Request for Proposal: Terms of Reference – Consultancy for Proposal Writing Skills Training, September 2024

1. Background

The AECF, LLC (Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund) is a leading non-profit development organization that supports innovative enterprises in the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors with the aim of reducing rural poverty, promoting climate-resilient communities, and creating jobs.

We catalyze the private sector by surfacing and commercializing new ideas, business models, and technologies designed to increase agricultural productivity, improve farmer incomes, expand clean energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve resilience to the effects of climate

change. We finance high-risk businesses that struggle to access commercial funding; we are committed to working in frontier markets, fragile contexts, and high-risk economies where few mainstream financing institutions dare to go.

To date, we have supported over 400 businesses in 26 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, impacted more than 30 million lives, and created over 27,000 direct jobs.

AECF is headquartered in Kenya and has offices in Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Nigeria, South Sudan, Benin, and Somalia.

2. Objective of consultancy

This consultancy will design and facilitate a Proposal Writing Skills training exercise in October 2024. The training will cover all stages of proposal writing, including, but not limited to, expression of interest, research, and preparation, methodology design, understanding the objectives of an RfP, work plan development, budgeting, etc.

The training aims to:

• Enhance participant’s understanding of key proposal and technical report writing principles applicable to the context of development partners and donors.
• To develop participants’ skills in crafting clear, concise, and compelling proposals
• To provide practical strategies for identifying funding opportunities and tailoring proposals to meet the specific requirements of potential donors.
• To enhance participants’ understanding of the proposal writing process and best practices to increase their success rate in securing funding.
• Improve participants’ understanding and ability to communicate complex technical information effectively, enhance their skills in conducting research and analysis, and develop their proficiency in writing clear and concise reports.
• Equip participants with the knowledge and tools to produce professional-quality technical reports meeting donor standards and requirements.

The training will be customized for staff in programs and partnerships at all levels.

3. Scope of work:

The scope of this assignment includes the design, development, and delivery of a training session on Proposal Writing Skills explicitly tailored to the development sector. The training will cover proposal writing skills, technical and financial narratives to donors and development partners. The training session will be interactive, engaging, and designed to build practical skills that can be directly applied to enhance proposal writing and technical reporting within the context of the development sector.

The consultant will be expected to:

1. Design and facilitate a Proposal Writing Skills training for approximately 20 participants,
2. Through the Proposal Writing Skills Training, provide participants with:

• Knowledge about the key aspects of proposal writing.
• A means to analyze their target audience and tailor their proposal content to their needs.
• An understanding of the context of their proposal
• Proposal layouts (technical and financial) to aid in producing information clearly and logically.
• Practical exercises and tools to present proposals effectively and concisely.

4. Deliverable outputs and target dates:

The activities and expected outputs are as follows:

• Prepare and submit a course outline indicating the proposed course content and the training program.
• Submit an inception report describing the training methodology and approach.
• Deliver on-site and virtual training sessions.
• Facilitate a Proposal Writing Skills training exercise in October 2024.
• Provide relevant training materials on proposal writing skills to an internal and external audience. The training materials will include MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, and participant handouts (as required).
• Provide participants with feedback regarding their proposal writing pre-work.
• Provide the HR Unit with a feedback analysis report from participants on the five‐day training.
• Facilitate a post-training exercise to allow participants to build competencies and apply their expertise.
• Post-training report, including feedback analysis report on the exercise, recommendations, and next steps.

5. Qualifications/experience required

• At least 10 years of prior work experience in training and facilitation.
• Experience in evaluating training effectiveness and making improvements as needed.
• In-depth knowledge of proposal (technical and financial) writing principles relevant to the development finance sector.
• Ability to facilitate interactive and engaging learning experiences.
• Minimum university degree in Business Management, Finance, or other relevant qualifications or certifications in proposal or report writing skills.
• Have proven work experience with private sector /DFI space.
• Experience using various blended learning approaches, including virtual training and workshops.
• General understanding of the requirements for writing donor proposals and concept notes.
• Multi-cultural and multi-country training experience.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in developing training curricula and training materials.
• Excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills in English.

6. Reporting

The consultant/firm will report to AECF, Manager Strategic Initiatives.

7. Proposal submission

While submitting the proposal, the applicant shall ensure to attach the following:

• A profile of the consultant (max. three pages) explaining why they are the most suitable for the work.
• Relevant Experience (max two pages).
• Recent consultants’ CV (s).
• A proposed work plan, including timelines and budget breakdown.
• An understanding of the training requirements.
• Course outline including a summary of the content areas to be covered and daily program of activities.
• A detailed reference list indicates the scope and magnitude of similar assignments.
• Registration and other relevant statutory documents are required.
• Financial proposal in USD showing clearly the budgeted cost for the work to be conducted (to be submitted in a separate document from the technical proposal).
• Technical and Financials must be submitted separately
• The preferred format for the submission is PowerPoint or PDF

8. Evaluation Criteria

The AECF will form an evaluation committee that includes employees. The same standards of confidentiality will bind all members. The trainer/training provider should ensure they fully respond to all criteria to be comprehensively evaluated.

The AECF may request and receive clarification from any consultant when evaluating a proposal. The evaluation committee may invite some or all the consultants to appear before it to clarify their proposals. In such an event, the committee may consider clarifications in evaluating proposals.

In deciding the final selection of a qualified bidder, the technical quality of the proposal will be given a weighting of 80% based on the evaluation criteria. Only the financial proposal of those bidders who qualify technically will be opened. The financial proposal will be allocated a weighting of 20%, and the proposals will be ranked based on the total points scored.

9. Pricing

The AECF is obliged by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes on service contract fees and ensure VAT is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure that they clearly understand their tax position regarding provisions of Kenyan tax legislation when developing their proposals.

10. Application details

The AECF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The AECF considers all interested candidates based on merit without regard to race, sex, colour, national origin, religion, age, marital status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

• All clarifications and/or questions should be sent to aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org by 12^th September 2024, 5.00pm (EAT)
• The AECF invites qualified consultants/firms to send a proposal to aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org marked “Proposal Writing Skills—2024.” to receive no later than 18^th September 2024, 5.00 pm (EAT) time. addressed to: AECF, Procurement Department.

11. Disclaimer: AECF reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, the number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice, and the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party.
12. FAQs -Consultancy for Proposal Writing Skills Training, September 2024