Germany - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

Description

Invest for Jobs: the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition"Under the Invest for Jobs brand, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has put together a package of measures to support German, European and African companies engaging in Africa. The Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition" offers comprehensive advice, contacts and financial support through its implementing organisations to overcome investment barriers. Implemented among others by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Initiative aims to increase job-creating growth for African and European companies operating in eight African countries, namely Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia.The Alliance for Product Quality (AfPQ), part of the Special Initiative, brings together stakeholders of the European and African private sector, quality infrastructure and development cooperation. The Alliance seeks to improve the quality of products of producers from African partner countries, so that they comply with the demands of international buyers. That way, exports can be increased, and value chains expanded, facilitating economic growth and job creation.Improving regional and international market access of Special Initiative champions through certification and B2B supportCurrently, the potential of regional market linkages within Africa remains largely untapped. Therefore, the Invest for Jobs country projects Senegal, Ghana and Côte d"Ivoire as well as AfPQ developed a common project approach to support high potential companies in the three countries towards certification as well as connection and access to (new) regional or international markets or B2B activities.The project focuses on the needs of 30 local businesses and on the regional market in the agriculture and cosmetics sector in order to better exploit regional market potentials and to strengthen resilience of supply chains. If high demand or business opportunities emerge, the project also extends the international level. This supports a structured expansion of companies to new regional and/or international markets based on key findings about underexploited market potentials and needs of buyers. The project is based on two pillars: supporting companies in the acquisition of relevant certifications or standards and in the expansion of local, regional or international market opportunities to promote new structured, regional and international market access as well as to create new decent jobs and improvement of existing jobs in the companies.In this context, GIZ is seeking to commission a contractor to contribute to the objectives of Key Performance Indicators of the Invest for Jobs programme. The objective of the project approach is to create 300 new jobs within 30 companies (10 companies in each of the three countries) and to improve the working conditions and salaries for 300 people. Moreover, training measures on quality management shall be offered to 150 people working on this topic in the companies.
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has brought together a series of offers under the Special Initiative "Decent Jobs for a Just Transition" (also known under the brand Invest for Jobs) to support German, European and African companies in their commitment to employment in Africa. Implemented among others by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Initiative aims to increase job-creating growth for African and European companies operating in Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia. The Alliance for Product Quality (hereafter: AfPQ), equally part of the Special Initiative, aims to improve the quality of products from African partner countries, so that they meet the requirements of international buyers. In this way, exports can be increased, and value chains developed, facilitating economic growth and job creation.The Invest for Jobs country projects Senegal, Ghana and Côte d"Ivoire have been providing a variety of support since 2019 to companies having a high growth potential. Some of them, the "SI champions", have shown a particular development and are ready to conquer new regional and international markets. At the same time, the potential of regional market linkages within Africa remains largely untapped. Therefore, the three country projects as well as AfPQ developed a common project approach to support these "champions" of the three countries towards certification as well as connection and access to (new) regional or international markets or B2B activities.In this context, GIZ is seeking to commission a contractor to contribute to the objectives and Key Performance Indicators of the Special Initiative "Decent Jobs for a Just Transition". The objective of the project is to create 300 new jobs within 30 companies (10 companies in each of the three countries, KPI1) and to improve the working conditions and salaries for 300 people (KPI2). Moreover, training measures on quality management shall be offered to 150 people working on this topic in the companies (KPI 3). The contractor is expected to provide experts with relevant professional experience.In order to achieve the above, the following main tasks shall then be:Work Package 1: Market analysisThe contractor will be in charge of- Monitoring, with the 3 Invest for Jobs country projects, the pre-selection process of beneficiary companies.- Gathering information on markets in order to identify and develop products or market products to new customers, with a clear focus on demand. These markets are- Food: finished food products and semi-finished products- Cosmetics: finished products and materials used in the composition of finished products.- Understanding the environment of these markets in terms of price formation, competition and quality requirements of buyers, whether retailers or manufacturers.- Qualifying and quantifying the market segments in which business flows have the greatest potential for development and where job creation is most feasible.Work package 2: Certification & compliance with quality requirements of regional and international buyersIn the context of this work package, the contractor will be in charge of- Identifying relevant local, regional and international standards for the selected companies in order to meet the (quality) requirements of regional and/or international buyers.- Negotiating cooperation contracts with the companies concerned and their suppliers.- Developing and implementing training and technical support for participating companies to enable them to comply with the identified certifications/standards- Carrying out a mock audit in each company concerned.- Supporting the implementation of audits and corrective measures resulting from audits, as well as the issuing of certificates.Work package 3: Market access and B2BIn work package 3, the contractor will be mandated to:- Develop business strategies & action plans for companies to help them exploit local (such as the emerging retail sector in the 3 countries), regional and/or international business opportunities as identified in WP1.- Explore, with target business leaders, market opportunities arising from the disruption of Covid-19 in the sub-region.- Provide support for entrepreneurial activities (finance, marketing, logistics, etc.) in line with these strategies and action plans.- Deploy the necessary expertise to meet companies' needs in terms of optimising administrative or technological processes, maintaining infrastructure and equipment, and providing specialised training.- Put companies in touch with potential buyers/investors, identifying relevant platforms for public relations and putting them in touch with a public of experts (e.g. trade fairs).- Ensure that these companies have the business skills and tools they need to continue and improve their activities by strengthening their ability to manage change and facilitating their marketing approaches.- Facilitate the participation of selected companies in appropriate regional or international trade fairs.

Opportunity closing date

29 August 2023

Value of contract

to be confirmed