RFP-A2M-2023-SPARK

RFP-A2M-2023-SPARK
Access to Market
Contracting Authority
Stichting SPARK
Project Name
Access to Market
Activity Name: Increasing the visibility of Jordanian and refugee and refugee MSMEs in both local, regional and international markets by working to increase their sales within the marketplaces.
Location: Amman, Jordan
Date of advertisement August 15, 2023
Application Deadline: August 31, 2023 (18:00 Local Time)
Questions and Answers (Q&A) Queries can be sent to tender_jordan@spark-online.org
Last Date for Questions and Answers (Q&A) August 27, 2023 (17:30 Local Time)
Expected Start Date: September 10, 2023
Duration of the activity: 6 months

Application Method Offers should be sent to tender_jordan@spark-online.org

1. Introduction/Background

SPARK is a not-for-profit, non-political NGO with headquarters in Amsterdam and field offices in South East Europe, Africa, and the MENA region.
SPARK develops higher education and entrepreneurship to empower young, ambitious people to lead their fragile and conflict-affected societies into prosperity. SPARK is a dynamic and growing, international not-for-profit development organisation with 80+ staff members, in more than 14 offices around the world. SPARK supports refugees in the Middle East by providing them with scholarships in universities and higher education institutions in the region. SPARK also supports young entrepreneurs in fragile states, to start or grow their own businesses.
SPARK’s Islamic Development Bank Supported Skills Training Education Programme- STEP overall objective is to contribute to increased resilience and poverty reduction of refugees and vulnerable members of the host communities in Jordan more specifically through increasing access to labor markets through curriculum support, business skill training and facilitating internships/ placement.

1. Project Objectives:

SPARK Jordan aims to design and provide technical leadership to activities that will support small and medium size enterprises (SME) in accessing new markets. Through its market-driven interventions the project will support growth towards employment opportunities and incentivize investment in business service provision and market infrastructure. Preference is given to those with previous private sector experience and advanced degrees. This position requires fluency in English and local and/or regional experience.
The main purpose of executing this notion is to increase the visibility of Jordanian and refugee and refugee MSMEs in both local, regional and international markets by working to increase their sales within the marketplaces by supporting MSMES to create new links to create new links to relevant local, regional and international markets through networking and matchmaking activities. Market opportunities for these SMEs will be identified and sourced into value chains of multinationals and large local companies. As a result, successful B2B deals will be concluded. Both SPARK’s private sector expert team and network of implementing partners will be mobilised for B2B, networking and matchmaking activities.

1. Scope of Services and Expected Results:

For this project, SPARK expects the below points to be delivered accordingly:
(i) Establish clear criteria for selecting and filtering participants (sales growth, years of operations, number of employees, local vs international market access, sectors of operations, etc.).
(ii) Conduct offline and online outreach campaign in coordination with the SPARK communication team that targets potential businesses interested in receiving technical support. Additionally, SPARK is going to provide businesses that have received advanced business training and it is expected that they will be included to this programme.
(iii) Pre-assessments and training needs assessments need to be conducted to identify knowledge and skills gaps that hinder accessing new markets. Areas include market research, legal barriers and regulations, distribution channels, etc. Bidders should design the training needs assessment forms and methodology.
(iv) Design training curriculum and coaching tools based on the identified needs and objectives of the project and on the training needs assessment
(v) Bidders are required to provide comprehensive technical assistance through training, followed by customized one-on-one coaching for 60 high-growth SMEs. The focus should be on helping SMEs access new markets and expand their business operations.

a. Training (maximum of 5 training days)(offline or online) should include a maximum of 25 participant SMEs, and should cover topics including market research, market entry strategies, market positioning, sales and distribution channels, market access requirements, and other topics of relevance
b. At least 10 hours of one-on-one coaching should be conducted per SME based on their individual needs in order to enhance their potential to access new markets
(vi) Organize at least 3 networking and matchmaking events (local, regional, and international events) that link beneficiary SMEs with potential buyers.

Expected Results:

1. A minimum 50 SMEs should receive tailor-made support leading to the successful entry into a new market for their business
2. A minimum of 50 signed business agreements should result from the technical assistance provided
3. The bidder is responsible for ensuring the placement of a total of 100 individual sales orders, indicating successful market engagement
4. Deliverables

• 1. Selection criteria/eligibility for participants
• 1. List of all businesses that apply to the project
• a. Filtered list of businesses
• 1. Training needs assessment
• 1. Training curriculum and plan
• 1. Training report
• 1. Coaching reports per session per business (topics covered, planned courses of action, etc.)
• 1. Weekly progress reports
• 1. Final Narrative Report

5. Target Group:

The programme 50 home-based businesses and micro, small and medium enterprises, refugee youth (30%) as well as host community youth (70%), (50% being women) participation on e-Commerce and its importance in today’s business environment.

1. Data Availability:

• 1. 1. Activity records and attendance sheets
• 1. 1. Pre, post-tests, and training evaluation forms.
• 1. 1. Explicit narrative reports for the activity
• 1. 1. Data quality assurance and protection requirements
• 1. 1. Detailed timetable requirements

7. Criteria for Submitting a Bid

Eligible applicants operating in the public or the private sector on a profit-making or non-profit-making basis are welcome to submit a bid.
Applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Be legally registered and have actual operations in Jordan;
• Be directly responsible for the preparation/ management/implementation of the activities, i.e. not act as an intermediary; subcontracting is not acceptable. Applicants must submit a bid on their own being the mere implementing body.
• Be experienced and able to show that they have the capacity needed to manage the activities on the scale of the project in question;
• Experience working with international organizations
• Assign relevant professionals that will be assigned to follow up M&E and entering the data for SPARK’s internal system ( BTS)
• Be financially sound and have financial continuity throughout the contract;
• Deliver tangible and efficient results;
• The offeror must have a satisfactory record of performance and business ethics
• Proposals shall remain valid for a period of (30) days from the closing date for the receipt of proposals as established by the selection committee.

8. Selection and Evaluation Criteria

SPARK is committed to conducting a fair and transparent proposal process, as well as ensuring that all bidders are treated and evaluated equally throughout the proposal process. Bidder responses will be weighted in two categories: Technical and financial criteria and sub-criteria.

1. Essential Criteria (Exclusion if not met)
2. Possess legitimate business premises.
3. Registered for trading and tax.
4. Banned party or on any government blacklists.

2. Technical Proposal (70%)
1.1. Technical Expertise and Previous Experience (55%)

• 1.1.1. Track record of similar projects (5%)
• 1.1.2. Demonstrated experience in training and coaching (5%)
• 1.1.3. Knowledge of e-commerce, digital marketing, and strategy development in penetrating new markets (10%)
• 1.1.4. Access to relevant subject matter experts (5%)
• 1.1.5. CVs of the project management team, experts, and trainers (15%)
• 1.1.6. Strategy of ensuring new markets and buyers is accessed (15%)

1.2. Selection and Outreach (15%)

• 1.2.1. Selection methodology, criteria, eligibility, etc. (10%)
• 1.2.2. Outreach methodology (5%)

3. Financial Proposal (30%)

• Financial budget breakdown.

Applicants whose proposal does not meet the minimum technical assessment criteria (40%) will not proceed to the financial evaluation phase.
For each bid, points from all evaluation criteria will be added up and the winning bid will be the bid with the highest number of points. In case of an equal number of points, the winning bid will be the one with the lowest price. However, SPARK retains the right to select any bidder who they deem as most suitable to produce the highest quality deliverables within a reasonable budget.