81296314 - Promotion of the competitiveness of the private sector in Togo - ProComp

Description

The program to promote the competitiveness of the private sector in Togo (Programme pour la promotion de la compétitivité du secteur privé au Togo; hereinafter: ProComp) is a bilateral private sector development project that is aiming to increase the competitiveness of the Togolese private sector. It focuses its interventions on Togolese micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the food industry (i.e. processing of agricultural products). The project is part of the reform partnership between Togo and Germany agreed in May 2021, which is intended to support the Togolese Government's reform course and ties in with the national reform agenda, the Feuille de Route Gouvernementale Togo 2025 and the national development plan (Plan de Développement National, PND) 2018-2022. It is also part of the joint programming with the European Union (EU). ProComp is currently commissioned for the timeframe 07/2022 until 06/2025. The project strategy aims to improve the legal and administrative framework for the Togolese private sector (especially MSMEs) as well as the services offered to MSMEs by different providers and support structures, so that MSMEs can increase their competitiveness. The core element of the strategy is to improve the MSME ecosystem (especially public and private support structures and advisory services) by strengthening institutions at the meso level. To achieve this goal, the capacities of government and private sector structures are developed and their networking with the target group of MSMEs is promoted. Capacity development of business service providers and support structures focuses on technical support to MSME and an improved business and investment climate (including in the areas of agricultural value chains, access to finance, quality infrastructure and trade). The target group of the project are managers and employees of MSMEs and partly cooperatives as well as job seekers. The project focuses on the manufacturing/industry sector, in particular on the processing of agricultural products and related sectors such as the production of fertilisers, seeds or packaging. Lot 1: This contract aims at supporting Togolese public and private institutions in the development and effective implementation of quality infrastructure services and digital traceability systems adapted to the needs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the local agro-processing sector as well as setting up a short-term expert pool to support the overall implementation of the programme "Promoting the competitiveness of the private sector" (ProComp) in Togo. The contract"s work packages regarding quality infrastructure and digital traceability (work packages 1 & 2) contribute to ProComp"s component 3, which is aiming at improving Togolese companies' access to international markets. The first work package aims to enable the full operationalisation of public food safety institutions and to widen the availability and quality of private food safety services through the development of and training on product certification programmes for agricultural/food products in demand on international (Europe, United States, ECOWAS, AfCFTA) markets (e.g. fruit juice, dried fruits, spices, cashew, cassava, shea, fonio and sesame). In the second work package, public and private institutions are supported in developing and implementing digital traceability systems for these products. To further support promising MSMEs" successful certification, the contractor will set up and manage a "MSME Quality Challenger Fund" to co-finance their certification costs through sub-contracts with accredited certification bodies. For these two work packages, a team consisting of a team leader (international long-term key expert) and three experts (national long-term key experts) is to be provided by the tenderer. The two (national and international) short-term expert pools that also form part of the contract go beyond the scope of quality infrastructure and digital traceability systems and target further aspects of the Togolese MSME ecosystem. This includes the development of agricultural value chains and contract farming (access to primary goods), development of financial systems (access to finance), investment promotion and fostering of linkages between foreign direct investments and local MSMEs, as well as business environment reform, economic policy and public-private dialogue. For these fields, the contractor is expected to provide the project with flexible, demand-driven advisory services, access to knowledge and technical backstopping, such as: applied research, diagnostic missions, data collection in the context of monitoring and evaluation, provision of strategic and operational advice, capacity assessment and capacity development activities, strategic development and implementation of projects and policies, on-site support to programme development, legislation drafting, negotiation and coordination with public/private partners and stakeholders, partnership development, civil society engagement and outreach including through social media, report drafting and peer review.