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Scaling up Loans and Grants for Microenterprises – Baseline Survey Request for Proposals

Deadline Sat, Apr 01, 2023

The Sawiris Foundation for Social Development (SFSD) was established in 2001 with an endowment from the Sawiris Family as one of the first national donor foundations addressing many of Egyptian society's critical and pressing issues. Since its establishment, the SFSD has been working to create opportunities, drive change, and achieve sustainable development that is based on knowledge and exchange of experiences and best development practices. For more than 20 years, the foundation has succeeded in consolidating the sustainable development approach instead of the charitable approach, by adopting pioneering initiatives and ideas and transforming them into projects that secure a decent life for all segments of Egyptian society, with a focus on the most in need, in the fields of education, scholarships, economic and social empowerment. During its journey in sustainable development, SFSD has made a direct difference in the lives of more than 700,000 Egyptians, across 24 governorates, with a focus on Upper Egypt, and a total fund of EGP 2 billion.

About the Project:

The project, Scaling up Loans and Grants, is funded by Sawiris Foundation and implemented by both the “Egyptian Family Development” NGO in Luxor governorate and the Family and Environment Development Association in Qena governorate. In a previous work, SFSD collaborated with JPAL to conduct an impact evaluation that compared the impact of providing loans and grants for borrowers with new micro-enterprises. This impact evaluation showed that both low-interest loans and grants can improve the outcomes of microenterprises and helped to close the gap in understanding why there were large effects found from the impacts of grants on recipients (e.g. De Mel, McKenzie, and Woodruff (2008)[1], Hussam, Rigol and Roth (2022)[2]), but limited impacts found in research that estimated the impacts of loans on borrowers (See Banerjee, Karlan, and Zinman 2015)[3].

Following up on the earlier impact evaluation results, SFSD in collaboration with JPAL decided to conduct a second impact evaluation using Randomized Control Trials methodology (RCTs) to evaluate providing low-interest loans and grants on already-established larger enterprises which are expected to have a larger impact on employment and the overall economy, as well as testing two new types of financial products that could be more efficient in helping borrowers to exploit long-term investments.

Mission Objective:

Sawiris Foundation is looking for an experienced data collection firm to conduct a baseline survey with potential loan borrowers in Qena and Luxor governorates in relation to an ongoing study to measure the impact of Scaling up Loans and Grants for Micro-enterprises.

After the applicants submit their applications and pass through the filtration process, the data collection firm will be required to manage and execute the data collection process of the baseline survey before starting the program. The enumerators will need to conduct two surveys with the potential loan borrowers in Qena and Luxor. Data will be collected using SurveyCTO and each survey will take from approximately 30 – 45 minutes to complete.

We are targeting our beneficiaries in the following locations:

  1. Qena governorate: Esna and Armnt principals (2000 individuals).
  2. Luxor governorate: Qena, El Waqf and Nagaa Hamady principals (2000 individuals).

Expected Outputs:

Deliverables of the consultancy include the following:

  • Obtain any necessary government approvals for the research project from CAPAMS and any other relevant approvals.
  • Data collection of the baseline survey for 4000 beneficiaries in the targeted governorates.
  • Conduct back‐checks and verification for 25% of the implemented surveys.
  • Monthly progress reports of the work.

Consultancy Duration:

The baseline study will be conducted on several batches, thus, the consultancy is expected to be completed within 18 months with the possibility of extension.

Management:

The consulting firm will be reporting to the Evaluation Manager at SFSD. A weekly check-in meeting should be arranged between the consultancy firm, the two NGOs, as well as Sawiris Foundation Sectors of Learning & Strategy and Economic Empowerment.

The Learning & Strategy Sector at Sawiris Foundation has the right to supervise the data collection process as they see fit, in addition to sharing the list of individuals that were part of the sample used in the data collection process. Finally, the consultant is fully responsible for ensuring that the research and data collection process is following the Innovation for Poverty Action standard research protocol found on this link.

Timeline:

  • Signing Contract: Month 1
  • Applying for CAPMAS Approval: Month 1
  • Enumerator Training: Month 1
  • Pilot Surveys: Month 2 until month 12
  • Data collection: Month 12

Confidentiality and Record of Right:

All materials, reports, and other documents produced by the consulting firm under this consultancy will be the sole property of SFSD. The consulting firm will maintain a high level of confidentiality with external actors/stakeholders, concerning all the materials and reports produced under the consultancy. For any use of the produced materials/reports/documents, other than for the purpose of the projects, the consulting firm must receive consent from SFSD in writing. The consulting firm must abide by Egyptian law regarding data collection.

Selection Criteria of Consulting firms:

  1. Experience with youth employment programs in Egypt.
  2. Experience in working with training and employment programs in partnership with the public and private sectors in Egypt.
  3. Explicit descriptions and evidence of high levels of Data Quality Assurance.
  4. Value for money.

A. Qualifications of Team Leader:

  • Strong communication skills
  • Fluency in Arabic and English
  • Excellent report writing skills
  • Experience in managing teams
  • Experience in providing training on data collection

B. Qualifications of Enumerators:

  • Female enumerators are preferred
  • Strong communication skills
  • Fluency in Arabic
  • Experience in conducting surveys
  • Familiarity with electronic data collection using SurveyCTO

Deliverables to the Research Team:

Deliverables include the following:

  1. Data collected
  2. Quality checks
  3. Legal permit(s) for data collection
  4. Weekly progress reports about the work
  5. A final process report

Offers Submission

  • To apply for this SOW, submit separately a technical and financial proposal, along with the CVs of each team member to (eval-proposals@sawirisfoundation.org) In the subject line of the email, please write: Scaling Loans and Grants Baseline Survey.
  • The deadline for receiving offers is April 01, 2023.
  • The financial offer should be submitted in Egyptian currency including all expenses and relevant taxes.
  • Late submissions will not be considered.
  • All official documents of the firm must be sent (Commercial Register, Tax Register).
  • Consultancy firms should have more than three years of experience in data collection and DQA.
  • Any inquiries can be sent directly to (eval-proposals@sawirisfoundation.org) no later than 25 March 2023.

References:

  1. De Mel, S., McKenzie, D., & Woodruff, C. (2008). Returns to capital in microenterprises: evidence from a field experiment. The quarterly journal of Economics, 123(4), 1329-1372.
  2. Hussam, R., Rigol, N., & Roth, B. N. (2022). Targeting high ability entrepreneurs using community information: Mechanism design in the field. American Economic Review, 112(3), 861-98.
  3. Banerjee, A., Karlan, D., & Zinman, J. (2015). Six randomized evaluations of microcredit: Introduction and further steps. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7(1), 1-21.