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The National Development Plan (PDN-2018-2022) highlights the promotion and insertion of scientific and technological culture as pillars of the country's social and economic development. However, the Angolan economy has contracted for four consecutive years and economic forecasts, according to the Ministry of Finance, will remain negative, indicating a recession of -1.2% in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly exacerbated the country’s weak macro-fiscal situation in the context of unemployment and difficulties in Private Sector’s development. The unemployment rate increased to 32.0% in the first quarter of 2020, while one in two young people aged 15-24 is unemployed. On the other hand, Angola is in position 177 in the World Bank ranking of 190 economies with ease of doing business in 2020. Promoting the development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and innovation remains one of the main priorities from the government. Innovation and technology transfer could favour entrepreneurship. This fact is substantiated in the National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (MESCTI).
Given this employability reality of traditional businesses, together with the Government's financial programs for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), it is essential to create the conditions for stimulating entrepreneurship and innovation, as a way to not only respond livelihood needs for young people, as well as to transform problems and needs into opportunities that create prosperous businesses and good jobs.
The verifying rise and growth of outstanding innovative businesses in the country, is often supported or driven by an ecosystem under construction, a network of private actors and public institutions that have activated and dynamized the sector through a set of actions and initiatives including incubation and acceleration programs, workshops and contests. However, for an ecosystem to survive and develop, special conditions and a favourable institutional environment are necessary. One of the PDN's priority actions is to support the creation of incubators for technological and innovation companies, as well as to encourage the creation of Technological Poles of Excellence with a critical mass of researchers, universities, scientific research centres and business entities.
Given the increasing complexity of the technology and innovation sector, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESCTI) intends, with other partners, to develop a legal framework and policies that facilitate the monitoring of innovation in all its phases, allowing open the way to expand the ecosystem, establishing support and momentum mechanisms, and eliminating the main obstacles, thus creating favourable conditions for its development. UNDP, within its Country Cooperation Framework (CDP 2020-2022) proposes, through the Acceleration Lab, to explore and strengthen national innovation systems to maximize the desirable impact of policies and the achievement of the Development Sustainable Goals in Angola.
In order to promote scientific research, innovation and entrepreneurship in the Angolan institutions of higher education, MESCTI and UNDP signed a Memorandum of Understanding that aims to assess the current state of the innovation ecosystem in the country. The international competition is launched to recruit an international expert with proven experience in conducting rapid diagnostics and developing studies in areas of innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, and scientific publications on innovation.
The consultant will work in collaboration with the national consultant and will report directly to the National Director of Technology and Innovation at MESCTI and the UNDP technical team to assess the quality of the products described in this term of reference.
Objectives
The general objective is to prepare an analysis and diagnosis study of the current state of the innovation ecosystem in the country. For the preparation of the study, the following aspects should be considered:
- Ability to conceptualize and lead the process of analysing and diagnosing the current state of the innovation ecosystem in Angola;
- Ensure a transparent process so that different stakeholders (universities, civil society organizations, start-ups, and the private sector) can make their contribution and influence the debates on the innovation and entrepreneurship agenda in Angola;
- Ability to synthesize and document analysis of all current legislation and sector policies on innovation and entrepreneurship in Angola;
- Ability to communicate effectively and organize questionnaires and focus groups to extract key elements that will serve as a basis for the study.
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Duties and Responsibilities
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Duties and Responsibilities:
- Prepare the research design and present it to the technical group for validation. This should consist of a research plan, methodology to be used, framework of the sample to be used, data collection tools, etc.;
- Review official documents already prepared on the subject, investigation and review of the relevant literature (articles, news, legislation, reports and studies);
- Develop the elements of research and investigation, including questionnaires, interviews and focus groups, in dialogue with UNDP.;
- With support of MESCTI, UNCTAD and UNDP contribute with knowledge and organization of international workshop on innovation and sustainable development.
- Preparation of the final study report and presentation to the technical group.
- The consultant will start working remotely. His on-site activities will be at the UNDP and MESCTI facilities in Luanda. In the need of moving to the provinces, and if the sanitary fence remains, credentials from MESCTI will be issued to allow circulation around the country.
Methodological approach
The preparation of the study should consider the following phases:
- Review of relevant literature;
- Data Collection (qualitative and quantitative).
- Analysis of collected data.
- Completion of the Study and final report.
Data collection should consider two components: a quantitative component through questionnaires and a qualitative one through interviews, focus groups and participatory workshops.
Data analysis should:
- Establish a logical relationship between the concepts defined and the categories selected to classify and organize the data;
- Establish a linkage between current legislation, public policies and the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem needs (tax incentives, access to finance, legalization of companies, intellectual property, etc.) and offer recommendations and suggestions for improving the legal framework relevant;
- Identify the actors and institutions that make up the ecosystem and their relationships - mapping the ecosystem;
- Identify entrepreneur “persona” in Angola: sex, average age, education level, professional experience before starting your business;
- Select and highlight some positive and negative examples in the context of innovation and entrepreneurship, illustrating them through qualitative information - case studies.
Deliverables
- A conceptual pre-analysis and a diagnosis of the state of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship ecosystem in Angola with a view to the present (current panorama of the sector), according to a set of categories to be defined (example: legal framework, resources, capabilities, partnerships, etc.);
- Mapping of the main actors and partners that influence the sectors of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship ecosystem in Angola;
- Preparation and presentation of the study on the Innovation Ecosystem in Angola, with assessment of existing good practices, opportunities and challenges. The study is expected to formulate basic recommendations for creating a legal framework and strengthening policies to promote the ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship in Angola;
- With support with Accelerator Lab team and Program Managers conduct rapid assessment of the UNDP portfolio of projects to understand problems and develop innovative solutions for delivery.
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Competencies
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Corporate Competencies:
- Demonstrates commitment to UNDP´s mission, vision and values;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
- Highest standards of of integrity, discretion and loyalty.
Functional Competencies:
- Ability demonstrated at a high level of theoretical and practical research on topics related to the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem in developing countries (Candidates with experience in African countries will be highly regarded);
- Proven experience in statistical methods of collecting, processing and quantitative and qualitative data analysis;
- Excellent communication and presentation skills, and scientific publications on innovation issues (At least two copies must be attached to evaluate the application).
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Required Skills and Experience
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Education:
- Master's degree in Science or Social Sciences (Economics, Sociology, Statistics, or equivalent areas (PhD candidates will be highly regarded).
Experience
- 10 years of professional experience in the area of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship in the context of a developing country.
Language Requirements:
- Fluent in English and Portuguese
Evaluation Process:
Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below. Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
Being responsive / compliant / acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria / Proposal weighs 30%.
Technical Evaluation - Total obtainable points 100 points:
Criteria 1: Educational Qualification and l working experience in relevant fields related to innovation in context of developing countries including Africa: Maximum Points: 20.
Criteria 2: Proven technical experience working in mapping innovations and social transformation: Maximum Points: 40.
Criteria 3: Demonstrated experience working in research and knowledge management: Maximum Points: 30.
Criteria 4: Experience in stakeholder engagement and management: Maximum Points: 10.
Financial Criteria: (30% of the total evaluation) based on the total all-inclusive lump sum amount for professional fee for tasks specified in this announcement
Having reviewed applications received, UNDP may invite qualified/ shortlisted candidates for interview.
Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (70 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (100 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.
Financial Evaluation - Total 30% (30 points)
The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:
p = y (µ/z), where
p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal
µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated
Contract Award:
Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.
Application Procedure
The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):
- A cover letter with a brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment, and a summary of the understanding of the TOR;
- Personal CV, indicating all past experience from similar consultancy and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least two (2) professional references.
- The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily fee (based on a 7-hours working day - lunch time is not included - and estimated 21.75 days per month).
- Methodology, and Timeline
The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; (excluding mission travel); living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.
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