Sharia Financing Consultancy

Country: Kenya

Organization: Danish Refugee Council

Closing date: 12 Dec 2022

Please find complete bid documents in the following link: Sharia Financial Consultancy

Terms of Reference (TOR)

Sharia Financing Consultancy

1. 
   Who is the Danish Refugee Council?
   

Founded in 1956, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading international NGO and one of the few with a specific expertise in forced displacement. Active in 40 countries with 9,000 employees and supported by 7,500 volunteers, DRC protects, advocates, and builds sustainable futures for refugees and other displacement affected people and communities. DRC works during displacement at all stages: In the acute crisis, in displacement, when settling and integrating in a new place, or upon return. DRC provides protection and life-saving humanitarian assistance; supports displaced persons in becoming self-reliant and included into hosting societies; and works with civil society and responsible authorities to promote protection of rights and peaceful coexistence.

DRC has been present in Kenya since 2005 working with the displaced offering support in areas of protection, livelihoods and armed violence reduction. The areas of operation include Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps (including Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement), as well as with urban refugees in Nairobi and Mandera.

1. 
   Purpose of the Consultancy
   

The Danish Refugee Council based in Kenya seeks proposals from a consulting firm to ensure that target communities are able to access formal finance that is fully compliant with Sharia law, ensuring that communities are aware of the rules and processes to be able to effectively engage in financial inclusion. The collaboration will ensure that targeted communities are able to access banking products and services and effectively help them further develop their business activities. DRC Kenya, as part of its mission to assist displacement-affected communities, plans to work with the consulting firm to accelerate financial access through the following key areas of delivery:

1. Develop an Islamic finance best practice training manual for DRC Kenya staff.


2. Develop training material for project beneficiaries on Islamic financing.


3. Provide training to DRC Kenya staff, KCB Bank staff, other project partners in the rules and processes of Islamic finance.


4. Conduct marketing and branding training to project staff.


5. Training and sensitization of communities/beneficiaries in Sharia-compliant financing to enhance taking out formal finance through the project.


6. Conduct a scoping study for expansion of the project to Mandera and areas where Sharia-compliant finance is mandatory.


7. Conduct a multi-stakeholder Islamic finance workshop with all the project stakeholders.


8. 
   Background
   

DRC Kenya is implementing a project titled Supporting Displacement-Affected Communities in Kenya with Entrepreneurship Development (SDACKED) supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency- SIDA that focuses on unblocking barriers to formal financial access for displaced and host community entrepreneurs by working through Community Savings and Loans Associations (CSLAs), connecting groups to digital banking services as well as exploring wider entrepreneurship support in target locations of Nairobi, with plans to expand to Mandera county. The project targets three areas of interventions that include financial inclusion of refugee and hosting communities' entrepreneurs, business support and training, and suitable finance to build the displacement-affected communities’ business ecosystem. This is besides advocating for inclusion of this group of entrepreneurs in formal financing and addressing their protection concerns.

1. 
   Objective of the Consultancy
   

The consultant shall be required to conduct the following activities:

i. Develop relevant training material that can be used to train community groups on Sharia-compliant financing; working to support the roll-out of training programmes.

ii. Provide training and training material to DRC Kenya staff, KCB staff and other project partners on the rules and processes of Islamic financing.

iii. Provide expertise around Islamic financing, certifying that the KCB Bank products are fully Sharia-compliant.

iv. Develop contextualized, faith-based marketing campaign and awareness program for community sensitization.

iv. Use networks to engage key members of the local community in awareness-raising to build trust in the project and its financial product offering.

v. Assess opportunities and challenges for expanding the project to Mandera county; highlighting current Islamic finance offerings and community concerns.

vi. Dedicate technical resources and allocate time from the wider team to support the delivery of outcomes proposed in this ToR.

1. 
   Scope of work and Methodology
   

The Consultant will be required to prepare a detailed methodology and work plan indicating how

the objectives of the project will be achieved, and the support required from DRC Kenya.

1. 
   Deliverables
   

The Consultant will submit the following deliverables:

i. Training manual for DRC staff,

ii. Training manual for project beneficiaries.

iii. Islamic finance best practice manual for DRC staff.

iv. Islamic faith-based marketing campaign and awareness material.

v. Multi-stakeholder Islamic finance workshop.

vi. A report after scoping for opportunities and challenges on expansion plans to Mandera county.

Training for DRC Kenya and KCB staff shall take 1 day. Training for beneficiaries shall take 3 working days. The study for expansion to Mandera shall take 30 working days. Community sensitization meetings shall take 8 working days.

The Consultant will provide the documentationby mail, email, USB key/ MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF.

1. 
   Duration, timeline, and payment
   

The total expected duration to complete the assignment will be no more than 70 working days.

The consultant shall be prepared to complete the assignment no later than 7th March 2023.

1. Proposed Composition of Team

• Project Manager/Lead Consultant


• Assistance Project Manager


• Trainer


• Data Entry Clerk

1. Eligibility, Qualification, and Experience Required

Essential:

Experience working in Mandera Triangle with an understanding of the cross-border challenges and context will be a plus.

Desirable:

• 
  Eligibility:
  
  • The consultant has the authorisation to work in Kenya.
  
  


• 
  Qualification:
  
  • At least a Master’s Degree in any social sciences, research field or Islamic Religious Education.
  
  


• 
  Experience:

Minimum of 3 years’ experience in Sharia compliance work and research preferably within the existing context of urban refugees.

Skills and knowledge:

• 
  
  • A solid understanding of Kenya’s social, cultural and economic context
    - Relevant background in Sharia-compliant financial inclusion and refugee entrepreneurship.
    - Proven track record in conducting similar studies and assessments.
    - Ability to structure complex insights into written and visual products that bring out key features and enable decision making.
  
  


• 
  

  Language requirements:

  
  
  • Written and spoken fluency in English and Kiswahili.
  
  
  • Working knowledge of French, Arabic, Somali, Kinyamulenge or any of the languages spoken by the refugees is an advantage.
  
  

1. 
   Technical supervision
   

The selected consultant will work under the supervision of Project Manager- SDACKED

1. 
   Location and support
   

The assignment shall be conducted in Nairobi’s suburbs (Eastleigh, Kasarani, Kitengela, Kawangware and environs) and Mandera.

The Consultant will provide her/his own computer and mobile telephone.

DRC Kenya shall provide office working space, schedules, information on partners and beneficiaries. DRC Kenya shall also organize for any meetings with partners, stakeholders and beneficiaries.

1. 
   Travel
   

Travel shall be required for this assignment. Travel shall be within Nairobi and Mandera. The Consultant will therefore be expected to arrange transportation, accommodation, insurance and food. The consultant should make adequate provisions for this in the financial proposal.

1. 
   Submission process
   

Interested bidders must submit as a minimum:

§ Updated CV(s) of consultant or consulting team – if bidding as a company, a company profile should also be included.

§ A brief document (2 pages max) outlining a basic strategy and technical approach to the TOR, team composition and timeline, clearly indicating the level of effort required.

§ A brief document (2 pages max) showing portfolio of previous relevant assignments or work. Where possible, this should include links to published work and/or references from the organizations that contracted the work on Sharia financing.

§ A separate financial proposal in USD with a breakdown of budget covering consultancy fees and all related expenses to implement the activities of the consultancy, including travel and transportation, accommodation and all logistical requirements.

1. 
   Evaluation of bids
   

All bidders will be scored on a scale from 1 - 10 for each of the below criteria and will be assessed for profile and qualifications (document 1), technical approach (document 2), and similar experience (document 3). Bids will be scored according to the criteria below for the initial screening.

1. Profile and Qualifications (Weighted percentage – 50%)

a. The candidate meets the profile and qualifications for the TOR.

b. The consultant(s) have similar or other relevant experience in Sharia financing modalities – preferably practical experience.

c. The consultant(s) have relevant experience in sectors similar to those of the focus of the TOR

d. The consultant(s) provide examples of previous work carried out in this field of work especially in an urban refugee setting.

1. Technical approach (Weighted percentage – 50%)

a. The technical approach addresses the key aspects and deliverables of the ToR.

b. The strategy draws on sector good practice and is relevant to the task.

c. The technical approach will deliver the required outputs, within the deadlines.

3. The financial offer will then be weighed against the technical proposal (cost/ quality)

Based on the initial screening, DRC will invite selected bidders for an interview.

DRC will conduct reference checks from at least 2 previous works as an additional mandatory requirement.

• Proposals must be submitted as word/PDF/excel files, ideally packaged in a zip folder.

• Proposals must be submitted to the following address tender.ken@drc.ngo with ‘Sharia Compliance Financing’ in the subject line.

The consultancy is expected to be conducted during the months of December 2022 through to October 2023.

Only those shortlisted will be contacted for an interview with the panel.

How to apply

Bids can be submitted by email to the following dedicated, controlled, & secure email address:

[tender.ken@drc.ngo]

When Bids are emailed, the following conditions shall be complied with:

• 
  The RFP number shall be inserted in the Subject Heading of the email
  


• 
  Separate emails shall be used for the ‘Financial Bid’ and ‘Technical Bid’, and the Subject Heading of the email shall indicate which type the email contains
  
  • The financial bid shall only contain the financial bid form, Annex A.2
  
  
  • The technical bid shall contain all other documents required by the tender, but excluding all pricing information
  
  


• Bid documents required, shall be included as an attachment to the email in PDF, JPEG, TIF format, or the same type of files provided as a ZIP file. Documents in MS Word or excel formats, will result in the bid being disqualified.


• Email attachments shall not exceed 4MB; otherwise, the bidder shall send his bid in multiple emails.

Failure to comply with the above may disqualify the Bid.

DRC is not responsible for the failure of the Internet, network, server, or any other hardware, or software, used by either the Bidder or DRC in the processing of emails.

DRC is not responsible for the non-receipt of Bids submitted by email as part of the e-Tendering process.

Bids to be submitted ONLY electronically.

Please find complete bid documents in the following link: Sharia Financial Consultancy