Expression of Interest (EOI)for the Consultancy for Marketing and Business Development Support and Coaching (Clean Cooking Energy)

Expression of Interest (EOI)

Consultancy for Marketing and business development support and coaching (Clean cooking energy)

Reference Number: 83479776

Publication date: 10.12.2024

Introduction

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federally owned international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations. The GIZ Office in Kigali covers GIZ’s portfolio in Rwanda and Burundi. GIZ Rwanda/Burundi implements projects on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Union and other commissioning authorities in the following priority areas: Sustainable Economic Development; Good Governance; Climate, Energy and Sustainable Urban Development; Digitalization and Digital Economy; and regional projects in the Great Lakes Region.

Contents

General information

Brief information on the project

The Energising Development (EnDev) Programme is a strategic partnership of likeminded donors and partners to support access to modern energy. EnDev works in more than 20 countries around the globe – amongst them Rwanda – to provide access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy to deliver social, economic, and environmental change. EnDev started as a partnership between the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in 2005 with the initial purpose to provide sustainable energy access to 3 million people in its first three years. Today, it is an international flagship programme funded by Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland that has provided energy access to 31.6 million people with access to modern energy where by 24,2 million people with access to modern cooking solutions and 7.4 million people with electricity. EnDev is managed on a global level by GIZ and RVO.

Since 2020, EnDev through GIZ and in cooperation with SNV is implementing the Reducing Climate Impact of Cooking (ReCIC) in Rwanda (ReCIC) project, a five-years project funded by the European Union and Germany.

The ReCIC action, that is contributing to the EU’s Global Climate Change Alliance Plus (GCCA+) Initiative, aims to develop sustainable value chains for biomass cookstoves and fuels. In particular, the project supports companies to improve the production and dissemination of improved cookstoves and alternative fuels (pellets and briquettes) in Rwanda sustainably to reduce households’ reliance on firewood for cooking and the negative effects it has on health, environment, and the economy.

The project focuses on the following activities:

Establishing and implementing the so-called Cooking Energy Business Growth Fund (CEBGF): a business challenge fund that

• Targeting capable businesses to take part in a competitive challenge fund by establishing a strong and competitive ICS and alternative fuels production (companies or cooperatives) in Rwanda.
• Provides grant support to cooking energy businesses (companies and cooperatives) across Rwanda
• Providing technical support in product development, quality control, business development, distribution, and retailing channel strategy, including the development of business plans and marketing with branding development

 Providing Marketing and Promotion Support & Developing Finance Products to address the affordability gap

• Carrying out mass media campaigns, community mobilization and cooking demonstrations through the ReCIC NOZA IMITEKERE awareness raising campaign.
• Developing and launching new micro-credit financing model through a saving and credit scheme for clean cooking solutions.

 Lunching, establishing and implementing the Alternative Fuel challenges Fund: a fund challenge fund that:

• Enhancing the production capacity of companies and cooperatives that produce alternatives fuels in Rwanda market.
• Targeting capable businesses to take part in the competitive challenge fund by establishing a strong and competitive ICS and alternative fuels production (companies or cooperatives) in Rwanda.
• Provides grant support to cooking energy businesses (companies and cooperatives) across Rwanda
• Provides technical training to alternative fuel producer in terms of technical, marketing and business development support.
• Assist and support in testing of fuels and establish new retails network in Rwanda fuel market.

Context of consultancy

More than 76.1% of all Rwandan households depend on firewood for cooking, 17,3% on charcoal and only 5% of the households use clean technologies and fuels. This high reliance on biomass leads to the degradation of the country’s forest cover and has negative effects on climate, environment and user’s health.

ReCIC goals are in line with the Government of Rwanda’s clean cooking targets (NST 1) that seek to ensure that the dissemination of modern efficient biomass cookstoves reaches 80% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas, by 2030, now only 34% of households use ICS and there a moving towards in clean cooking practices by additional investment in different clean cooking technology that will be address the biomass dependency and achieved to the target of 80% in 2030.

In order to expand and increase the supply of improved biomass cookstoves, ReCIC has established its Cooking Energy Business Growth Fund (CEBGF) which aims to support the expansion of cookstove businesses in Rwanda. As part of the CEBGF, 13 cookstove businesses have been selected and supported by grant support as well as by technical assistance. The marketing and business development support included basic training and coaching sessions in sales and marketing, financial literacy (such as filing, recording, and bookkeeping), assistance in developing and updating business plans, and providing feedback and recommendations to both the companies and cooperatives involved in the project

In addition to the CEBGF, ReCIC is currently establishing an Alternative Fuel Challenge Fund (AFCF) with the aim to support the expansion of alternative fuel producing businesses (approx. up to five companies, while an overlap with the CEBGF is likely) in Rwanda. Analogous to the CEBGF, the companies participating in the AFCF will receive grant support but also technical assistance incl. various business development services, business investment and marketing analysis.

Rationale and scope of consultancy

The above-mentioned cooperatives as well as the majority of the local stove and alternative fuel producers still lack a proper understanding and capacity to develop and implement their business plans.

During previous training sessions offered to the CEBGF companies as well as ICS cooperative, the following has been done:

• Assessment of the status of ICS companies and cooperatives and identification of capacity-building needs
• Support the development of business plans.
• Provision of individualized coaching.
• Identification of safety and health concerns at various production sites.
• Description of points of failure in businesses’ investments in the clean cooking project (e.g., lack of equipment, capital, and technical skills).
• Provision of feedback to develop intervention points for demand-driven and tailored business development services for CEBGF companies and ICS cooperatives.

The CEBGF grantees developed business plans with substantial support; however, most still lack the necessary skills to independently operationalize and enhance their businesses. They remain insufficiently familiar with fundamental business management principles, including market segmentation, niche markets, and target audiences. Consequently, these companies and cooperatives continue to face challenges in achieving growth and expansion.

The following gaps have been identified in the previously assigned marketing and business development support:

• Lack of security and safety measures in different production sites or areas
• Facilitate and train company owners to adopt rules for all business activities that can enhance their market competitiveness.
• Lack of ICT and financial management systems, along with tax clearance issues, leading to bankruptcy or losses.
• Lack of business understanding, and marketing strategies and plans based on that understanding.
• Limited basic business and entrepreneurial skills for ICS companies and cooperatives.
• Lack of technical skills to promote their clean cooking solutions in the market.
• Lack of certified and labelled products to enhance their competitiveness.
• Lack of competition in the market for ICS and fuel companies and cooperatives.

Given this context, ReCIC is seeking a consultancy firm to collaborate with CEBGF and AFCF companies, as well as cooperatives in the Rwandan clean cooking sector. The firm will build on previous training sessions and recommendations/ gaps identified and design additional business development sessions aimed at enhancing the capabilities of these actors. They will offer training sessions focusing on in marketing, branding and logistics, financial literacy book-keeping and accounting, as well as proposal writing. This approach will help companies to further refine their strategies in response to newly introduced ministerial guidelines and explore new opportunities for business expansion and professionalization.

The contractor shall work closely with the ReCIC project team which will provide necessary inputs and guidance, related to the context of the AFCF, CEBGF, and cooperatives.

GIZ shall hire the contractor for the anticipated contract term, from 01.01.2025 to 31.05.2025

The services described in Section 4 shall be provided until 30.04.2024.

The contractor shall provide the following work/service:

Inception and Needs Assessment Report

• Contractor will provide an outlined operational plan reflecting on the discussion held during the inception meeting.
• Identification and description of specific needs of the CEBGF winners, ICS cooperatives and AFCF companies to effectively implement their growth/business plans in the fields of product (ICS and fuel) development, production, quality management, marketing, sales and retail system development, and other tailor-made capacity strengthening activities.
• The identified gaps will build the basis for the training modules. The content/ focus of the modules are described in the report.

Training, Coaching and Mentoring

• Based on the needs assessment, the contractor will design and implement training modules for business developmentin both English and Kinyarwanda. Capacity-building interventions will be developed and implemented e.g: through classroom training, followed by more individual coaching and mentoring tailored to the specific needs of the companies and cooperatives. At the end of the training, the trainees should have developed an individual strategy to either be able to participate in other clean cooking programmes or being a trustworthy partner for banks.

• The contractor will develop and implement a trainingmodule on proposal writing (including business, grant, research, and project proposals) for e.g. expressions of interest or other competitive opportunities targeting clean cooking companies and

The contractor implements the following workshops/study trips/training courses

• 5-days Training session for 2 ICS cooperatives (à 10 representatives) in Musanze District.
• 5-days Training session for 2 ICS cooperatives ((à 10 representatives) in Muhanga District.
• 5-days Training session for 6 CEBGF companies (à 3 representatives) at four days in Musanze District.
• 5-days Training session for 6 CEBGF companies (à 3 representatives) in Rubavu District.
• 5-days Training session for 5 AFCF companies (à 4 representatives) in location (District) to TBC.

the presented plan is just a suggestion. The contractor is welcomed to propose another form of clustering where it makes sense

Reports and other deliverables:

• Provision of a comprehensive report with findings and recommendationsto all CEBGF, AFCF companies and cooperatives on how they can expand their business and leverage additional funds. The report should also contain a self-assessment matrix for each company that want to expand their business.
• Support the ReCIC team in updating both the digital and physical versionsof the logbook to reflect the current stove portfolio and train the participants on how to use it.

Additional responsibilities of the contractor:

• The contractor is responsible for develop, preparing training manuals and implementing the training manuals and
• The contractor is responsible for independently steering the CEBGF and AFCF companies and cooperatives.
• The contractor manages costs and expenditures, accounting processes and invoicing in line with the requirements of GIZ.
• The contractor reports regularly to GIZ in accordance with the current AVB of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

Period of assignment: from 01.01.2025 to 30.05.2025.

Milestones/partial works	Date/location/responsibility	Criteria for acceptance
Inception meeting with GIZ EnDev ReCIC Project and other relevant stakeholders	After two days of contract signing between GIZ and Consultancy Firms. (1 Working day)	Inception meeting done
Inception and needs assessment	6th January 2025 (5 Working days)	Inception and needs assessment report received and approved
Capacity Development Plan including: Marketing training manual and modules. Business development and financial training manual and modules. Module focussing on proposal writing to be enabled to apply for grants, RBF programmes etc.	20th January 2025 (7 working days)	Training materials and modules prepared and approved
Training sessions: Conducting consecutive class training in Musanze and Muhanga District. Conducting consecutive class training in Musanze and Rubavu. Conducting consecutive class training to AFCF Companies and others. proposal writing to all above categories of companies and cooperatives will be training. Log-book revision based on the old one used by the companies and cooperatives.	03 to 07/02/2025 – Musanze (5Days). 10 to 14/02/2025 – Muhanga (5Days). 17 to 21/02/2025 – Rubavu (5Days). 24 to 28/02/2025 – Musanze (5Days). 03 to 07/03/2025 – TBC (5Days)  This plan can be re-schedule based on conflicting or unplanned events (25 working days)	Training sessions carried out
Feedback sharing to the Companies and cooperatives.	21. March 2025 (1 working days)
Presentation of draft assessment completion report	28. March 2025 (0.5 working days)
Final assignment completion and submission report	10. April 2025 (0.5 working days)

 Inputs of GIZ or other actors

GIZ and/or other actors are expected to make the following available:

• GIZ will schedule and invite to the inception meeting to clarify open questions and clarify the scope of the assignment
• GIZ will be responsible to invite all CEBGF, ICS cooperatives and AFCF cooperatives and companies.
• Logistics for the training sessions (including venues and meals) will be organized by GIZ.

Tender requirements

Qualifications of proposed staff

The tenderer is required to propose personnel for the positions specified here and described with respect to the areas of responsibility and qualifications on the basis of relevant CVs.

The below specified qualifications represent the requirements to reach the maximum number of points in the technical assessment.

Tasks of the Team Leader

• Overall responsibility for the advisory packages of the contractor (quality and deadlines)
• Coordinating and ensuring communication with GIZ, partners and others involved in the project.
• Must ensure the quality of the trainings, manual and reports in all milestones.
• Team leader is responsible for informing GIZ about challenges and delays.
• Personnel management, and good understanding of the clean cooking sector and private sector development in Rwanda.
• Must ensure that all manuals must be in two languages (English and Kinyarwanda versions).
• Regular reporting in accordance with deadlines.

General qualifications

• Education: Master’s degree or equivalent in business administration and development, banking and finance or economics or related field.
• Professional experience: 8 years of professional experience in business administration, finance and banking.
• 5 years as well as business coaching and business advisory services, preferably for SMEs working in the energy / clean cooking sector in developing countries.

 Experience in the region/knowledge of the country

• 3 years of experience in related projects in East African Countries (EAC), of which 2 years in projects in Rwanda

Language skills:

• C2-level in English and Kinyarwanda, French is an asset.

Expert 2: Finance and Management Expert 

Tasks of key expert 1:

• Re-develop and update ReCIC logbook from hard copies to a digital tool (e.g. Excel sheets).
• (Further) developfinancial tools which will be used to collect, monitor and analyze sales records, revenues and expenditures of the AFCF, CEBGF companies and cooperatives aligned with different the partner companies or cooperatives.
• Develop a record-keeping training manual that includes practical examples for training sessions on the redeveloped logbook, focusing on electronic data recording and data analysis at the ICS companies and cooperative level.
• Leading the full day training, engaging with company and cooperative representatives and other potential participants of the workshops to ensure their participation.
• Formulate the coaching and training clusters of the CEBGF and AFCF companies, as well as ICS cooperatives, during training sessions based on the gaps identified in the assessment report.

General qualifications

• Education: Master’s degree or equivalent in Business Administration, management, Accounting, Controlling or Banking and Finance or in a related field Professional experience: 5 years of experience in financing/accounting
• 4 years of experience in capacity development for SMEs and entrepreneurs, focusing on financial literacy and technical skills, including financial recording, filing, controlling, bookkeeping, and reporting related to various financial statements (income, bank, and profit and loss analysis) As well as demonstrated experience managing project activities related to capacity development, trainings etc.

Experience in the region/knowledge of the country

3 years of experience of working in related projects in EAC, of which 2 years in projects in Rwanda.

 Language skills:

C2 -level in English and Kinyarwanda.

Expert 2: Marketing and Communication Expert 

Tasks of key expert 2:

• Develop a training manual and module focusing on marketing strategies in English and Kinyarwanda
• Implement a practical training sessions for all companies and cooperatives to evaluate their current marketing strategy, distribution chains and activities and advise them how to improve based on the gaps identified.
• Assist the CEBGF and AFCF companies as well as the cooperative in integrating the new / revised strategies into their business plan while considering different rural and peri-urban contexts.
• Leading the marketing and sales training session during the training with structure evaluation performance survey to all training participants from the companies and cooperatives.
• Designing and conducting the proposal writing training.

General qualifications

• Education: Master’s degree or equivalent in Business Administration, Marketing management, economics and Communications or equivalent.
• Professional experience: 6 years of experience in working in marketing and sales
• 4 years of experience in marketing and branding, communication, event coordination and a minimum of 2 years of experience in coaching and capacity development with regards to the development and implementation of suitable marketing strategies and branding.
• As well as demonstrated experience in managing project activities related to capacity building, trainings.

Experience in the region/knowledge of the country

4 years of experience in working in related project in East African Countries of which 3 years in projects in Rwanda.

Language skills:

C2 -level in English and Kinyarwanda is a must.

Quantitative requirements

Per-diem and overnight accommodation allowances are reimbursed as a lump sum up to the maximum amounts permissible under tax law for each country as set out in the country table in the circular from the German Federal Ministry of Finance on travel expense remuneration (download at https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de).

All travel activities must be agreed in advance with the staff member responsible for the project.

Sustainability aspects for travel

GIZ would like to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (CO₂ emissions) caused by travel. When preparing your tender, please incorporate options for reducing emissions, such as selecting the lowest emission booking class (economy) and using means of transport, airlines and flight routes with a higher CO₂ efficiency. For short distances, travel by train (second class) or e-mobility should be the preferred option.

If they cannot be avoided, CO₂ emissions caused by air travel should be offset. GIZ specifies a budget for this, through which the carbon offsets can be settled against evidence.

The market for carbon credits is made up of a large number of providers, each with different claims as to their climate impact. The Development and Climate Alliance has published a list of standards. GIZ recommends using the standards specified there.

Fee days	Required experts	Number of days for each expert	Comments
Preparation/ debriefing	Team Leader: Business Development Expert	3	Inception Meeting Inception and needs assessment report Development and preparation of training materials and modules Debriefing and feedback to GIZ and participants
	Key Expert I: Finance and Management Expert	6
	Key Expert II: Marketing and Communication Expert	6
Implementation	Team Leader: Business Development Expert	5	• Carrying out training sessions
	Key Expert I: Finance and Management Expert	10
	Key Expert II: Marketing and Communication Expert	10
Other costs	Number	Amount per experts	Comments
Travel expenses	Number experts	Numbers of days	comments
Fixed Travel Transport	3	40 days for all Experts.	A budget is earmarked for travel within Rwanda and will be paid against the evidence. You can find further information on the travel expense budget in the ‘Price schedule’ document. Please use the ‘Explanations’ column in the price schedule to break down the individual items. Settlement is possible only until the Budget is depleted. **Note: there are no per diem allowed because that cost will be covered by the hotel service.
	Numbers of experts	Numbers of nights	comments
Per Diem allowances	3	40 days for all experts.
Fixed Accommodation expense.	3	40 days for all experts.	The budget contains the following costs and will be reimbursed with the regards of the TOR sections. The accommodation will be paid based on the expert’s days against the evidence.

Calculate your financial bid exactly in line with the quantitative requirements of the specification of inputs above. There is no contractual right to use up the full days/travel or workshops or budgets. The number of days/travel/workshops and the budgets will be contractually agreed as maximum amounts. The regulations on pricing are contained in the price schedule.

Since the contract to be concluded is a contract for works, you should offer your services at a fixed lump sum price, which provides an itemised breakdown of all the relevant costs (fees, travel costs, etc.). The specification of inputs should provide guidance in this respect. The assessment of the financial bid is based on the lump sum price tendered, which must be realistic for the services to be rendered. In the contract itself, the budgets will be contractually agreed as maximum amounts.

 Conceptual

The tender should indicate how the services outlined in Section I.4 (Tasks) are to be provided. Reference should be made to the following criteria:

Note: The numbers in parentheses correspond to the lines of the technical assessment grid.

Technical-methodological concept

Strategy (1.1): The tenderer is required to consider the tasks to be performed with reference to the objectives of the services put out to tender (see Chapter 1 Context) (1.1.1). Following this, the tenderer presents and justifies the explicit strategy with which it intends to provide the services for which it is responsible (see Chapter 2 Tasks to be performed) (1.1.2).The tenderer is required to present the actors relevant for the services for which it is responsible and describe the cooperation (3.2) with them. The tenderer is required to present and explain its approach to steering the measures with the project partners (3.3) and its contribution to the results-based monitoring system (3.3).

The tenderer is required to describe the key processes for the services for which it is responsible and create an operational plan or schedule (3.4) that describes how the services according to Chapter 4 (Tasks to be performed by the contractor) are to be provided. In particular, the tenderer is required to describe the necessary work steps and, if applicable, take account of the milestones and contributions of other actors (partner contributions) in accordance with Chapter 4 (Tasks to be performed) (1.4.2). The tenderer is required to describe its contribution to knowledge management for the partner (1.5.1) and GIZ and to promote scaling-up effects (1.5.2) under learning and innovation.

Project management of the contractor (1.6)

The tenderer is required to explain its approach for coordination with the GIZ project. In particular, the project management requirements specified in Chapter 2 (Tasks to be performed by the contractor) must be explained in detail.

The tenderer is required to draw up a personnel assignment plan with explanatory notes that lists all the experts proposed in the tender; the plan includes information on assignment dates (duration and expert days) and locations of the individual members of the team complete with the allocation of work steps as set out in the schedule.

Requirements on the format of the tender

The CV submitted for each expert can have a maximum of four pages. The concept (if required) should not exceed five pages. If one of the maximum page lengths is exceeded, the content appearing after the cut-off point will not be included in the assessment. External content (e.g. links to websites) will also not be considered).

Submission of offer: The Expression of Interest should contain the following:

Technical Proposal:

• A cover letter expressing your interest in this assignment
• Technical Proposal (attached template for technical proposal MUST be used)
• Company registration certificate (RDB)
• VAT-Registration Certificate
• Latest tax clearance certificate
• Up to date CVs of proposed experts
• Self-declaration of eligibility
• At least 3 proofs of successful completion of related assignments.
• Organizational profile and structure
• Proposed activities and plan and responsibility division among the team members.

 Financial Proposal: Financial offer indicates the all-inclusive total contract price, supported by a breakdown of all costs as described in the specification of inputs. Your EoI has to be submitted in 2 separated emails to RW_Quotation@giz.de until 29/12/2024

The technical offer has to be submitted in PDF format and as attachment to the email with the subject: Technical offer 83479776

The financial offer has to be submitted in PDF format and the price must be in Rwandan Francs and VAT excluded (if applicable) and as attachment to the email with the subject: Financial offer 83479776 If the emails exceed the default email size of 30MB, offers can be exceptionally submitted through https://filetransfer.giz.de/ Offers submitted through any other sharing platform, as google documents or similar will not be considered.

Offers submitted in hard copy will not be considered.

GIZ reserves all rights.

Annex:

• Technical Proposal template
• Technical assessment grid

Self-declaration of eligibility