Market Research Consultant 224 views

DRC Market Research Consultant

Company Overview:

Palladium is a global leader in the design, development and delivery of Positive Impact – the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value. We work with foundations, investors, governments, corporations, communities and civil society to formulate strategies and implement solutions that generate lasting social, environmental and financial benefits. 

For the past 50 years, we have been making Positive Impact possible. With a team of more than 2,500 employees operating in 90 plus countries and a global network of more than 35,000 technical experts, Palladium has improved – and is committed to continuing to improve – economies, societies and most importantly, people’s lives. 

Palladium is a child-safe organisation, and screens applicants for suitability to work with children. We also provide equal employment to all participants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran or marital status. 

Project Overview and Role:

The $250 Million, 8-year USAID CATALYZE contract offers a facilitated
partnership model that will craft solutions to crowd in $2 Billion in blended
finance (i.e. blended concessional and commercial finance) to USAID partner
countries; it can work in any development sector or region. Launched in
October 2019, CATALYZE is a buy-in mechanism that allows USAID Bureaus and
Missions to efficiently deploy investment facilitation solutions that respond
to the needs of specific sectors, issues, and geographies. The

CATALYZE
platform can:
Develop a pipeline of financeable transactions in target geographies and sectors;
Link financeable opportunities to sources of capital, structure funds, and close complex transactions;
Support new financial intermediaries in developing countries to build or strengthen local financial ecosystems; and
Identify and assess blended finance approaches

 Primary Duties and Responsibilities: 

The APS Addendum
to CATALYZE invited Concept Papers that focus on mobilizing finance and
stimulating innovation in the education sector through partnerships with the
private sector that support areas relevant to USAID’s 2018 Education Policy in
selected Sub-Saharan African countries. USAID is particularly interested in
working with financial intermediaries to support entrepreneurs that provide
direct and ancillary education services that benefit disadvantaged populations.

This assignment
in DRC will assess the market for edufinance and continue the co-creation
process with the Palladium staff assigned to the CATALYZE project, selected APS
applicant(s), and USAID. The market assessment in DRC follows a desktop
research market assessment completed in March 2020. The assessment requires
validating assumptions and testing hypotheses discovered in the desk assessment
by meeting with, interviewing, and visiting key stakeholders in DRC. The
co-creation process is the next step in the selection and procurement process
to review and select an APS applicant(s) for consideration for an award. The
process includes validating assumptions, performing due diligence, and
modifying the APS applicant(s) concept to the DRC context.

To achieve the
objective of assessing the edufinance market assessment and co-creation in DRC,
the Company seeks a consultant to identify, contact, and introduce key
stakeholders to the CATALYZE project team and to facilitate a meeting via video
or audio conference. In addition, the Consultant may be assigned tasks to
validate information and assumptions collected from media and other sources, to
perform due diligence on select sites in Kinshasa and in other target zones in
DRC.

Required Qualifications:

To complete the above scope and deliverables,
the desired consultant will possess:
Academic and/or professional background in the international development sector, previous experience in education sector preferred
Existing networks in the development and donor space in the DRC to identify and contact key stakeholders relevant to CATALYZE activities
Ability to set up and effectively conduct meetings with key stakeholders as a representative of the CATALYZE program
Demonstrable experience supporting stakeholder engagement and other co-creation processes for USAID- or other donor-funded projects
Extensive knowledge and familiarity of the DRC and local context
Oral and written fluency in English and French