Expression of Interest - Micro and Small Enterprises

About Accion:

Accion is a global nonprofit committed to creating a financially inclusive world, with a trailblazing legacy in microfinance and fintech impact investing. We catalyze financial service providers to deliver high-quality, affordable solutions at scale for the 1.8 billion people who are left out of, or poorly served by, the financial sector. For more than 60 years, Accion has helped tens of millions of people through our work with more than 200 partners in 63 countries. More at http://www.accion.org.

About Center for Financial Inclusion:

The Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) works to advance inclusive financial services for the billions of people who currently lack the financial tools needed to improve their lives and prosper. We leverage partnerships to conduct rigorous research, test promising solutions, and advocate for evidence-based change. CFI was founded by Accion in 2008 to serve as an independent think tank on inclusive finance.

CFI’s role in the inclusive finance space is to identify learning gaps that could advance the economic prosperity and resilience of low-income people and undertake research, co-creation of solutions and pilot testing to advance our collective understanding of what would drive progress. CFI partners with various stakeholders – donors, investors, policymakers, and providers – in its research and pilot testing work and during its advocacy phase. In areas where there is clear evidence of what works, CFI collaborates with partners to advocate and incorporate learning into their practices.

Context of Research:

CFI seeks a firm to support the demand-side research pillar of this multi-year engagement. The research will involve conducting baseline and endline surveys and focus groups with Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in up to six countries. While the surveys are not expected to be representative at the national level, they should be representative of the key MSE segments chosen in the locations being studied.

Potential countries being considered for this research include:

• Asia: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia
• Africa: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt
• Latin America: Colombia, Brazil

This work will build on the learnings from the MAP1 project. CFI will develop a conceptual framework related to digital adoption, enterprise growth, and resilience and survey and share it with the demand-side research firm. Key research questions explored under this pillar include:

• Which MSE characteristics (sector, segment, entrepreneur profile, etc.) are associated with greater digital adoption and why? How is this different for women? ​
• What are the impacts of digital adoption on the MSE enterprise? How are these impacts differentiated by MSE characteristics (gender, sector, segment, entrepreneur profile, etc.)? ​
• What are the drivers of digital adoption for different MSE segments, including women-owned MSEs?​
• What are the key drivers affecting the resilience of MSEs across different segments and how do these vary depending on firm and entrepreneur characteristics? How are these drivers different for women-owned MSEs? ​
• What risks are emerging for MSE in the digital economy, and how are these risks exacerbated by physical and transition risks linked to climate change? Are there risks affecting women specifically? ​

Note these questions and the research approach may be further refined.

The demand-side research will help deepen the knowledge base on emerging barriers, enablers, and opportunities for MSEs to adopt digital solutions. The research will also provide actionable policy recommendations focused on helping MSEs strengthen their resilience in response to climate change and other risks posed by emerging technologies and hybrid business models. Use the data for further research and program development​

The main activities in this consultancy include:

Quantitative Research

• Advise CFI team on sampling approach, MSE segmentation strategies and measurement approaches for key indicators on financial inclusion, digital adoption and financial resilience across different geographies and segments of the economy
• Develop and refine survey instruments with guidance from CFI
• Conduct two rounds of surveys in years 1 and 3 of the program with MSEs in up to six countries
• Clean data and share datasets and key emerging insights with CFI and other Accion departments
• Conduct statistical analysis, including providing descriptive statistics and frequencies for all key demographic variables, providing correlation tables, analyzing cross-country similarities and differences, providing inferential statistics and conducting regression analysis to understand the relationship between key variables.
• Conduct additional advanced statistical analysis as needed.

Qualitative Research

• Provide input on CFI’s qualitative research plan (learning questions, methods, sampling approach, countries, etc.) to explore the findings related to the digitalization of MSEs
• Develop criteria for participant selection: business type, size, male or women-owned, etc.
• Develop qualitative research tools (guiding questions, analysis framework, etc.).
• Update criteria and tools based on input from CFI
• Conduct qualitative research
• Develop synthesis findings deck for validation of main messages with CFI and Accion

Synthesis Paper

• Contribute to two publications: 1) a synthesis of the quantitative research and 2) a synthesis of the qualitative research. The synthesis may involve country-level and cross-country analyses. CFI will make this decision in consultation with the research firm.

[1] In this context, digital adoption refers to the ability to access and capabilities to use digital solutions for business purposes. Digital solutions may be used under both low-and high-stakes conditions. Potential digital solutions can be used for marketing, recordkeeping, inventory management, digital financial services, e-commerce, delivery and logistics purposes. Access to phone, computers and the internet are assumed to be pre-requisites.

Deliverables and Timelines:

The relevant activities, deliverables, milestones, and timeline are as follows:

Key Activities/Deliverables/Milestones

Timeline/Due Dates

EoI submission deadline

July 15th 2023

Shortlisting firms for full proposal and budget submission

July 31st 2023

Proposal submission deadline

August 31st 2023

Partner selection and contracting

September 30th 2023

Qualifications:

Firms having the following qualifications are invited to respond to this EoI:

• Familiarity with enterprise development and financial inclusion in developing markets. Experience in MSE research in the digital economy is preferred.
• Experience conducting quantitative and qualitative research (surveys and focus groups) with micro and small entrepreneurs in the markets listed in the EoI
• Established relationships with high-quality local research firms in the countries under consideration
• Strong quantitative analysis skills and a track record of wrangling, analyzing, and visualizing survey data. Experience with data modeling and working with large datasets preferred
• Track record of managing multiple projects simultaneously, delivering results on time and within budget. Experience working on and managing projects in multiple geographic regions is preferred
• Strong written and verbal communications skills, with an aptitude for influencing internal and external stakeholders based on research findings
• Language proficiency based on the final selected countries is highly preferred

Firms or individuals should submit a short (no more than five pages) response to this EoI detailing the following:

• Familiarity with financial inclusion and MSE research in the digital economy
• Firm qualifications and capabilities in conducting multi-country demand-side surveys
• Relevant experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods
• Project management and quality control experience
• Experience and qualifications of key team members. Short bios are welcome
• Relevant past performance (please include links to at least three papers, datasets, blogs, and other knowledge products of relevance)
• (Optional) feedback on the research questions, countries under consideration, and proposed methodology

Please email the Expression of Interest with at least three relevant work samples to achakraborty@accion.org indicating “MSME Research Consultancy” in the subject line by 15th July 2023. Shortlisted firms will be notified by 31st July 2023. For enquiries, please send an email to achakraborty@accion.org.