Summary of the assignment:

Nature of assignment	Short term
Location	Home Based with limited travel
Timeframe	60 Days
Reporting	To Executive Director/CEO

1. ABOUT EAST AFRICAN BUSINESS COUNCIL

The East African Business Council (EABC) is the umbrella body of the Private Sector in the East African Community (EAC). It brings together national private sector umbrella bodies, manufacturers, employers, bankers, insurance and transporters associations, chambers of commerce, corporates, and medium and small enterprises from the entire East African region.

EABC’s mandate is to represent and promote the interests of the EAC business community, provide value-added services that enhance trade and competitiveness, and to participate actively and positively influence legal and regulatory formulation to improve the business environment. EABC works with the majorstakeholders such as the EAC Secretariat, Organs, Institutions and National Governments and provides input in policy discussion while advocating for implementation of resolutions at the national level aimed at increasing intra-regional trade.

1. ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE (ITC)

The International Trade Centre (ITC) which is the joint technical cooperation agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. ITC aim to contribute to the achievement of the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, generates sustainable incomes and livelihoods especially for poor households, by connecting enterprises to regional and global markets and enables small business trade success in developing and transition countries by providing, with partners, inclusive and sustainable trade development solutions to the private sector, trade and investment support institutions (TISIs) and policymakers;

ITC’s intervention’s activities through it’s One Trade Africa program shall be focused on empowering, enhancing and enabling Youth owned MSMEs to access business opportunities placing a particular focus on ensuring women and youth are part of the continental market equation. Through its technical assistance and advisory services, ITC will support women and youth led enterprises to engage in green technology through the production of goods as well as service sectors.

1. Broadening customer reach by matching consumers and suppliers through established platforms. This also offers MSMEs the opportunity to access new markets both locally and internationally.
2. Lowering the cost of transacting through the integration innovative digital financial services such as mobile money. In East Africa in particular, mobile payment channels continue to feature strongly on digital platforms.
3. Offering online payment for offline MSMEs, which enables start-ups and MSMEs to manage, receive and track online payments from their customers.
4. Digitizing operations and providing access to affordable capital which helps small business grow by recording their sales, expenses, payables and receivables.
5. Enabling last mile delivery through courier services – mobile and in-app notifications are a crucial linkage to support this advantage. Such a last mile advantage will provide an advantage to accept online payments, track delivery and also offer insurance on packages.
6. BACKGROUND TO THE MSME IN BUSINESS PLATFORM DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, MSMEs may look to further rely on digital platform partnerships as a way to support their recovery, build resilience and drive future growth. The Digital platform will offer the following benefits for MSMEs:

For effective implementation of the SME Platform, EABC was selected by the International Trade Centre (ITC) as the lead implementing partner for this SME platform.

The ITC has provided financial support to the EABC in support of activities that will facilitate youth in export and imports business across East Africa. The proposed Youth in Business/SME platform will profile businesses and provide more market access to youth and women across East Africa.

The activities shall include the promotion of SME platform, with emphasis on increasing the participation of SMEs in intra-regional trade with a view to contributing to boosting intra-African trade and fast-tracking the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) through a didgital platform as well as a phone application that will facilitate flow of market access and realtime information flow on new business opportunities as well as market requirement and modern market trends.

The consultant will

    VI.            EXPECTED OUTPUTS

1. Multi-user Online portal and Mobile application (Andorid and iOS).
2. 24hr helpdesk (Whatsapp, Facebook, TikTOK, Instagram, SMS and AI Chatbot integration.
3. e- EABC Business Profiles and Directories integration
4. Regional NTBs reporting mechanism integration
5. Regional Private sector dispute reporting mechanism integration
6. e-training and certificate generation integration
7. e-ticketing trouble shooting integration for users

  VII.            scope of work

The consultant will work with EABC Executive Director and assigned programme staff to familiarize himself with the EABC work on EAC SMS’s and Private Sector platforms already undertaken, including all publications and other similar available platforms. The consutant will also work in partnership with ITC/EABC and its National Focal Points, Sector Associations to generate linkages with online databases of other organisation including the EAC Secretariat.

VIII.            QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

The suitable candidate should hold the following qualifications and key competencies:

1. Academic and Professional Experience: a first Degree in any of the following fields, Information Technology, Business Administration, International Trade, Trade Policy and Law or any other relevant field is required. (A Master degree or postgraduate qualification  will be a plus)
2. Work Experience:  A minimum of five (5) years’ demonstrable experience in application and platform design and development. The consultant must have capacity to carry out the study within the determined timeframe.
3. Proven track-record in related assignments.
4. Knowledge of EAC Integration and the AfCFTA.
5. Languages: Fluency in oral and written English is required as it is the main EAC working language. Good working knowledge of French and Kiswahili will be an advantage.
6. Additional Skills: Excellent computer skills (Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel), Email, analytical tools/software for data analysis, experience in working with internet searches, online databases, and data retrieval) are required.
7. Nationality: The position is only open Nationals of any of the EAC Partner States, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and South Sudan.

    IX.            MODE OF PAYMENT

Time	Amount to be paid
Upon Signing of Contract and submission of the inception report	25% of the total amount
Upon submission of Draft Online Platform	25% of the total amount
Upon submission of Draft Mobile Platform	25% of the total amount
Upon approval of Online Manual, training of Users and Commissioning	25%of the total amount

      X.            MODE OF PAYMENT

Send proposals to EABC Secretariat MAFAO HOUSE, 9^th Floor, Old Moshi Road, and P.O. Box 2617, Arusha, Tanzania or to procurement@eabc-online.com  clearly marked “Consultancy Services to develop an Online SME Platform”. The proposal should include current curriculum vitae, proposed methodology, work plan and a financial proposal.  The deadline for submission of the proposals is not later than 31^st January, 2022 at 17:00hrs EAT.

EABC is an equal opportunity employer thus recruitment is on merit and with no regard to one’s age, colour, gender, marital status, disability or impairment, race or creed. Canvassing shall lead to automatic disqualification. Environmental aspects will be taken into consideration.