EXTERNAL EVALUATION CONSULTANCY FOR MOBILE FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR WOMEN IN NIGERIA PROJECT TERMS OF REFERENCE August 2017
1. About us The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women (the Foundation) supports women entrepreneurs in developing and emerging economies to access the skills, technology, networks and financial services they need to become successful small and growing business owners. We are driven by our vision of a world where women have equal opportunities and the capability, confidence and capital necessary to create thriving enterprises and have a stronger voice in their societies. Working in collaboration with our non-profit, private and public sector partners, we have supported over 140,000 women from 100 countries across our Enterprise Development, Mentoring and Mobile Technology programmes. To find out more, visit www.cherieblairfoundation.org. 2. Background The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women is looking to contract a consultant to design and deliver a rigorous external evaluation of its Mobile Financial Services for Women in Nigeria project. This is a partnership between the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, First Bank Nigeria (FBN) and Youth for Technology Foundation (YTF). The project aims to provide 2,500 women with the opportunity to become agents in the retail network of First Bank Nigeria and offer branchless banking and mobile financial services to Nigerians across 10 states (Abuja, Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Abia, Anambra, Rivers, Bauchi, Kaduna and Kano). The project was launched in 2015 to support women entrepreneurs to become branchless banking agents using FBN s mobile banking platform, Firstmonie. The project trained 2,495 women, 1,600 of which registered as mobile banking agents. The Foundation and First Bank Nigeria are now providing additional support to a small number of the women to increase agent registration and on-boarding, and help women agents grow their mobile banking businesses. 3. Purpose of the evaluation The purpose of this consultancy is to provide an independent assessment of the extent to which the project has met the goal of supporting women in Nigeria to become mobile banking agents, and for these women to offer banking services to their local communities. The primary focus of the evaluation is on learning and understanding the changes which resulted from the project, reflecting on progress and achievements, and highlighting recommendations for future programming. To guide the scope of the evaluation, the consultant will seek to respond to the questions below as well as conduct an assessment in line with the OECD-DAC criteria. These questions are intended to be a guiding framework, and will be refined in conjunction with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Youth for Technology, and First Bank Nigeria.
Key questions to address in the evaluation will include: Have the project outcomes been achieved, and were there any unintended outcomes? How, when, and for whom did the project make a difference? How significant was this difference? Did project outcomes also extend to indirect beneficiaries? What was this impact, and how significant was it? What were the most effective methodologies and approaches used to bring about changes to the women s lives? What components of the methodologies and approaches can be used to maintain changes going forward? What alternative approaches can be considered? What has worked and what has not? What lessons have been learnt? What factors contributed to the success or lack of? The main audiences for this evaluation are the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Youth for Technology Foundation, First Bank Nigeria and other partners and key stakeholders, as well as the women beneficiaries. The evaluation will be used by the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women to inform the quality and content of support provided to women in similar future projects. 4. Timeframe The consultancy is expected to commence in October 2017 and run through December 2017. 5. Deliverables The following deliverables are expected during and at the end of the consultancy: Initial kick-off meetings/calls to discuss the project and agree the scope of the evaluation with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and relevant partner organisations. An inception report which will detail the evaluation work plan and methodology for qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, including data collection processes and tools, etc. Presentation of findings to the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and relevant partner organisations using PowerPoint. The presentation should highlight the main findings of the evaluation. Draft report to include all preliminary analysis, findings, lessons learnt, conclusions and recommendations. The report will be refined following feedback from project partners. Final evaluation report including findings, lessons learnt, conclusions and recommendations, and case studies. The due dates for all deliverables will be finalised by the consultant with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women prior to submission of the inception report/work plan. 6. Methodology We seek the most robust evaluation approach that is appropriate for the scope of the evaluation, the resources allocated, and the intended audience. Evidence shall be from both primary and secondary sources using qualitative and quantitative data.
The proposed methodology will employ (but not be limited to) the following approaches: Review of project documents, including the original proposal, monitoring and evaluation framework, monitoring data, and project reports. Desk research on women s role in mobile financial services, and economic empowerment in Nigeria. Field visits in Nigeria to collect quantitative data through an endline survey with the women, as well as qualitative data. Consultation with implementation partners and stakeholders in Nigeria. 7. Scoring criteria for consultant selection Criterion Details Weight Experience of working on financial services for women s empowerment Experience of designing and conducting research and evaluations on women s economic empowerment projects Proposed methodology Financial proposal In-depth expertise on the use of digital financial services in developing and emerging economies, in particular in Nigeria or West Africa. Previous experience of working on women s entrepreneurship projects. Previous experience of working on financial inclusion projects, particularly projects which include the use of technology. A record of designing and delivering rigorous research and evaluations. Sound knowledge and understanding of the entire project cycle and the ability to evaluate the quality of each project stage. Competencies in data collection and analysis related to socio-economic variables, quantitative and qualitative research. The consultant must work in consultation with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, First Bank Nigeria, and Youth for Technology to develop the methodology. The consultant must display the ability to design/develop adapted methods to the local context. The most economical proposal that meets the expectations of the work will be selected. 10%
8. Payment terms The payment terms will be agreed with the consultant prior to contracting. The consultant is expected to provide their own office space and working equipment. In addition, the consultant is expected to cover the cost of insurance, travel, communication, translation, enumerators and any expenses associated with the consultancy within the available budget. 9. Instructions for submission All submissions must be sent to recruitment@cherieblairfoundation.org no later than 09:00 GMT on 15 September 2017. Please use Mobile Financial Services for Women in Nigeria as the subject title to your email application. Prospective consultants are expected to submit technical and financial proposals in English including the following: Profile of consultant/firm, clear demonstration of previous experience in conducting external evaluations Understanding of the Terms of Reference Approach and methodology Work plan Proposed budget in GBP and USD and inclusive of VAT. Appendices to the proposal must include: CVs of the evaluation team Three references from similar projects undertaken by the consultant(s), including e-mail contacts and phone numbers Examples of previous similar work undertaken (optional). Questions and clarifications regarding the Terms of Reference should be sent to recruitment@cherieblairfoundation.org.