Consultant: Development of National Financial Literacy Strategy for the Kingdom of Eswatini At Alliance for Financial Inclusion

1. Background:

The Alliance for Financial Inclusion

The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) is the world’s leading organization on financial inclusion policy and regulation. Currently, nearly 100 member institutions make up the AFI network including central banks, ministries of finance and other financial policymaking or regulatory institutions from over 85 developing countries and emerging markets. AFI empowers policymakers to increase the access and usage of quality financial services for the underserved through sustainable and inclusive policies and an effective use of digital technologies.

Policies developed and implemented by the members of the Alliance contribute to a range of the Sustainable Development Goals. by Setting their own agenda, AFI members harness the power of peer learning to develop practical and tested policy reforms that enhance financial inclusion with strategic support from both public and private sector partners.

AFI has 7 Working Groups (WGs): Consumer Empowerment and Market Conduct Working Group (CEMCWG), Digital Financial Services Working Group (DFSWG), Financial Inclusion Data Working Group (FIDWG), Financial Inclusion Strategy Peer Learning Group (FISPLG), Global Standards Proportionality Working Group (GSPWG), Inclusive Green Finance Working Group (IGFWG) and SME Finance Working Group (SMEFWG).

As the key source of policy developments and trends in financial inclusion and as the primary mechanism for generating and incubating technical content in the network, the Working Groups serve as “communities of practice”. Providing a platform for knowledge exchange and peer learning among policymakers to share, deliberate and deepen their understanding, the working groups offer leadership and expertise in their respective policy fields and support the network to monitor new developments in emerging fields.

The knowledge generated via the working groups is disseminated for implementation by a range of capacity building activities such as Joint Learning Programs, Member Trainings, Trainings by Private Sector Partners. The practical experience members garner from engaging in peer learning based capacity building is then applied by members as in country implementation projects which are supported by the provision of financial or technical support to AFI member institutions in conducting activities that aim to deliver financial inclusion policies, regulations, supervisory tools or enablers for the development of policies, such as national financial inclusion strategies

The working groups receive strategic guidance and insight from the High-Level Global Standards & Policy Committee, while the Gender Inclusive Finance Committee, supports WGs in integrating gender considerations into all aspects of their work and support members in fulfilling their Denarau Action Plan (2016) commitment to promote women’s financial inclusion.

AFI members have made further commitments in a range of other accords which can be read here.

The AFI’s five regional initiatives support policy implementation in Africa (AfPI), Latin America and the Caribbean (FILAC), the Pacific Islands (PIRI), Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECAPI) and the Arab Region (FIARI).

2. Project Background:

MINISTRY OF FINANCE ESWATINI CENTER FOR FINANCIAL INCLUSION (MOF CFI)

[This section describes the country landscape, context of the assignment from the Ministry of Finance Eswatini Center for Financial Inclusion (MOF CFI) perspective and any other information that might be helpful and related to the consultancy assignment].

The Eswatini State of Financial Inclusion Report 2018 shows that 73 percent of the adults in Eswatini have a high to moderate overall level of financial capability and 27 percent still have a low financial capability. The latter have a low capacity to act in their best financial interest, given their socio-economic conditions. Therefore it is essential to attend to the needs of the this population in terms of building their financial capability through the development of a National Financial Literacy Strategy. The strategy will focus on financially educating Emaswati to further increase the uptake and usage of formal financial services and products. This is envisioned to build their resilience and enhance their welfare.

Eswatini is amongst the most financially included countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Given the high level of financial inclusion the focus of the National Financial Literacy Strategy will have to be carefully considered, as high levels of financial inclusion do not necessarily translate into high level of financial capability. Therefore, it is important that the design of the strategy should be carefully focused on how best to improve the overall financial capability of the Eswatini population.

The outcome of the implementation of the overall strategy should be geared towards empowering consumers to be in a position to make more informed financial decisions, are able and better equipped to withstand financial shocks, are actively planning for their future and demonstrating financial behaviors that result in their own financial growth and sustainability.

3. Overall Objective

[This section describes the overall objective of the assignment and how (if any) it links with any other policy, initiative, agenda or regulatory intervention of the MOF CFI and/or the Kingdom of Eswatini].

In 2017, the Kingdom of Eswatini approved the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) 2017 – 2022 which provides a framework to enhance the access and usage of affordable financial services and products by the vulnerable segments of the local population, as well as MSMEs.

The vision of the Kingdom of Eswatini’s NFIS is to “increase the depth of financial inclusion, growing the percentage of adults with access to two or more formal products from 43 percent to 75 percent, and reducing the excluded from 27 percent to 15 percent by 2022 by growing mobile money and remittances, deepening bank reach, getting credit basics right, ensuring risk management products are available, and enabling alternative channels to serve the poor.”

Towards that end, the overall goal of the assignment is to produce a National Financial Literacy Strategy. This is envisioned to enable all individuals, households and MSMEs in the Kingdom of Eswatini have access to and usage of formal financial services towards building their resilience and enhancing their welfare, particularly those with low financial capability.

The assignment will:

• Produce a National Financial Literacy Strategy.
• Be aligned with the recent NFIS Mid-Term Review (MTR) and the key pillars of the current NFIS.

3.1 Project Components

• Output

Kingdom of Eswatini’s National Financial Literacy Strategy.

• Rationale

The Eswatini State of Financial Inclusion Report 2018 shows that 73 percent of the adults in Eswatini have a high to moderate overall level of financial capability and 27 percent still have a low financial capability. The latter have a low capacity to act in their best financial interest, given their socio-economic conditions. Therefore, it is essential to attend to the needs of the population in terms of building their financial capability through the development of a national financial literacy strategy.

• Main activities
• Conduct assessment (desk research and consultation with main stakeholders) of the current situation of financial literacy/education programs and initiatives in Eswatini, especially ones targeting women and girls, evidence related to the level of financial capabilities to identify the key target groups, main dimensions and possible channels to determine the duration, scope and expected outcomes of a national financial literacy strategy in Eswatini.
• Engage with and support the Working Group in charge of the development of the National Financial Literacy Strategy.
• Engage the National Financial Inclusion Committee to develop a stakeholder matrix to link stakeholders to the agenda of the National Financial Literacy Strategy.
• Support MOF CFI in conducting multi-stakeholder awareness workshops to sensitize stakeholders and obtain buy-in.
• Draft the National Financial Literacy Strategy through considering inputs from key stakeholders and aligning with international best practices. It should present the target groups, the main programs available and to be developed under the strategy, timeframes, delivery channels to be enabled during strategy implementation, and an estimated budget.
• Facilitate and support stakeholder engagement meetings to validate the draft National Financial Literacy Strategy.
• Finalize the National Financial Literacy Strategy.

4. Scope of Work

[This section describes in detail the scope of work and specific deliverables expected from the consultant(s). Recommended to have the deliverables itemized to ensure clarity. Example is provided hereunder].

The following sets out the scope of work and specific deliverables under this assignment:

• Inception meeting: preliminary consultations with MOF CFI and AFI to agree on the scope of work, timelines, deliverables, national stakeholders and partners (e.g., Ministry of Education, Central Bank of Eswatini, Financial Services Regulatory Authority, University of Eswatini), support needed and reporting process.
• Comprehensive desk-based research and assessment of the current financial literacy/education programs and initiatives being offered to different target groups in Eswatini from all ages and economic brackets, using available secondary and primary data. This should cover ongoing financial literacy/education programs and initiatives implemented by public, private and civil society/social institutions.
• Consultation meetings with stakeholders:** Engage and consult stakeholders to map financial capability gaps and challenges as well as existing initiatives in order to develop a stakeholder matrix linking stakeholders to the agenda of the National Financial Literacy Strategy.
• Multi-stakeholder awareness workshop: Support MOF CFI in conducting multi-stakeholder awareness workshops to sensitize stakeholders and obtain buy-in based on a pre-assessment of existing financial literacy and capability programs being delivered nationwide, and presentation of the proposed action plan for the strategy formulation.
• National Financial Literacy Strategy: Support MOF CFI in the development of the Eswatini National Financial Literacy Strategy with the baseline 2018 study and in alignment with the recent NFIS Mid-Term Review (MTR) and the key pillars of the current NFIS. The strategy should be developed in close collaboration with the project’s Working Group and identified stakeholders. It should include pre-formulation, formulation, implementation and monitoring & evaluation phases, including the specific target groups, stakeholder engagement, objectives and expected outcomes of (sub)initiatives, clear action plan and timeline.
• Strategy validation: Conduct multi-stakeholder engagement meetings to validate the National Financial Literacy Strategy.
• Finalize the National Financial Literacy Strategy and provide support to its sensitization and launch process.

5. Travel

This consultancy work requires domestic/regional/international travelling to support the implementation of the national multi-stakeholder consultative workshops. This will be discussed in further detail after the award decision notification. Please include budgeting for workshop-related travel in your financial proposal.

6. Timelines

[The scope and tentative timelines for this assignment is detailed below]:

Activity

Output/ Deliverable

Timeline

1. Appointment of Consultant
   

   Signed Agreement with Consultant – February 2022

2. Inception Meeting
   

   Agreement scope, expected deliverables, support needed, reporting and related timelines. – February 2022

3. Consultation meeting the National Financial Inclusion Committee
   

   Ideas gathered on challenges and initiatives about financial capability and stakeholder matrix developed to link stakeholders to the agenda of the National Financial Literacy Strategy – February 2022

4. Assessment of the current state of practice of financial literacy/education programs and initiatives in Eswatini
   

   Assessment of the current state of practice of financial literacy/education programs and initiatives in Eswatini, including opportunities and risks – March 2022

5. Conduct multi-stakeholder awareness workshops to sensitize stakeholders and obtain buy-in
   

   Workshop conducted and action plan drafted and validated – March – May 2022

6. Develop the National Financial Literacy Strategy
   

   National Financial Literacy Strategy developed – June – May 2022

7. Conduct stakeholder engagement meetings to validate the National Financial Literacy Strategy
   

   Final Strategy document presented and approved > June 2022

8. Launch the National Financial Literacy Strategy
   

   National Financial Literacy Strategy launched – June 2022

During the assignment, the MOF CFI and AFI teams will closely oversee, guide and support the consulting firm by sharing internal expertise; linking them with key stakeholders; assisting in arranging the consulting firm’s communications; and providing inputs to deliverables. This assignment is expected to involve extensive data analysis and interaction with key stakeholders.

7. Consultant Experience

The applicants should be a consulting firm with a proven record in conducting research relating to financial inclusion and financial literacy / education / capability.

• The consulting firm should have a team of experts that include experts with working knowledge of financial education institutions, preferably within the Eswatini context.
• The consulting firm should have a team of experts that include experts with working knowledge of financial literacy / education / capability programs and strategies and good understanding of existing financial literacy initiatives globally and particularly in Eswatini.
• Good understanding of the Eswatini financial sector (Banking, MFIs, MNOs, SACCOs and etc), financial education sector, Eswatini’s financial inclusion and education journey.
• To have done similar exercise for similar group (s) of people and institutions is an added advantage.
• The team leader should have at least 7+ years of relevant experience and hold a master’s degree in a relevant field.
• Excellent written and presentation skills in English. Knowledge of local language is a plus.
• Ability to maintain and keep confidential information within the scope of the project.

8. Reporting:

Throughout the contract period, the consultant will be reporting to the Project Lead from the MOF CFI supported by the Technical Lead from the AFI team supporting this assignment**.**

9. Criteria for Evaluation:

Technical Scoring

1.Academic Qualification; 10%**

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2.Experience and technical competence of the key staff for the assignment; 50%

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• *Adequacy for the assignment (*25%)

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• *Regional/Global experience (*25%)

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3.Adequacy of the proposed work plan and methodology in responding to the Terms of Reference; 30%****

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• *Technical approach and Methodology (*15%)

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• *Workplan (*15%)

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4.Sample work – Relevance to Assignment and demonstrated experience in writing; 10%****

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Total: 100

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