion by supporting local economic and social development initiatives, especially for women and youth living in Modjo area; and enhancing industrial and labour relations. The project is focusing on three outcome areas: skill development and job creation, waste management and social cohesion. It is implemented by a consortium, where People In Need (PIN) are the Lead while International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Solidaridad are partners. Leather Industry Development Institute (LIDI) and Ethiopian Leather Industry Association (ELIA) are included as Associates. The project is implemented in Modjo, Oromia National Regional State.

Solidaridad is responsible for Outcome 2 which focuses on improving leather waste management and manufacturing practices. It is in this role that Solidaridad seeks to support Modjo Tanneries to develop businesses out of their waste in order to be compliant to environmental regulations as well as positioning them for Leather Working Group (LWG) Certification.

1. OBJECTIVE

The overall objective of this assignment is to prepare the tanneries to be investment ready based on the established businesses from recycling of their waste. Products to be generated by solid waste include glue, protein hydrolysis, gelatin and animal feed.

1. PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The main purpose of this assignment is to make the 4 tanneries supported by the project to be investment ready. The consultant will support the tanneries to achieve satisfactory levels of governance, systems, processes, quality of teams and leather waste recycling business’ credibility to not only attract but also secure funding from impact investors.

1. SCOPE OF WORK

Solidaridad seeks an experienced business and/or financial service provider to do an assessment of the business capacity and performance of target tanneries in Modjo town/region. Based on the result of the assessment, the business service provider will co-develop an action plan with these tanneries to improve their investment readiness, profile, link and follow up with potential impact investors on deals.

Key responsibilities

The following are the key responsibilities

1. Work with LISEC Project implementation team and the Investment Officer to review and enhance the investment readiness assessment tool for tanneries;
2. Map out potential impact investors and their eligibility criteria as well as their suitability to meet the needs of the tanneries;
3. Conduct the investment readiness assessment of target tanneries based on the impact investors’ lenses;
4. Facilitate and co-develop an integrated action plan based on the tanneries’ business plans and result of the investment readiness assessment;
5. Prepare and submit the investment readiness assessment report for the tanneries;
6. Review and finalize the financial model and narrative for the business plans already developed with the tanneries to meet the thresholds of the impact investors;
7. Build the capacities of the tanneries based on the identified weakness to make them investment ready;
8. Undertake linkages between potential impact funders and the tanneries as well as follow up on deals struck to ensure they materialize into funding.
9. DETAILED ACTIVITIES AND DELIVERABLES

The consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks;

Steps, Activities and Key deliverable/output

Step 1 – Inception meeting to harmonize views on the expectations, methodologies, tools and timelines – Inception report

Step 2 – Map out potential impact investors for the tanneries and their eligibility criteria as well as their suitability to meet the needs of the tanneries;

Conduct the investment readiness assessment of target tanneries based on the impact investor’s lenses. The assessment will establish the capacity gaps in the tanneries and proposed remedies to make them investment ready

Validation report on the tanneries as well as the mapped profile of the impact investors that encompasses their suitability to the tanneries.An action plan to address the capacity gaps amongst the tanneries

Step 3 – Address the capacity gaps to make the tanneries investment ready through tailored technical assistance per tannery – Outputs as per the identified gaps

Step 4 – Link the supported tanneries to access funding from the identified impact investors. Report on financial linkages as well as evidence of the same

Step 5 – Consolidation, validation and presentation of the final report (both word and power point version) Final approved report

Solidaridad will hold regular consultative and update meetings with the consultant during the period. Whenever a phase has been concluded and report satisfactorily cleared, Solidaridad will approve commencement of the next phase.

1. CONSULTANCY PERIOD

This assignment will be conducted within a timeframe of approximately 4 months from August to November 2023 (detailed timeline to be established with the Service Provider and the project team).

1. REQUIREMENT AND SELECTION CRITERIA OF THE SERVICE PROVIDER
2. The Service Provider should have a strong project management ability and excellent communication skills;
3. Experience in supporting enterprises to be investment ready and linking them to impact investors to access both debt and equity;
4. Experience in working with nascent enterprises and managing project implemented by a consortium of partners;
5. Strong attention to detail in all tasks, creativity and result-orientation;
6. Excellent organizational skills: the ability to manage, track and follow-up on various efforts and projects;
7. Excellent written and verbal communications skills, interpersonal skills and cultural sensitivity;
8. Flexible work attitude: the ability to work under pressure within short timelines without compromising quality.

The technical proposal should include the following:

• Organization Profile (max 1 page) explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;
• Relevant Experience (max 1 page);
• Detailed methodology framework with expected deliverables, timelines, man-days, and financial resources required (3-5 pages);
• Recent CV’s for the team;
• Company Registration and PIN certificates;
• Tax compliance;
• 3 referees form different organizations for which the service provider executed a similar assignment.

The financial proposal, to be quoted in Euros(€), should include the following:

• Fixed professional fee for the assignment including preparation, fieldwork (investment readiness diagnosis & technical assistance to address the identified gaps), data analysis, writing process, final editing and reviews;
• Government taxes (withholding tax);
• Proposed terms of payment;
• Fee be all inclusive of incidentals and other related costs.

NB: Each EOI submission should be not more than 15 pages, it should include the financial and technical proposal as one document.

1. COPYRIGHT CREDITS

In consideration of the fees paid, the Service Provider expressly assigns to Solidaridad any copyright arising from the works produced while executing this contract. Solidaridad herewith has non-exclusive world rights to selected images in all media (so including non-Solidaridad media) in perpetuity. Solidaridad will not use the images for other purposes than promoting Solidaridad (in the widest sense of the word).

In printed materials with a colophon, Solidaridad will credit the photographers. In external media, photographers can be credited with a combination of the name of Solidaridad with the name of the photographer, so: © Solidaridad/John Doe.

In digital media, posters, and banners photographers are usually not credited.

All images (whether used for online or print purposes) must include the photographer’s name in the metadata. The photographer may not use, reproduce or otherwise disseminate or authorize others to use, reproduce or disseminate such works without prior consent from Solidaridad.