ABOUT FIRST CONSULT
First Consult is a leading economic development consulting firm implementing projects in Ethiopia. Founded in 2006, First Consult (FC) has grown to design and implement projects across the agriculture, manufacturing, and service sectors. Our multidisciplinary teams combine a capacity to execute with clarity of the local context. As a result, we have delivered at-scale real impact in terms of job creation, business formation, business growth, and investment attraction and mobilization.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
MESMER is a 5-year program launched in October 2022 to support 72,200 MSMEs and 410,800 jobs by creating access to finance for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME)’ to realize their growth prospects and resilience. MESMER will also work to provide support to MSMEs through business development support, psychosocial services and technical assistance to financial institutions. MESMER is a countrywide program implemented by First Consult in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation as part of the Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy and will strive to create dignified and fulfilling work for the youth, the majority of them women. The FDRE Ministry of Labour and Skills will be the main government counterpart for the program. Other partners include financial institutions (microfinance institutions, banks, and digital financial service providers), BDS, and psychosocial support providers.
BACKGROUND, RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT
MESMER is a scale-up of the resilience facility (CRRP), which was developed to support MSEs in Addis Ababa that were heavily affected by COVID-19 pandemic, and protect jobs created by the MSEs. As the economy at large faces multiple shocks and challenges such as conflicts, soaring inflation and other macroeconomic challenges, MESMER program is designed to support informal and formal enterprises in all the regional states of Ethiopia through the provision of targeted financial and non financial services. The wider area coverage and a large number of enterprises targeted need a strong system to ensure smooth data handling, processing and reporting. MESMER proposes to take full learning from the resilience facility and embark on technology adaptation and consideration for digital options, by closely assessing the practicality and in a way that supports the achievment of project objectives in a more efficient manner. Technology considerations at the onset will primarily focus on aspects of enabling digital registration & screening of applications for grant and credit services, data analysis & tracking of grant & loan disbursements in a web-based portal and database. The system is expected to generate unique identity codes for all applicants and supports the screening of applications based on preset criteria fed into the system.
With this background, the main objective of the assignment is to develop a web-based portal and database to enable digital registration and screening of applications for grant and credit services, as well as other forms of data entry, analysis, storage and reporting on the various services provided by the program. The system is expected to enable efficient data processing, tracking and reporting results, facilitate & document learning and facilitate other M&E activities. The system is to be developed in such a way as to enable access by multiple end users with varying roles ranging from only data entry access to full control of the database including modifying parameters and reporting formats. The database will be instrumental to ensure information is collected, processed and analyzed on a regular basis to allow for real-time, evidence-based decision-making. The database will help to gather and store relevant data required to track progress especially relating to predefined program indicators.
SCOPE OF WORK
The service provider will develop a web-based portal and database with the following features;
User experience and accessibility
DELIVERABLES AND TIMEFRAME
FIRM QUALIFICATION
WORKING ARRANGEMENTS