Foreign economic-aid-related services

Tender description

LINKS will raise the incomes of at least 3 000 000 people in northern Nigeria, with specific challenging targets for women and people living with disability through new jobs, farming incomes and self-employment opportunities, including the creation of 100 000 non-primary production value chain jobs. The programme will focus on the development of high potential pro-poor value chains, supporting them to become productive, competitive and attractive for investment at every level. The programme will work primarily on value chains in the three key northern states of Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa, with high potential for growth and investment, and high pro-poor potential. These include several agriculture based value chains (e.g. staple crops such as rice, and high market value crops such as perishable fruits), renewable energy and off-grid power solutions, and Information and Communication Technology. DFID seeks a service provider to deliver a new flagship GBP 70 000 000 programme over a period of 7 years. The service provider will deliver investment promotion work and identify transformational commercial innovations, requiring significant specialist commercial and development expertise. LINKS will have two main pillars, Pillar 1 (investment) and Pillar 2 (innovation), delivered under a proactive and practical implementation plan, with much focus on transactional and direct activity, and purely advisory TA limited to highly targeted bottlenecks. The 2 pillars require 2 different skill/expertise profiles, but in reality are mutually interdependent and will work closely together as outlined below. Pillar 1: Investment — will primarily focus on attracting and facilitating investment into high potential value chains. As a secondary role Pillar 1 will also provide technical assistance to the state governments on the optimal targeting of infrastructure spending to where it is most likely to attract further private commercial investment, and on the use of appropriate investment incentive instruments. It will have a dedicated land team that will support LINKS, other DFID projects, and wider development partners around investment related land issues, and a dedicated business intelligence function, sourcing, appraising, packaging and disseminating useful local, business, market and context intelligence for use by both LINKS and other stakeholders. Finally, it will provide intensive capacity building support to state investment promotion agencies, and where necessary, the national investment promotion agency. The state investment promotion agencies are relatively young institutions, and in line with other state agencies have very limited budgets and experience. The LINKS theory of change involves in the initial years the project taking a direct and proactive role in investment promotion, gradually changing the balance towards the state IPA undertaking this role more effectively as their capacity and budget (through increased state revenues) builds. Pillar 2: Innovation — will scan for and support the introduction, testing and uptake of business “lubricating” innovations. These business “lubricants” are the many B2B services, utilities and products that can improve the competitiveness of productive value chains (marketing, logistics, human resources, communications, financial flows, access to information etc.). As well as providing job and income raising opportunities in their own right, a dynamic B2B products and services sector can enhance the competitiveness of the core value chains, and their attractiveness to investors. These new and often innovative businesses, through new ways and models of working, can also especially present economic opportunities for women and the disabled, around otherwise traditional core value chain businesses. Wherever possible LINKS will specifically focus on seeking and using local service providers that currently market themselves towards development funding, in order to develop their capacity to service the private sector on a commercial basis.