1. PROGRAM OVERVIEW 

USAID Trade and Competitiveness (here after referred as ‘The Activity’) is a five-year $18.9 million Activity that charts a new path for the Nepali economy as it recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Activity enables Nepal to capitalize on global integration to diversify toward higher quality and higher value exports, foster sustainable job growth and income-generating opportunities for those that have previously been left behind by economic growth, and create greater sustainability and resiliency. To achieve this, the Activity deliberately promotes the integration of women, youth, and marginalized groups into markets to participate in economic opportunities created as Nepal’s economy grows. It will increase jobs and exports while supporting the private sector in managing risks from climate change, COVID-19, and other threats. Through this Activity, USAID will unlock new sources of financing and investment, including green growth financing, climate financing, foreign and domestic investment. Deloitte Consulting LLP is implementing this Activity in partnership with J.E Austin, South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics, and Environment (SAWTEE) and Deloitte, Touche, and Tohmatsu India (DTTI).

The goal of the Activity is to accelerate firm and sector level competitiveness, generate employment opportunities, and increase sales of firms through interventions that incentivize public and private sector actors across the ecosystem to adopt new behaviors driving outcomes across three key objectives:

• Improve access to market-based financial and non-financial services
• Increase productivity in sectors with high growth and employment potential
• Improve the investment climate and business enabling environment, especially for targeted sectors.

2. BACKGROUND

Despite of the progress Nepal has made in recent years on the financial inclusion, significant gap still exists pertaining to access to finance in the agriculture and tourism sector which is hindering the growth and productivity of firms engaged in the sector.  The ease in availability of financial products and delivery process will play a significant role in increasing lending into the agriculture and tourism sector post-pandemic. Banks are playing critical role in addressing the financial gaps to kick-start the productivity. The use of innovative instruments with an amicable process for the agriculture and tourism sector firms will play an instrumental role in addressing the financial need of both of these sectors. It is also very important for bankers to have perspective of an entrepreneur and current problem and opportunities for the sector while assessing the credit application. Financial institutions need support to build institutional capacity, improve existing lending policy and enhance existing skills necessary to make market risk assessments and tailor loan products to meet the needs of the agricultural and tourism sector. 

3. CONSULTANCY OBJECTIVES

USAID Trade and Competitiveness is seeking a firm with expertise in access to finance in the agriculture and tourism sector. The purpose of this assignment is to support the delivery of the “Training on Bank Financing in Agribusiness and Tourism” to enhance overall knowledge of staff involved in agribusiness and tourism financing. This training would provide trainees with a general understanding of financing in agriculture and tourism with deeper understanding of the sector. It should cover the major financial tools for financing that may be used in lending in the agriculture and tourism sector, lessons using real-life case studies for enhancing the learning process. The assignment will also aim at sharing best lending practices in agriculture and tourism financing adopted in other countries especially in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh where such practices have been ongoing and being implemented successfully over the years. 

Through the process of capacity building of the staff of the financial Institutions it intended that this would help them to increase lending as well as development of products and services for the MSME especially in agriculture and tourism sector. The outcome of the consultancy should be that trainee staff have solid understanding on how to attract loan clients from agriculture and tourism, how to analyze them, how to evaluate collateral, how to present cases to the branch manager/credit committee and how to provide follow-up, including handling arrears. The foreseen impact of the capacity building on the target group is that staff are properly trained in handling agriculture/tourism clients and in building a solid MSME-portfolio.

4. TASKS

The consultancy shall conduct training for the staff of the banks focusing to support financing for MSMEs in the agriculture and tourism sector. The training sessions should be designed in such a way that they provide an overview of the best concepts and applications being used by banks around the world in similar markets in their MSME business operations for Agriculture and Tourism lending. One of the core aims of this consultancy will revolve around providing hands-on practical banking training which the lending officers can use in their day to day job analyzing and financing the clients in agriculture and tourism sector.  The training should also focus on international best practices in Agro financing and how they can be adapted within the context of Nepal. 

The objectives of the program is to assist mid-level bank officers and managers to develop a thorough understanding of banking building blocks and international best practices including: 

• New sector- specific products/services offered by the banks to tourism and agribusiness.
• Strategies/plans to roll out new products/services from 2023 through 2026, specifically in target geographic areas (Province 1, Bagmati Province, Gandaki Province, Lumbini Province and Karnali Province)   

This training should facilitate banks’/ team ability to:  

• Better understand the motivations and advantages for expanding Agribusiness financing  
• Assess the external environment for developing or expanding a MSME line of business for Agri businesses especially in the sectors identified by the Activity.
• Gain insights to improve the product and service delivery in Agri-business and Tourism sector for the banks.
• Examines various aspects of the different business models practiced in the agriculture/tourism sector and the importance of financial intervention for those business models.
• Gain insight into local policies on Financing in agriculture and tourism sector.
• Increase in lending in the agriculture and tourism sector.

The consultant will be responsible to prepare and deliver training on following topics: 

• Introduction to Agribusiness and Value Chain
• Value Chain Financing
• Innovative financing in tourism service sector
• Market trends in the tourism sector
• Analysis of enterprises/entrepreneurs in agriculture and tourism sector
• Assessment of business plan
• Credit Risk Management for MSMEs 
• Loan Approval and Disbursement
• Case Studies for agriculture (Cardamom, Ginger, Lentils) and tourism financing
• Green Financing for Agriculture and tourism sector 
• New sector- specific products/services offered by the banks to tourism and agribusiness. 
• Innovative lending products that are less dependent on collateral (Immovable assets)

5. DESCRIPTION OF KEY DELIVERABLES: 

The Consultant/Firm is expected to deliver the following results and deliverables: 

• The training is to be structured to be taught using PowerPoint (PPT) presentations, real cases studies, exercises and group discussions and participation or panel discussions with invited sector expert panelists.
•  Reading material for each module. Additional reading and reference material, including an electronic version and/or printed copy of the book to be provided to all the participants.
• The entire modules in the training program are organized electronically by folders for each module with each folder containing a PPT presentation, reading material, case studies and/or exercises to be used in the module. and make presentations.
• Final report on the accomplishment of the program.
  

6. TIMELINE

The assignment is expected to be implemented from Feb 15, 2023, to March 20, 2023, with LOE of 10 days.  The exact dates of the activities will be confirmed during contracting. 

7. QUALIFICATIONS OF THE CONSULTANCY FIRM

The Consultant must demonstrate the skills and experience required to undertake the tasks set out in these terms of reference. Specifically:

• Strong background in financial sector for MSMEs in Financial sector, specifically for the agriculture and tourism sector in Nepal. 
• Preferred experience in developing 1) Banking credit products that are less dependent on collateral 2) Value Chain Financing 3) Sector based products and 4) Digital applications to facilitate access to finance in priority sectors.
• At least Master’s degree in economics, finance, business administration and/or related fields. The proposed team member for the assignment must have proven skills for conducting similar training in the past.
• Deep technical knowledge in MSME development as demonstrated by successful work experience
• Work experience with financial Institutions in Nepal and South Asian countries. Proven experience in developing training methodology, curriculum and material.
• Strong written and interpersonal communication skills in Nepali and English with an ability to interact with a very broad spectrum of stakeholders. 

8. WORKING ARRANGEMENTS

• The Consultant will be required to present the deliverables and provide updates to the USAID Trade and Competitiveness representatives at key milestones during the Consultancy.
• The Consultancy will be extended support from the USAID Trade and Competitiveness as appropriate. In particular, the Consultancy will work closely with the partner financial institutions on matters relating to the training of the staffs.
• It is the sole responsibility of the qualified expert consultancy to contact the identified stakeholders, gather the necessary information, synthesize, and analyse it as well as prepare all the assignment deliverables satisfactory to the USAID Trade and Competitiveness and the client, within the designated timeframe.
• The Consultant will report to the Objective 1, Access to Financial and Non-Financial Services. Deliverables will be assessed during key milestones by the team, as well as external experts, when required.

TO APPLY: Interested consultant/firm can submit the proposal to [email protected] before January 27, 2023 along with the valid company/firm registration certificate, VAT/PAN registration certificate, and latest tax clearance certificate.