Country: Ethiopia
Closing date: 05 Jul 2019
Description
AFTERCARE EXPERT FOR ETHIOPIAN INVESTMENT COMMISSION (‘’EIC’’)
A. INTRODUCTION
Enterprise Partners (“EP”) is seeking an aftercare expert to analyze the current administrative, operational and strategic support the aftercare directorate is giving to investors to identify the gaps and recommend best practices to make the facilitation process efficient at the Ethiopian Investment Commission.
B. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
- Enterprise Partners (EP)
DAI Europe, together with consortium partners, is managing Enterprise Partners (EP), which aim to support and transform the private sector and Ethiopia’s continued economic growth over seven years. EP is utilising the Making Markets Work for the Poor approach (M4P) and has two main pillars to achieve the goal of integrating the poor, and especially women, in sustainable economic enterprises that create jobs and improve incomes.
- Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC)
The Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) is an autonomous government institution accountable to the Ethiopian Investment Board, which is chaired by the Prime Minister. The Commissioner, who is also a member of the Board, heads the EIC. The EIC has restructured itself recently with a view to becoming more effective at attracting FDI and improving the services provided to investors.
C. BACKGROUND SPECIFIC TO THIS ASSIGNMENT
Over the last decade, Ethiopia has recorded one of the fastest economic growths in the world and has received a growing amount of foreign direct investment (FDI). In 2017, East Africa received 7.6 billion in FDI; nearly half of the FDI was absorbed by Ethiopia. The main gateway to foreign investment is the EIC. Enabling the EIC to become a fast-paced service-delivery and performance institution is expected to grow this trend three-fold by improving communications, standardize processes and thereby facilitate foreign investments.
Ethiopia‘s success at attracting investment has come from a combination of strong fundamentals: including highly competitive input costs (in particular for labour and energy) and preferential access to major markets; and effective investment promotion: including a competitive incentives package and the provision of an increasingly integrated suite of services for export-focused investors delivered through an expanding network of industrial parks. At the same time, the authorities are introducing a raft of reforms to improve the broader investment and doing-business environment.
Whilst attracting new investors remains a priority, the EIC has long recognized the need to ensure that investors are able to effectively operate once established in Ethiopia.
The EIC currently operates an aftercare programme - the Relationship Building Programme (RBP) which was established in 2014. The programme has set an ending follow up system to check the progress of companies from the stage of pre-implementation all the way to operation and continues as long as the company exists.
Since the establishment of the RBP, the political, economic and institutional environment - including the EIC itself has changed significantly. The EIC’s management consider that now is the right time to take stock of the approach to aftercare and review its fitness for purposes going forward in light of the development’s outlined above, and developments in global best practice - where relevant.
A central issue is determining the appropriate level of ambition of the aftercare function should aim to deliver considering the EIC’s competing priorities and the resources at its disposal: Should the aftercare function simply focus on providing reliable and effective administrative services that facilitate the operations of foreign firms – for example in obtaining business licenses and work permits; should it aim to also deliver? Should it be more ambitious and aim to effectively deliver operational services that support the effective and efficient operations of foreign firms e.g. support for training, identifying local suppliers and cluster development to improve productivity and competitiveness? Or should it be more ambitious still and aim to deliver more strategic services by developing long-term strategic partnerships with high-quality investors to facilitate the expansion and upgrading of their business, for example, support to the development of new, higher value-added products and nurturing local suppliers to international standards.
The purpose of this consultancy is to provide high-quality analysis and advice the EIC that supports the development of a new strategy for aftercare.
Therefore, Enterprise Partners is looking to assess the current aftercare systems to better support and retain investors by identifying the key challenges, constraints and opportunities to frame a strategy to improve the service delivery of the EIC.
D. SCOPE OF WORK
The expert will be expected to help provide analytical inputs that assists the EIC in developing an ambitious but realistic aftercare strategy that builds on the existing aftercare programme while taking account of the opportunities and constraints that emerge from the current developments in the economic and institutional environment. This analysis will be expected to cover the following areas:
- Analysis of political, economic and institutional developments and their implications for the investment environment, investors and the aftercare function.
This should cover at a minimum the following topics:
• Evolving government strategic priorities: Review developments in GoE priorities – sectors, investment strategies, etc since the development of the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II).
• Relevant policy reforms: e.g. The new investment proclamation, the privatisation programme for key state-owned enterprises, the reform of incentives package.
• Institutional developments: e.g. developments in intergovernmental coordination mechanisms and their implications for aftercare, the rise of regional investment promotion agencies.
- Analysis of the existing Investor community
This should seek to answer at a minimum the following questions:
• Who are the major investors in Ethiopia (understanding the current investors stock, flow and trend)?
o What sectors are the investors operating in?
o What is the type of investments (M&A, JV, etc.)?
o What is the structure of the investor (subsidiaries, etc.)?
o How much capital is committed vs. distributed?
o What are the capital instruments and components (equity vs. loan; intercompany loan vs. local loans / international loans; new investment vs. reinvestment trends)?
• What are the key challenges investors face in executing their investment strategies?
• What support are they currently receiving from EIC?
• Assess the need of current investors through interview/survey.
- Stocktaking of the existing EIC aftercare programme
• Review objectives and strategy of the aftercare program including the RBP focusing on its successes, failures and key challenges/constraints including resourcing;
• Assess the delivery of services, its monitoring and evaluation mechanisms;
• Assess resources and organizational structure;
• Assess Program KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and evaluate the results against KPIs;
• Review inter-Divisional cooperation within EIC and the potential for overlapping mandates/areas of responsibility:
• Review level of cooperation, coordination and partnership between EIC and public sector organizations at national, state and local levels in terms of program development, execution and resource sharing;
• Review the level of cooperation and coordination between EIC and private sector organizations.
- International experiences
• Literature review/ case studies/ benchmarking of international best practice relevant to the Ethiopian context;
• Assess Aftercare Service Delivery options.
- Conclusion and Recommendations
This should flow from conclusions and implications of the above analysis and cover at a minimum the following topics:
• Summary of key finding and conclusions.
• Options for the aftercare model dependent on levels of ambitions and resources available i.e. covering what services should be provided to which investors.
• Recommendation of most appropriate aftercare model.
• An outline of an aftercare strategy including scope, sequencing and resourcing.
E. DELIVERABLE AND TIMEFRAMES
The deliverables of this assignment includes strategic advice and recommendations on a feasible approach to further enhance the support of the aftercare directorate.
Deliverables
• Diagnosis report on the current political, economic and institutional developments (10 days)
• Analysis report of the existing investor community (15 days)
• Diagnosis report on the existing EIC aftercare program (15 days)
• Analysis report of international best practices (10 days)
• Conclusion and recommendation report (10 days)
F. NECESSARY QUALIFICATIONS
The expert will need to have the following qualification:
• At least ten years solid work experience, if possible in both public and private sector development, or in a related field;
• Minimum of MA/MSc in Business Administration, Law, Finance, Economics or any other relevant field of study;
• Knowledge of the investment industry and investor retention/follow-up;
• Knowledge of international best practice in aftercare programme management and strategy development;
• Additional competencies required include:
o Fluent in spoken and written English;
o Excellent writing and presentation skills;
o Strong analytic skill;
o Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines; and
o Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work with others.
Last date for submission of applications is 5th July 2019.
How to apply:
To apply please follow the link below:
https://chm.tbe.taleo.net/chm04/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=DAINC&cws=1&rid=4538