Hiring of a Firm to Conduct Investment Sector Profile, Lead Generation, and Carry out Capacity Building for Investment Promotion. Ref. No.: LR-MOCI-371004-CS-QCBS.

Assignment Title: Hiring of a Firm to Conduct Investment Sector Profile, Lead Generation, and Carry out Capacity Building for Investment Promotion.

Ref. No.: LR-MOCI-371004-CS-QCBS.

Procurement Method: Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) Method

Duration: 12 Months

Background 

The Republic of Liberia through the Ministry of Commerce & Industry has received Financing from the International Development Association (IDA) towards the cost of implementing the Liberia Investment, Trade & Finance Project (LIFT-P) and it intends to apply part of the proceeds of the Financing towards payments under the contract for Hiring of a Consultant as per the above table, for the National Investment Commission (NIC), under the Liberia Investment, Finance and Trade Project (LIFT-P) of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The overall objective of the LIFT-P is to improve the investment climate, expand sustainable access to finance, and increase the efficiency of trade in Liberia and help formal MSMEs recover from the impact of the COVID-19. The LIFT-P is an explicit contributor to the FY19-FY24 Country Partnership Framework (CPF) 

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment can be found below. 

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry now invites eligible Consulting Firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The shortlisting criteria are listed as per the Terms of Reference attached. 

The Consultant must have minimum qualifications and experience as per the Terms of Reference.
Key Experts will not be evaluated at the shortlisting stage.
The Consulting Firm will be selected in accordance with the Quality and Cost Based Selection Method as set out in the Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers dated July 2016 as Revised in November 2017, August 2018 and November 2020. 
Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours, i.e., 0900 to 1600 hours GMT, Monday to Friday. 
Expressions of Interest must be delivered in written forms to the address below (in person, or by
mail, or by fax, or by e-mail) on or before Monday September 18, 2023. Please indicate the title of assignment in your submission with subject: 
“Re: Hiring of a Firm to Conduct Investment Sector Profile, Lead Generation, and Carry out Capacity Building for Investment Promotion; Ref. No.:LR-MOCI-371004-CS-QCBS”.
.

Liberia Investment, Finance and Trade Project (LIFT-P)
Attn: Mr. James Gayflor Quiqui 
Project Coordinator
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (EJS) Ministerial Complex 
Congo Town
Monrovia, Liberia
Tel: +231 777 240 201/775 654 713 
E-mail: jamesquiqui@gmail.com 
Cc: vanyanbah.julius@yahoo.com/ fahnco76@yahoo.com 
 

Terms of Reference 

Consulting services to Conduct Investment Sector Profile, Lead Generation, and Carry out Capacity Building for Investment Promotion
 

Background

The Liberia Investment, Finance and Trade (LIFT) Project is a World Bank initiative aimed at supporting and promoting economic growth in Liberia.  Under this project, the National Investment Commission is looking to expand its investment promotion efforts to larger markets with investors that have the potential for expansion, improve its capacity to effectively promote investment and attract foreign investment, and conduct a comprehensive analysis of the Fishery/Aquaculture, Tourism, Infrastructure (Road, Seaport, Airport, Rail & ICT), Mining, Health, Transportation/Logistic, Energy and Manufacturing sectors in the Liberian economy.
These sectors’ profiles will provide valuable insights into the current state of each sector, its key players, challenges, and investment opportunities.

Project Description
The proposed project is an explicit contributor to the FY19-FY24 Country Partnership Framework (CPF) Pillar I: Strengthening Institutions and Creating an Enabling Environment for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth. Specifically, the project implements Objective 3 of the CPF, which seeks a more enabling environment for the development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The proposed project furthers the CPF’s objective by fostering the emergence of an inclusive private sector through a more hospitable investment climate, expanding access to finance, and stronger market governance. The proposed project envisions the removal of key regulatory constraints and will facilitate trade and expand access to finance. Specifically, the proposed project will focus on (i) the regulatory areas where Liberia ranks low on Doing Business indicators, (ii) the implementation of the Financial Sector Development Implementation Plan and National Financial Inclusion Strategy, (iii) the implementation of the Insolvency and Restructuring Law adopted in 2017, and (iv) support for Liberia’s implementation of commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Trade Facilitation Agreement, since the adoption of the long-awaited Customs Code.
The project supports the Jobs and Economic Transformation (JET) framework for Liberia and its two pillars on which the outcomes sit: better market functioning and improved firm capabilities. In doing so, the project targets six of the ten-building block in this framework as a complement to other parallel activities under the Liberia CPF supporting macroeconomic management, infrastructure services, employment policy, and human capital. The project takes account of the Government Recovery Program (GRP) project that seeks to support otherwise viable growth-oriented private enterprises that were adversely impacted by the effects of the pandemic. As the mechanism for firm-level support is structured, guardrails will be established to prevent adversely impacting financial discipline and commercial credit underwriting needed for a sustained recovery. At the same time, with various indicators highlighting access to finance as an issue, attention to expanding digital financial services (DFS) is needed.
In addition to its contribution to the Jobs agenda, the proposed project design supports a range of IDA priorities including Gender, Climate, Governance, Fragility, Conflict & Violence, and Maximizing Finance for Development (MFD). The project will ensure that women-oriented training and eligibility will be included in firm support and financial access component by deliberately incorporating, in the design of project activities, features that seek to address the identified gaps between men and women with respect to their participation in economic activity in the country, especially around differential constraints and performance between women-owned and men-owned firms. These include reforms to the business environment (e.g., registration, permits, and access to finance), as well as activities to support SMEs and entrepreneurs. The project will monitor the extent to which activities are contributing toward closing gender gaps by measuring, among other things: (i) the number of women-led MSMEs with a loan through the project; and (ii) the percentage of women that are covered by the credit registry.
Finally, as a foundational project to strengthen the public sector’s ability to facilitate the growth of the private sector on a sustainable basis, significant efforts will be devoted to institution-building activities in key agencies. In this light, the project’s concept identifies the strengthening of institutional functioning, streamlining of business processes, and use of automation to lower costs, improve services and remove face-to-face interactions.
Thus, the overall objective of the proposed project is to improve the investment climate, strengthen firm capabilities, expand financial access, and help formal MSMEs recover from the impact of COVID-19.

The project is structured to have 4 components. 
Component I. Improved Environment for Trade, Investment, and Business Entry: This component aims to support Business Environment Reforms that will focus on improvements in Liberia’s regulatory environment by strengthening key institutions providing Government Business (G2B) services covering international trade, national quality services, and business entry.
Component II: Fostering Firm Capabilities to Trade and Competitiveness: This component aims to strengthen the firm capabilities of SMEs including women-led businesses and strengthen Liberia’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. It will do so through the provision of specialized business consulting services and training. It will also seek to strengthen the capacity of Business Development Service providers.  
Component III. Expanding Access to Finance: This component will support MSME Access to Finance; Court Automation, and Digital Financial Inclusion, which includes the Payments Switch, Credit Registry, and Agent Banking.
Component IV: Project Management and M&E will finance project management activities including fiduciary responsibilities, procurement, financial management, communication, coordination, dissemination, as well as M&E and impact evaluation.

CERC (Contingent Emergency Response Component: This is a provisional zero amount component to allow for rapid reallocation of loan proceeds from other project components during an emergency.  
Further details are available in the Project Appraisal Document for the LIFT Project (P171997), available online on the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and World Bank’s websites.  

Description of the Assignment 

The National Investment Commission is seeking the services of a firm to provide a team of experts with specific knowledge in three (3) fields: Investment Lead Generation, Capacity Building in Investment Promotion, and Sector Profiling. 
The Investment Lead Generation component aims to develop a pipeline of high-quality investment projects at the early (or lead) stage that will eventually be supported by domestic and/or foreign investors who seek to invest in the Liberian market, across sectors. Therefore, the investment lead generation consultant will be responsible for:
⦁    Identifying target markets and potential investors.
⦁    Developing and executing investment lead generation strategies to attract quality investors.
⦁    Qualifying investment leads to ensure they are relevant and interested in Liberia.
⦁    Setting up meetings to be held in the Liberian market and at the investors’ headquarters.
The Capacity Building in Investment Promotion component intents to build the capacity of the National Investment Commission in investment promotion. The firm will be responsible for the following:
⦁    Assessing the current capacity of the Investment Promotion Department of NIC.
⦁    Developing a capacity-building plan to improve the staff investment promotion skills and knowledge.
⦁    Delivering training and capacity-building activities to staff in the following:
⦁    FDI Strategies and Report Preparation
⦁    Investment Promotion Strategies
⦁    Communication Strategies
⦁    Digital Marketing; and
⦁    Branding
⦁    Providing recommendations for further improvement of the investment promotion activities.

The Sector Profile component is to gain a comprehensive understanding of each business sector in Liberia. Therefore, the profiles will include the following:
⦁    Sectors will include tourism, transportation (air, land and sea), furnature, textile, entertainment, agriculture, and mining, etc.
⦁    An overview of the sector, including its history, size, and significance.
⦁    A description of the sector's current and existing value chains, including production processes, distribution channels, and end-use segments.
⦁    An analysis of the sector's current state, including trends, market drivers, and constraints.
⦁    An examination of the sector's current key players, including market leaders, major suppliers, and customers.
⦁    An analysis of the sector's challenges and opportunities for growth, including a SWOT analysis.

Rationale for the Assignment 
Under the LIFT-P, the Government of Liberia, through the NIC, seeks to create an enabling environment for trade and investment and send a clear message to the rest of the World that Liberia is open for business and is an ideal destination for trade and investment. Liberia as a country is endowed with tremendous natural resources; the country provides one of the best destinations for tourism but there is little sector-specific information for investment areas to be promoted with a carefully prepared promotion package containing information on the opportunities that exist in Liberia. The investment lead generation and investment profiling of this assignment is therefore necessary to research and provide insights to the outside world about Liberia. 

Scope of the Consultancy 

The firm will be tasked with but not limited to the following specific areas:
Lead Generation
⦁    Conducting market research to identify target markets and companies.
⦁    Developing and executing lead generation strategies and missions.
⦁    Qualifying investment leads to ensure they are relevant, and the investors are interested in Liberia.
⦁    Providing the client with a comprehensive list of qualified investment leads, including contact information and a summary of the lead investor's interest.

Capacity Building in Investment Promotion
⦁    Conducting a capacity assessment of the investment promotion activities.
⦁    Developing a capacity-building plan, including training modules and activities.
⦁    Delivering training and capacity-building activities to the investment promotion department staff, including workshops, training sessions, and one-on-one coaching.
⦁    Providing recommendations for further training and other possible solutions.

Sector Profile
⦁    The firm will be responsible for conducting a comprehensive analysis of each sector.
⦁    A sector profile report, including an executive summary, main findings, and recommendations.
⦁    A value proposition of each sector 

Specific deliverables 

The firm should submit the following deliverables. The firm may also propose additional deliverables based on its proposed approach and methodology. 
Lead Generation
⦁    A comprehensive list of qualified leads, including contact information and a summary of the lead's interest.
⦁    Plan and execute the lead generation mission with the NIC team
⦁    A report summarizing the lead generation strategies and their results.

Capacity Building in Investment Promotion

⦁    A capacity assessment report, including a summary of the current state of NIC's investment promotion capacity and recommendations for improvement.
⦁    A capacity-building plan, including training modules and activities.
⦁    A final report summarizing the training and capacity-building activities and their results.

Sector Profile
⦁    A sector profile report, including an executive summary, main findings, and recommendations.
⦁    A value proposition of the sector     

Approach and Implementation Arrangements 

The consulting firm will execute the assignment and will be monitored by NIC’s focal person and the LIFT-P’s Project Implementation Unit, as the implementing body for the Liberia Investment, Finance, and Trade Project, will play a key coordinating and leadership role in ensuring that the consulting firm delivers as per the agreement. In addition, the service provider will work closely with the National Investment Commission or its focal person to deliver on this assignment.  

Experience 

The firm should be able to demonstrate extensive experience and successful delivery of measurable Business Expansion, Retention and Investment results in sub-Saharan Africa working with both public and private sector stakeholders. 
The firm selected for this assignment should be able to partner with local firm for the transfer of knowledge. The firm should have at least five (5) years of relevant experience in each of the components described above and in addition:
⦁    Be fluent in English
⦁    Able to work with and support senior executives (CEO and Minister level) in both public and private sectors
⦁    Excellent communication skills (written and verbal)
⦁    Good working knowledge of MS Office products
⦁    Relevant academic and professional qualifications
⦁    Able and willing to work for long periods in Liberia

Key Experts
 

Qualifications

The Project is seeking to hire the services of a consulting firm that possesses the following attributes in terms of qualification: 

The shortlisting criteria are: 
⦁    Consultant Experience relevant to the Assignment 
⦁    Competency/Qualification of the Consultant relevant to the Assignment 
⦁    Consultant regional experience in Liberia or a similar context as Liberia.
⦁    Consultant networking capacity and links to regional and international buyers

Duration of Consultancy

Each component of this project is expected to be completed in 12 months.
 

Reporting Arrangements 

The consultant will provide regular progress updates to the National Investment Commission through its Executive Director to ensure work is delivered on schedule and with the expected quality. All written report is to be discussed in full of the workgroup, and this should be reflected within the final version of the information being written. After the project, the consulting firm will submit a final report, subject to full approval, from the National Investment Promotion, regarding the document acceptance and disagreements.