Consultant - Investement Readiness Support To Companies

Job Description

AECF is seeking the services of a consulting firm to provide investment readiness assessment and assistance to eight enterprises in the renewable energy and agribusiness sectors across Africa. AECF will encourage the submission of proposals from a consortium of firms under the coordination and supervision of a lead Consulting firm (The Consultant) responsible for the engagement. The Consultant will be responsible for identifying the key areas of intervention and guiding the beneficiary enterprises in the implementation of recommended actions towards accessing external capital. The Consultant must have good understanding of the small and growing businesses (SGB) sector in Africa and possess significant experience helping companies in raising capital.

It’s to be noted that AECF will provide the capital raising support upon completion of the assignment by the Consultant. However, beneficiary companies reserve the right to appoint AECF or other service providers to carry out their capital raise mandate.

Under the guidance of AECF, the Consultant will conduct an assessment of each beneficiary company to establish their readiness status and capacity to raise external capital. The Consultant will draw a fundraising plan and prepare the company’s founders and senior management for capital raising. The Consultant will advise each company on the optimal capital structure and provide a shortlist of target investors to engage.

• Assess the capacity of select eight enterprises in the following countries [Kenya (1), Tanzania (5), Uganda (1), Mozambique (1)] to raise external capital
• Provide a set of recommendations to guide each company in becoming investor ready
• Develop a specific fundraising plan including appropriate investment instruments and capital requirements for each company.
• Conduct a review of available company documents and put in place a data room for potential investors
• Prepare investor marketing material for the company comprising of a PowerPoint presentation, business plan, financial model, and company valuation report where appropriate
• Recommend a short list of target investors and advise companies on the engagement approach for optimal results
• Prepare the company founders and/or senior management team on how to raise capital

• Investment readiness status report on beneficiary companies highlighting their respective strengths and gaps in the areas of governance, operations, financial management and team capacity to deliver
• A fundraising plan detailing the capital requirements of the company, the optimal capital structure, a shortlist of target investors and engagement approach
• A set of investor marketing material including a short pitch deck, a PowerPoint presentation for the company and investment opportunity, a business plan, a financial model and company valuation report (where an equity raise is recommended)
• A brainstorming session with the founders and/or senior management team on how to raise capital and secure their buy in and input on the fundraising plan.
• An end of assignment report outlining the key activities undertaken, the results achieved, and recommendations including a financial quotation for any critical follow on activities that may be identified and is outside the scope of this assignment.

The Consultant is expected to start by 17^th June 2019 and work through August 2019.

Interested firms must submit a proposal with examples of similar engagements undertaken previously and the results achieved. The proposal must include detailed CVs of the proposed team members for carrying out the assignment, and a quotation of the applicable fees (tax inclusive).

AECF is obliged by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes on service fees as well as any applicable VAT. Tenderers are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position with regard to the provisions of Kenyan tax legislation when formulating their financial proposals.

• A duly registered consulting firm with a minimum two years’ experience helping SGBs in Africa to raise external capital
• Team members must possess a minimum 8 years of relevant work experience in investment banking, financial advisory or impact investing in the continent.
• Demonstrated experience working with SGBs in the agriculture or renewable energy sectors in target countries.

About the Organization

The AECF is a US$ 356 million private sector challenge fund that provides catalytic funding to enterprises in 24 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. It was launched in 2008 as an initiative of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and has been supported by donor governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom. The Fund supports innovative commercial businesses in the agribusiness, renewable energy and adaptation to climate change technology sectors with the aim of reducing rural poverty, promoting resilient rural communities and creating jobs through private sector development. It invests in businesses that struggle to meet traditional risk-return standards for commercial investors and which offer significant impact on poverty alleviation by creating jobs and sustainable incomes. Catalytic funding in the form of grants and zero interest loans of matched finance between USD100, 000 and USD 1.5m is provided to businesses that would not otherwise have access to adequate financing.

AECF introduced Connect services in 2012 out of the need to support graduating portfolio companies in raising additional capital from third party investors and lenders. Connect has since supported 12 investees to raise approximately $45m and set out to ramp up operations within the next five years. In order to accelerate the capital raising process, AECF is proposing to partner with external consultants and offer investment readiness support to enterprises in order to prepare them for accessing follow on capital from external investors and lenders.

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