Terms of Reference

Private Sector Support

1. Background and Context

Swisscontact Tanzania strives to advance the socioeconomic integration of youth and young mothers in Tanzania. To achieve its ambition, the organization is implementing two projects: Skills for Employment Tanzania (SET)and EmpowerHER through Skills(EHS). SET is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) through the Embassy of Switzerland in Tanzania. It aims to enhance youth (self-)employment for the Vocational Skills Development (VSD) system. It supports the government and private sector stakeholders to expand access to quality training that matches the demand from both the economy and youth. The project improves relevance of labour market data for curriculum development, enhances the quality of vocational teachers through continuing professional development and provides access to tailor made practical non-formal vocational training for youth in particular for women including young mothers.

EHS is funded by the IMS Foundation and builds upon and adds on SET project. EHS provides VSD and entrepreneurship support with the aim of contributing to the creation of sustainable and meaningful livelihoods for young mothers. In close collaboration with the private sector and local communities, EHS offers innovative solutions and successfully tested methodologies to empower these often- marginalized women and to connect them with entrepreneurial opportunities. The project provides market-responsive technical training, counselling support, life and soft skills and coaching, as well as entrepreneurship and access to finance support. It does so while not neglecting the specific requirements of young mothers who need to combine professional activities with the care of their often very young children.

Swisscontact is currently looking for a Private Sector Support Consultant to provide support to the young mothers trained by EHS project to access private and public sector services that support the setting up of meaningful (self-)employment and income gain. These services include but are not limited to access to buyers or markets for their products, inputs, skills and materials needed for processing and value addition of their products, linkages with public and private financial service providers, support to business formalization with relevant government authorities, as well as access to wage employment.

The consultant will be supervised by the Swisscontact office located in Morogoro Municipality, and with travel to the field locations within Morogoro and Pwani regions.

2. Objectives of the Assignment

Under the supervision of the EHS Project Manager, the Private Sector Support Consultant will have the purpose of working with EHS Project Team, Training Providers (Implementing Partners) and Trainees’ Young Mothers in Morogoro and Pwani Regions to support young mothers trained by EHS project to better compete and to ensure their products and services are sold in the existing and new markets.

3. Key Tasks

The Private Sector Support Consultant will perform the following tasks:

• Assess the markets/buyers identified by the EHS Training Providers during the proposal preparation if they can still serve the purpose of providing reliable and suitable off taking services.
• Analyze the local market ecosystem relative to the young mothers’ enterprises in areas of project implementation
• Identify additional new buyers and other linkages who would buy the young mothers’ products.
• Enhance the young mothers’ability and assertiveness to dialogue and practically establish business relationships with the buyers and other private sector actors.
• Enhance the ability of the young mothers to be dynamic in finding new markets for their products in addition to the existing ones.
• Identify gaps existing within the mapped private sector companies and highlight how young mothers will fill the gaps, thereby enhancing a win-win situation in business undertaking.
• Develop and implement a plan to support young mothers’ enterprises access markets.
• Identify capacity gaps of young mothers’ enterprises in accessing and utilization of local markets for their products and how private sector companies can close the gaps.
• Develop ways that enhance business partnership between identified markets and other private sector actors and young mothers’ enterprises.
• Support the young mothers to determine costs and profitability of their businesses.
• Spearhead and lead Training Providers and the Project Team to identify relevant services that would help young mothers to enter their products into the existing and new markets.
• Train the young mothers with the marketing skills, including digital and other available new skills and test these with them during the consultancy period.
• Facilitate the actual linkages for access to inputs, public and private financial services.
• Work with the Project Team, Training Providers and Local Government Authorities to help the young mothers formalize their businesses.
• Develop training material and tools to be used in delivering marketing skills training and the implementation of business assertiveness training for young mothers.
• Produce training records and notes and share with the Project Manager on regularly basis for feedback purposes.

4. Key Deliverables

• A 2-3 pages brief presentation of methodology and approaches to be used in the market identification and undertaking the market linkage support to the project trainees.
• A set of tools to be used in the identification of potential markets/buyers and other private sector actors, the young mothers and other players where applicable.
• List of willing buyers met, with their names, type of businesses, names of their locations, and contact details.
• List of buyers who would have shown interest and those who bought the young mothers’ products and services.
• List of other private and public sector actors who have shown interest and those who have supplied the young mothers with various services.
• At least four young mothers’ organizations have been assisted to formalize of their businesses.
• A final report with annexes that presents an analysis of products and services that secured buyers, verified by presence of sales records to be submitted to Project Manager no later than 30th November 2024.

5. Timeframe and duration

The assignment will be carried out over the period of 3 months with 45 consulting days allocated for the assignment.

6. Required qualifications

• Practical experience in market identification and linkages targeting micro and small enterprises.
• Demonstrated ability and previous practical experience in supporting youth and young mothers with the establishment and further development of micro and small-scale income generating enterprises.
• Relevant technical and practical experience with the passion to empower youth and young mothers to secure (self-jemployment opportunities.
• Proven ability to identify, understand, strategically dialogue and tap into opportunities available with private and public sector actors.
• Ability to interact positively with buyers, input suppliers, government officials and partners.
• Experience in using Microsoft office package.
• Ability and readiness to work in supporting young mothers in proposed project locations.
• Good communication skills, attested by a good level of written and spoken English.

7. Administrative Clauses

• Detailed CV and applicant’s profile with previous client’s reference for similar assignments.
• Financial proposal showing the daily rate in Tanzanian Shillings and technical proposal outlining how the consultant will approach/implement the assignment.
• The payment of the fees is subject to the deliverables outlined under section 4 above and approval by the Project Manager.

8. Deadline

The consultant is requested to forward their proposal under the attention of Swisscontact Admin, tz_info@swisscontact.org. by 31st August 2024.