REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL DUE DILIGENCE ASSESSMENT OF ENTERPRISES IN WEST AFRICA

Job Description

Job Description

Scope and methodology

The DDA will draw upon a framework to assess the organisation’s management systems especially as regarding risks, anti-corruption, and social responsibility policies and processes, and legal compliance to understand and evaluate if the necessary legal requirements were/are applied during the establishment, the operations and any other business activities that may affect the intended partnership. SNV Due Diligence Framework (attached) will be used as a reference guide but the methodology can be improved by the consultant. Applicants are invited to submit a technical offer that will define the tools and approach proposed for the DDA. The DDA will be undertaken through desk study and field investigations and can include the following tasks:

1. Preliminary Review. Review all available information and documentation related to potential partnership. Prepare a list of additional information and/or questions that will be needed to continue the assessment.

2. Site Visit and Further Review. Conduct site inspections, review facility-based records, and interview key staff, including both sponsor personnel and relevant stakeholders (regulatory officials, community leaders, suppliers, and customers).

3. Undertake a risk analysis and identify necessary corrective/mitigation measures plan. Identify risks, develop a rating report with corresponding corrective actions that will be necessary. Prioritize these and recommend acceptable and justified implementation schedules.

4. Due Diligence Documentation. Prepare a report summarizing the results of the DDA. The report shall include a summary of the risks associated with the partnership, including the related gaps and correction actions that will be necessary in order for SNV to invest.

Deliverables

A technical and financial proposal taking into account the outlines for:

• The approach to conduct a DDA and its related timeframe
• The outline of a ratings report of risk and partners capacity to manage the business case responsibly and effectively against each of the above framework using a grading approach which has been proposed by the consultants. This should be accompanied by a sliding scale graphic visual.
• The outline of a comprehensive, final assessment report of in English & French maximum 20 pages (excluding annexes). Includes findings and observations, detailed SMART recommendations for identified gaps, control weaknesses, potential mitigating actions in English & French in pdf and word formats.
• Detailed budget
• Track record of the company in Due Diligence in West Africa

Qualifications

Expertise required

The invited consultancy must have ample experience in performing due diligence assessments of international and national companies in West Africa, including Sahel region.

• A minimum of 10 years’ experience in conducting due diligence assessments and/or internal audits in developing settings, with experience of this work in West Africa, including the Sahel region
• Excellent understanding of organisational governance systems, policy and processes.
• Excellent oral and report writing skills.
• Strong interview and analytical skills.
• Willingness to travel to and within the West Africa countries, including the Sahel region, potentially under stress and in non-optimal working conditions, including ad-hoc security impositions, constraints on infrastructure.
• Fluency in written and oral French and English

Additional Information

Technical and Financial proposal

Consultancy is invited to submit a technical and financial proposal in English before/on December 17, 2019, by clicking on I’m Interested. Proposals will be reviewed and shortlisted proposals will be contacted for next steps.

About the Organization

Background

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation is a not-for-profit international development organization founded in the Netherlands nearly 50 years ago. It has built a long-term, local presence in 39 of the poorest countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America working with local partners to equip communities, businesses and organizations with the tools, knowledge and connections they need to increase their incomes and gain access to basic services – empowering them to break the cycle of poverty and guide their own development. Using market based approaches, SNV is committed to reducing poverty by catalysing environmentally sustainable solutions for the poor in Agriculture, Energy, Water & Sanitation and Hygiene, youth Employment, Gender Empowerment and Climate Change.

SNV works with various actors and in various sectors and abides with internationally agreed principles of responsible business conduct. SNV has an environmental and social safeguard policy to this effect as well as a Due Diligence framework. Both are inspired by the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises and the UN Global Compact. SNV partners with companies that seek to improve their corporate performance towards the principles for responsible businesses. The aim of the due diligence framework is to reduce the risk of such partnerships to SNV. It applies to all partners of SNV; multinational corporations, national companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (to the best of their ability).

Objective

This demand sets out a request for proposal to perform Due Diligence Assessments of any kind of enterprise in West Africa. Hence the Due Diligence Assessment (DDA) is designed to provide a level of assurance on the organisational capacity of this potential business partner to develop and implement a joint project with SNV as agreed upon. It aims to identify and understand potential risks faced in working with selected partner and to ascertain how these risks can be mitigated and managed. This DDA should ensure that the joint project can be successfully delivered in alignment with the objectives of SNV and the funds properly accounted for. The findings and recommendations of the DDA will inform SNV decision before entering into a partnership.