1.1          Project overview

The project “IYBA-SEED: Investing in Young Businesses in Africa – Supporting Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development” is co-funded by the European Union (DG INTPA), the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Team France and SlovakAid, for a period of 4 years (2023-2026).

IYBA-SEED takes an “Ecosystem Strengthening” approach: it targets the entrepreneurship ecosystem and its actors, in order to reach young businesses (i.e. SEED beneficiaries) which are defined as:

• (Very-)early stage businesses and entrepreneurs (pre-seed and seed)
• Exclusively led by young entrepreneurs (18-35yo) and/or women entrepreneurs (of all ages)

The project aims to “contribute to creating decent jobs and resilient economies by strengthening entrepreneurship ecosystems in a number of sub-Saharan countries so that they can increase access to Business Development Services (both financial and non-financial) for SEED beneficiaries” in 5 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Benin, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa and Togo).

IYBA-SEED works on four key components / specific objectives

• Capacity Development and Networks: strengthen and connect Actors of Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (AoEEs) and their networks (both nationally and internationally) to improve access to Business Development Services (both financial and non-financial) for SEED beneficiaries
• Business Environment: contribute to a business environment (policies and regulations) which is conducive to the creation and growth of SEED beneficiaries
• Entrepreneurial Culture: promote an inclusive entrepreneurial culture that encourages existing and future young and women entrepreneurs to create and grow SEED beneficiaries
• Knowledge: foster access for Actors of Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, SEED beneficiaries and other stakeholders to lessons learned and best practices for Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Strengthening

During the 2^nd Project Steering Committee, members approved the Regional Action Plan of IYBA-SEED that will complement Country Action Plans (CAP) implemented in the different beneficiary countries. Regional activities, within the context of this project, refer to collaborative interventions and activities that transcend individual national boundaries and strategically complement national-level efforts in Kenya, Senegal, Togo, Benin, and South Africa. These activities aim to create a cohesive and interconnected entrepreneurial ecosystem by fostering cross-border knowledge exchange, resource-sharing, and collaborative programs. This Regional Action Plan has 4 main interventions including the creation and facilitation of a regional knowledge hub (intervention 4), aiming at promoting knowledge access while connecting people from the different IYBA-SEED countries. The IYBA-SEED hub will serve as an umbrella for knowledge sharing and group activities across countries, fostering a sense of community. It will have a specific focus on AoEEs of IYBA-SEED (but with an open-door policy).  Activities envisaged under this intervention are three-fold:

●4.1.   Development of a digital platform (IYBA-SEED Knowledge Hub) to organise information, facilitate access to formalised knowledge

●4.2. Facilitation of thematic exchange groups to foster connection between people, facilitate access to non-formal information.

●4.3. Enhancing/producing new knowledge products based on needs/knowledge identified within thematic exchange groups, monthly meetings and other project activities.

1.2     Assignment objectives

The consultancy aims at organising and facilitating thematic exchange groups between Actors of the Entrepreneurship Ecosystems (AoEEs) of IYBA-SEED countries (activity 4.2). 

Thematic exchange groups aim at fostering a sense of community between AoEEs of IYBA-SEED countries to address common challenges and leverage opportunities for ecosystem strengthening. It should contribute to the facilitation of the IYBA-SEED hub, encouraging the use of the digital platform and further dissemination of knowledge products.

1.3          Expected results of the consultancy

The consultancy covered by these terms of references is expected to achieve the following results:

»    Exchange between AoEEs of IYBA-SEED countries are facilitated for them to connect and learn from each other on strategic issues;
»    Existing local, regional and international best practices among AoEEs, and opportunities and knowledge products of other project activities are widely shared;
»    AoEEs are given the opportunity to share and showcase their best practices and experiences.  

IYBA-SEED is looking for a facilitator to support the organization and implementation of these thematic exchange groups that will take place mostly online with the exception of one or two in-person events, and could take the form of:

- Webinars

- Group trainings

- Peer-to-peer events (inspired from the ICR Facility methodology)

- Roundtables

- Events at conferences/ international meetings

The role of the facilitator would include identification/planning of events, stakeholders’ engagement strategy, logistical aspects, content and speakers’ management, moderation, monitoring and evaluation, and communication.

1.4          Key target groups

The exchange groups will target in priority Actors of Entrepreneurship Ecosystems (AoEEs) of IYBA-SEED countries including more specifically the following groups:

·       Entrepreneurship Support Organisations (ESOs): incubators, accelerators, FabLabs, entrepreneurship associations…

·       Financial actors: angel investors, venture capital (VC) funds, MicroFinance Institutions (MFIs), impact investment funds, diaspora investors, banks...

·       Policymakers, public leaders: government agencies, think tanks, advocacy organisations…

·       Educators and developers of human capital: schools, universities, Technical and Vocational Training Centers (VTCs)...

·       Communicators: media, communication departments, influencers and community leaders…

 The project shall however follow an open-door policy, allowing AoEEs of other countries or other type of stakeholders such as for example project team members, international development organizations and donor agencies, and very-early and early stage businesses and entrepreneurs to join. 

1.5          Main activities

As part of the assignment, the consultant will carry out the following activities in particular:

1.5.1.    Defining the engagement strategy 

Thematic exchange groups will be mostly organized online, in addition to one or two in-person events, and will be in English and French. From preliminary discussions with country teams, several themes for the exchange group sessions have been identified that could be the subject of a first series of exchanges: women entrepreneurship, green transformation, access to market, access to finance , academia and youth entrepreneurship, rural inclusion and decentralization, business development services, but will need to be confirmed with AoEEs. Other themes may be identified along the way.  

In the light of the above, the consultant will work on an engagement strategy that will refine the scope, structure, frequency, modalities and exit strategy of the thematic exchange group, including a “knowledge sharing” agenda for the different series and related sessions. 

1.5.2.    Identifying topics and hosting of exchange groups  

As the thematic exchange group sessions shall cater to the interests of AoEEs, it is important to identify priority topics and activities among the group. In addition, topics should also be in line with the IYBA-SEED focus on (very-)early stage businesses led by youth and women. The Thematic Exchange Groups will offer the opportunity to discuss topics of common interest and ideally solving common problems around the selected core themes, for example how to use a certain tool or how to build or revise a strategy to address a certain challenge.

Entrepreneurship ecosystems being at different level of maturity between IYBA-SEED countries or facing region-specific challenges, more specific discussions could be organized for a group of countries (at least two), for example French-speaking discussion on how to support entrepreneurs in accessing market in ECOWAS. It will also be possible to disseminate lessons learned, for example sharing lessons learned from an entrepreneurial culture campaign as part of the “Women entrepreneurship” series or the refinement of a financial product within the “Access to finance” series.

Core themes would be therefore turned into series of more specific topics for exchange group sessions identified through out implementation. For example:

i.                     Women entrepreneurship:

-       IYBA-SEED entrepreneurial culture campaign: how to change collective mindsets about women entrepreneurship

-       How to operationalise a gender strategy at an organizational level

-       Peer-to-peer session for women networks

-       Successful experiences on women’s economic empowerment in Africa (in partnership with AFD/WB)

-       Introduction to the GIZ tool “Gender Makes Business Sense”

-       Lessons learned on how to make gender-responsive M&E systems

ii.                   Green transformation:

-       Awareness raising session on regenerative businesses

-       How to integrate green transformation into technical support provided to very-early stage business?

-       Advertising and sharing lessons learnt from regional intervention 1 on capacity building programme for BDS providers on regional market access in the green sector

iii.                 Access to finance:

-       Practical & successful existing alternative financial options and the frameworks necessary to develop Alt-FIN ecosystems to the benefit of SEED Beneficiaries

-       How to improve financial literacy among SEED beneficiaries?

-       Presentation of other tools from IYBA-SEED countries that have been developed to facilitate access to finance

iv.                 Business Development Services:

-       BDS standards implementation

-       Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) tools (e.g., impact measurement tools)

-       How to use digital tools and platform to increase outreach

-       How to deal with high drop-out rates among beneficiaries

-       Sharing lessons learned from specialization strategies operated by BDS providers

-       The use of data and digital innovations to boost entrepreneurship support

v. Rural inclusion and decentralization

-       The role of local authorities in promoting entrepreneurship in rural areas

-       Sharing lessons learned from local hubs to promote entrepreneurship in rural areas

-       How can advocacy promote a more inclusive entrepreneurship in rural areas

The consultant will contribute to the selection of these topics (with AoEEs) as well as defining the most appropriate format for the sessions. We expect that before each session, the consultant will identify an AoEE (or learning partner) willing to host the session and assist in choosing a topic on which they would like to do the presentation. The identification of AoEE to host and present can be done either through informal contact or through a formal process – that is open to the preferences of the consultant.

1.5.3.    Support the logistical organisation of the session (invitations, registrations…) 

Once a topic and hosting partner has been identified for each session, the consultant will provide logistical support to organise the event. When relevant, he will help the Project Management Unit identifying and selecting participants in a clear and transparent manner for the ecosystem. As most sessions will be online, this will include:

- Making sure the format of the sessions is respected (60 to 90 minutes, time allocated to Q&A)

- Identifying a convenient time for the session, depending on the expected participants - Sending out invitations for the session, and keeping up with registrations

- Moderating sessions and/or finding potentially co-moderators for sessions

- Making sure the parameters of the platform used are set up correctly (automatic translation, …) and can be used by all participants easily

- Coordinate communicating about the session (through the IYBA-SEED hub, by email and social media).

In case of in-person sessions, extra support will be provided to the consultant to organize additional logistics linked to this format including for example travelling, room preparation, catering, visa letters, etc.

1.5.4.    The development and quality control of content (identifying input providers, powerpoint presentations…) 

The consultant is expected to:

- Prepare an agenda for each session - Prepare a short flyer/email presentation for each session, presenting the content;

- Support the hosting AoEE in preparing a presentation and/or prepare some additional presentation on the topic when relevant

- Identify potential additional speakers on the topic selected by the hosting AoEE and ensure harmonisation and quality control of the presentations.

- When needed prepare materials et content for participants to read prior the session

1.5.5.    The moderation of the sessions 

Depending on the wish of the hosting AoEE, the consultant might be responsible for moderating the sessions (introduction, time and speaker management, Q&A management, conclusion).

1.5.6.    Centralising documents and knowledge products related to the session and making them available on the IYBA-SEED digital platform 

Before and after sessions, presenters will be asked by the consultant whether they are comfortable sharing their presentations and related knowledge products with exchange group members. If so, the documents will be shared on the IYBA-SEED digital platform.

The consultant will be responsible for collecting the final versions of presentations and liaising with the IYBA-SEED’s communication and visibility expert who have access to the backend of the website.

1.5.7.    Management of the community 

In addition to supporting the organisation of the sessions, the consultant is expected to provide light support to the management of the exchange groups. This includes:

- Updating and sharing information on the IYBA-SEED hub and through social media.

- Reaching out to new potential new members of the exchange groups.

- Putting AoEEs into relation with one another based on needs

- Keeping track of contacted AoEEs and those which have participated in thematic exchange groups (to be included in the final report).

- Have a clear follow up strategy with participants with regards to previous and upcoming activities (to avoid one stand-alone events and maximize impact.

1.6. Expected deliverables

For each session (at least 12 sessions between January 2025 and November 2026), the consultant is expected to deliver:

- Files presenting the content of the session (presentations shared with participants)

- Monitoring & evaluation products that are needed for the IYBA-SEED project (see Chapter V), including a list of participants for each session collected through our internal SIA platform

At the end of the contract, the consulting will deliver a short final report following the template provided by the IYBA-SEED project (in English).

1.7. Structure of the work

1.7.1. Coordination arrangements 

The consultant will work under the supervision of the Component 4 technical lead and the Program Director for the entire duration of the assignment. He/she will also be in regular contact with the project team, based in Belgium, Germany, Slovakia and beneficiary countries, and the Expertise France head office in Paris, depending on the topics of the sessions.

 1.7.2. Working conditions 

The sessions will be held in English and/or French, depending on the target audience. Whenever possible, an online translation tools will be used to provide subtitles. The consultant should be fluent in both English and French in order to manage participants from francophone institutions who might not be entirely fluent in English, as well as the opposite.

As part of this assignment, the project will cover the following expenses: per diem, accommodation and transport during missions outside of the expert’s place of residence, visa fees if necessary.

In case of in-person events, incidental expenditures linked to the organisation of the event will be covered by the project, based on EF cost eligibility policy.

 1.7.3. Location and length of assignment 

Most of the work is expected to be carried out remotely, however, if an event from the Thematic Exchange Groups is organised on site, the consultant will be expected to travel. The assignment will take place from 1 November 2024 to 29 November 2026.

The number of working days for this assignment is estimated to 65 days of expertise as follows:

1.8. Communication and visibility

All outputs, reports, materials, and documents resulting from the activities performed hereunder need to follow the IYBA-SEED Communication and Visibility Guidelines.

1.9. Estimated budget

The budget for the assignment is estimated up to a maximum of EUR 50,000 (excluding taxes). This does not include eligible incidental costs such as per diem, transport, accommodation and visa fees for missions outside of the expert’s place of residence.