Benin - Boosting Access to Financial Services and Marketplace

• Country: Benin
• Summary: Benin - Boosting Access to Financial Services and Marketplace
• BJT Ref No: 51629929
• Deadline: 05 Apr 2021
• Financier: World Bank (WB)
• Purchaser Ownership: Government
• Tender Value: Refer Document
• Notice Type: Tender
• Document Ref. No.: 1273788
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• Description:
• Expression of Interest are invited for Benin - Boosting Access to Financial Services and Marketplace. REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR SELECTION # 1273788 This Request for Expression of Interest is for a Firm Selection. Please log in as a valid Firm User if you wish to express interest in this selection. Selection Information Assignment Title Benin - Boosting Access to Financial Services and Marketplace Publication Date 25-Mar-2021 Expression of Interest Deadline 05-Apr-2021 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time - Washington D.C.) Language of Notice English Selection Notice Assignment Country · BJ - Benin Funding Sources The World Bank Group intends to finance the assignment/services under: · BB - BANK BUDGET · TF0B3744 - FIRST 2.0 #Phase 4 Benin Boosting access to financial services and marketplace through technology Individual/Firm The consultant will be a firm. Assignment Description SELECTION FOR CONSULTANTS BY THE WORLD BANK GROUP REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST Electronic Submissions through World Bank Group eConsultant2 https://wbgeconsult2.worldbank.org/wbgec/index.html ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW Assignment Title: 1273788 - Benin - Boosting Access to Financial Services and Marketplace Assignment Countries: - Benin ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION To conduct a feasibility study on the establishment of an electronic marketplace (e-Marketplace) for the trade of agriculture products and "made in Benin" goods . FUNDING SOURCE The World Bank Group intends to finance the assignment / services described below under the following: - BANK BUDGET - FIRST 2.0 #Phase 4 Benin Boosting access to financial services and marketplace through technology ELIGIBILITY Eligibility restrictions apply: [Please type list of restrictions] INDIVIDUAL / FIRM PROFILE The consultant will be a firm. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS The World Bank Group now invites eligible firms to indicate their interest in providing the services. Interested firms must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services (brochures, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, availability of appropriate skills among staff, etc. for firms; CV and cover letter for individuals). Please note that the total size of all attachments should be less than 5MB. Consultants may associate to enhance their qualifications. Interested firms are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest. Expressions of Interest should be submitted, in English, electronically through World Bank Group eConsultant2 (https://wbgeconsult2.worldbank.org/wbgec/index.html) NOTES Following this invitation for Expression of Interest, a shortlist of qualified firms will be formally invited to submit proposals. Shortlisting and selection will be subject to the availability of funding. Only those firms which have been shortlisted will receive notification. No debrief will be provided to firms which have not been shortlisted. Attachments · Optional TOR File Qualification Criteria · 1. Provide information showing that they are qualified in the field of the assignment. * · 2. Provide information on the technical and managerial capabilities of the firm. * · 3. Provide information on their core business and years in business. * · 4. Provide information on the qualifications of key staff. * RECRUITMENT OF A CONSULTING FIRM TO CONDUCT A FEASIBILITY STUDY ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ELECTRONIC MARKETPLACE (E-MARKETPLACE) FOR THE TRADE OF AGRICULTURE PRODUCTS AND “MADE IN BENIN” GOODS (AGRICULTURAL AND CRAFT PRODUCTS FROM BENIN) TERMS OF REFERENCE Promoting financial inclusion and access to markets through technology World Bank Technical Assistance Project in Benin   Summary 1. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE 3 1.1. Background 3 1.2. Rationale 4 2. OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED RESULTS OF THE ASSIGNMENT 5 2.1. Assignment objectives 5 2.2. Expected results 5 3. WORK METHODOLOGY AND SCHEDULE OF DELIVERABLES 6 2.1. Work methodology 6 3.2. Schedule of deliverables 6 4. QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS REQUIRED 8 5. FUNDING 9 1. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE 1.1. BACKGROUND Benin is a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), a regional economic and monetary zone grouping eight countries, namely Benin, Burkina, Côte d-Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, and Guinea Bissau. Sharing borders with Togo, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Niger, Benin has a 121-kilometer-long coastline on the Gulf of Guinea and a population of nearly 11.5 million (2018). Benin-s economic performance has been strong with a GDP growth of 6.4 percent in 2019 and positive outlooks for 2020 before the coronavirus epidemic struck, thanks to the strength of cotton production, construction and port activity. As for all the economies in the sub-region, the pandemic has had direct impact on Benin-s economy which is mainly driven by exports of raw materials, and this impact has been exacerbated by the drop in supply and demand for goods and services induced by lockdown measures and the closing of borders with Nigeria. According to forecasts, the economy should contract by 1.5 percent of GDP in 2020 and positive growth (3.6 percent) would resume in 2021 (The Economist Intelligence Unit). The sectors hardest hit in 2020 were tourism (-90.5 percent of flights), transport and logistics (17 percent reduction in transit mobility); catering, entertainment and retail (13 percent reduction in mobility for retail and leisure). The Government took immediate actions to address the human and economic implications of the health and economic crisis, while preserving the budgetary achievements. The response plan aims to increase health spending, provide cash transfers to vulnerable households, subsidize utility bills and provide support to impacted businesses. In addition to flexibility as regards deadlines for tax payment, the business most affected by the crisis benefitted from targeted and temporary tax exemptions. Before the pandemic, Benin lagged behind most of its peers in terms of financial inclusion despite a remarkable increase in digital financial services. With a financial inclusion rate of 38.5 percent, Benin still ranks third from the bottom in the WAEMU region and lags behind comparator countries such as Togo (45 percent) or Burkina (43 percent). The country also shows the highest gender gap (at 20 points of percentage) in the WAEMU, with only 29 percent of Beninese as regards phone ownership (21 percent of women vs. 38 percent of men) and Internet use (5.3 percent of women vs. 11.9 percent of men). Benin-s 2018-2025 National Development Plan (NDP) identifies financial inclusion and the digital economy as the main potential drivers of social inclusion and growth. It stresses that digitization and financial services are key pillars and a promising sector for value creation and increased productivity in the tertiary sector. Financial inclusion is expected to be boosted by digital financial services based on automated payment systems and, in the context of the pandemic, to be accelerated by BCEAO-s measures on digital payments. Financial services based on automated payment systems have experienced significant growth, due in large part to the offer by the country-s two mobile money operators who at the end of 2019 registered more than 11 million accounts (source BCEAO), which represents an annual increase of 29 percent compared to 2018. However, the rate of active accounts is still low at 37.55 percent. Digital financial services rely on a distribution network made up of more than 107,000 agents, a figure that has increased by 49 percent compared to the end of 2018 with an activity rate of 70.5 percent. The amount and value of transactions increased by 83 percent and 18 percent respectively compared to 2018. Improving access to financial services and market access for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and individuals operating in the agricultural sector will be key to the process of recovering from the COVID-19 outbreak. As highlighted by various studies on the application of digital technology to agriculture (e-agriculture), the financial sector development strategy and other assessments done by the World Bank, weak linkages between producers, processors and wholesalers, coupled with a lack of information, are one of the main challenges hindering access to financial services in Benin-s agricultural sector. Commercial and financial transactions between actors in the value chain are in most cases performed informally without traceability. As a consequence, financial institutions have no other choice than to limit their services to the very few large players in organized value chains such as cotton that can offer high levels of guarantee. As the agriculture and MSME sectors will face increased pressure, the time has come to reflect on how to use technology to address the weak links between actors in the agricultural value chain and facilitate their inclusion into the formal sector. This is in line with the ambitions of the Government of Benin to create a digital market that will connect buyers and sellers while offering digital payment options. In this context, the Government of the Republic of Benin aims to “transform Benin into West Africa-s digital services platform to accelerate growth and social inclusion”. This vision has been consistently translated into flagship projects, priority projects and rapid impact projects for a structural, economic, political and social transformation of the country in “Revealing Benin”, the Government Action Program (GAP). One of the flagship projects is the project for Integrated Digital Transformation of Rural Regions (PITN2R) in Benin that benefits from World Bank fun
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