Private Sector Promotion/Development Volunteer Expert (Chamber of Commerce Membership)

Job Description

SCOPE OF WORK

TCCIA Membership Management

Expert Volunteer: Private Sector Promotion/Development Expert

Location of Assignment: Mbeya, Iringa and Morogoro

Proposed Level of Effort: 2 weeks in each region (6 weeks assignment)

Anticipated Travel Date: (March -April)

This will be accomplished by:

• Review current TCCIA foundation documents such as operation manuals and strategic plans and workplans to inform development of an effective member relationship management system and providing training as needed
• Review recommended documents; marketing, advocacy, outreach, and communication strategies
• Revise and clearly document the current membership subscription system
• Review, recommend and document more effective member recruitment and retention strategies
• Stakeholder validation before developing an acceptable/efficient system for membership development
• Develop an effective member relationship management system and provide training as needed
• Build the Capacity of Regional TCCIA chapter; lobbying, advocacy and dialoguing skills. Including capacity of TCCIA Management members when generating Informational, Educational and Communication Materials for advocacy and outreach purposes.

Background

The Tanzania Enabling Growth through Investment and Enterprise Program (ENGINE) is a four-year (2016 – 2020) USAID-funded Feed the Future Tanzania activity that aims to streamline and enhance many of the regulatory, informational and financial channels that encourage domestic and foreign investment in the southern mainland agricultural regions of Mbeya, Morogoro, and Iringa, and in Zanzibar.

ENGINE works at the district level, using a broad-based approach to engage with district-level Local Government Authorities (LGAs), private sector associations, business development service providers, financial institutions and small and medium enterprises. The program’s activities are divided into three main components:

1. Implement policies for growth. Build the capacity of the private sector to effectively dialogue with the government to set the policy agenda and improve the capacity of the public sector to implement policies.

1. Equip businesses for growth. Strengthen SME capacity and foster the growth and capacity of a sustainable market for business development services (BDS) in Tanzania.

1. Access to finance for growth. Broaden access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in all sectors, especially women and youth entrepreneurs and those working within agricultural value chains (excluding primary producers), to facilitate increased business viability, growth and investment.

Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) has the prime role to support, represent and negotiate with the Government on Private sector matters related to commerce, industry and agriculture development. TCCIA has been experiencing limited membership and financial resources to support its mission. Some of the reasons highlighted for that include among others; poor membership services, including no service differentiation among its different business member groups, poor involvement of members in the association, advocacy activities take very long to materialize; thus, members lose patience, and some members feel that continuing to pay subscriptions is an extra burden while not receiving any clear benefit.

Through various assignments the ENGINE program has supported TCCIA chapters in Morogoro, Mbeya and Iringa to address the aforementioned challenges. In 2017, an ENGINE Expert Volunteer undertook an institutional needs assessment that led to ENGINE’s support to promote TCCIA membership through development of institutional fliers; fielded interns to aggressively recruit new members in all three Regional chapters as part of an outreach strategy to increase the membership base. In all three

chapters, members increased (though not to the envisaged levels) following the referenced program support. However, there is still a need to review the developed strategies to address gaps identified ever since they have been in operation and document them in a more formal way. In particular, TCCIA’s membership development and marketing strategies to assist TCCIA chapters to promote its mission and recruit, retain and expand its member base. This will be coupled with enhancement of TCCIA’s capacity to develop strategies for development of Information generation, Communications and Educational Materials - produced periodically, e.g. Semi Annually.

The Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (TCCIA) serves its members at the national level and has local-level affiliates with varying levels of membership service. Local Chambers face significant challenges for collaborating with LGAs, with periodic public private dialogues (PPD) often described as lacking concrete and positive results. In some LGAs, the local TCCIA does not have the necessary structures or extensive business memberships to support a large and varied business community, with members of all sizes operating in all sectors of the economy. Due to some reasons beyond their capacity, TCCIA in Mbeya, Iringa and Morogoro have been experiencing inadequate technical skills related to effective procedures for recruiting and retaining members. Though its budget relies solely on membership fees and some contributions, TCCIA Mbeya Iringa and Morogoro feel that there is need for understanding why some similar organizations are more successful than them.

1. In collaboration with TCCIA, develop and document the membership management system;
2. Validation of initial findings with stakeholders.
3. Review current marketing and communication strategies. In collaboration with TCCIA develop and document the reviewed strategies.

• Inception report describing methodology to be accepted before embarking on the assignment.
• Submit detailed work plan.
• A document that provides specific and clear recommendations on effective TCCIA Membership recruitment, member management, marketing & communication, and Revenue Collection.

• Discussion with TCCIA Management on assignment objectives and how they were met or why they were not met.
• Final Report, submitted to TCCIA for acceptance and approval

The Final Assignment Report to the ENGINE Program must include the following sections:

1. Introduction;
2. Methodology;
3. Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations related to TCCIA’s challenges as described above.
4. Discuss with TCCIA Management assignment objectives and how they were met, or why they were not met.

Additionally, the Volunteer will provide exit debriefings to both TCCIA chapters Management and ENGINE & USAID Dar-office.

Volunteer Qualifications

TCCIA Organizational Development Expert Volunteer required skills and qualifications:

• A minimum of University degree in economics, business administration, Marketing, public policy, or another relevant field;
• 5+ years of experience working within a Chamber of Commerce in an organizational development role (and, preferably in the business planning, policy development, advocacy and budgeting processes);
• A proven track record of conducting organizational development and capacity building needs assessments, and the preparation of management/administrative documents, systems and tools;
• Experience in stakeholder engagement, consultation and facilitation;
• Well-developed writing skills in English and the ability to express one’s self clearly and concisely;
• Training/facilitation skills, including participatory training in group settings. Training and consultation experience utilizing a translator or interpreter is an added plus;
• Self-motivated, proactive, detail-oriented, mature, professional team player, who is a strong people-person and communicator, with good inter-personal skills;
• Ability to address issues, challenges, questions and concerns in a professional, respectful, logical and timely manner;
• Works well in a multi-cultural setting.
• Good computer skills in MS Office.

Illustrative Assignment Schedule for 2 Weeks in each Region

Note: This assignment schedule is illustrative of a two-week field assignment in each of three Regional TCCIA Chapters of Morogoro, Mbeya and Iringa to undertake this assignment. The timeline will be adjusted to reflect the Expert Volunteer’s availability, specific project and agency timing, and overall project needs.

Date

Activity

TBD

Arrive Tanzania

TBD

Orientation meeting in Dar es Salaam with ENGINE staff for an overview and discussion of the assignment objectives and process.

TBD

Travel to Mbeya regional office and meet with locally-based ENGINE staff

TBD

Meet local TCCIA leadership to discuss the assignment objectives and schedule

TBD

TBD

Travel to Iringa regional office and meet with locally-based ENGINE staff

TBD

Meet local TCCIA leadership to discuss the assignment objectives and schedule

TBD

TBD

Travel to Morogoro regional office and meet with locally-based ENGINE staff

TBD

Meet local TCCIA leadership to discuss the assignment objectives and schedule

TBD

TBD

Write the TCCIA assignment Report and provide exit debriefing to TCCIA

TBD

Finalize writing of TCCIA assignment report, plan of action and write the Trip Report

TBD

Travel to Dar es Salaam and prepare for debrief meeting

TBD

Provide an exit debriefing to ENGINE/USAID and depart Tanzania

About the Organization

The International Executive Service Corps is a Washington, DC based not-for-profit that focuses on private sector growth. We support and catalyze the development of private enterprises, business support organizations, financial institutions, and public institutions around the world. Utilizing skilled consultants and expert volunteers, we’ve implemented over 25,000 short-term projects and 200 programs in 130 countries. True to our mission — Promoting Prosperity and Stability through Private Enterprise — we’re proud to have created over one million jobs across the globe