FINCA is a leading international Microfinance Institution offering financial services and products to small scale businesses that have been turned down by traditional banks, so that these businesses can start, grow, and diversify with resulting increases in family income, nutrition, employment and well-being.

FINCA is recruiting to fill the below position:

Position : Consultant - Digital Financial Services

Job Description
Seven out of ten Nigerian adults are unbanked, and nearly half of the adult population is considered financially excluded. As of July 2011, Nigeria had 866 Microfinance Banks (MfB), yet the MfB network only served 3.8% of the adult population. Bank penetration in Nigeria averages only 6.43 branches per 100 000 adults (even less in rural areas), and both the distance to bank branches and the high costs associated with low-balance accounts contribute to financial exclusion of the poor. Some clients have to travel long distances to reach a branch, resulting in the travel cost sometimes being higher than the amount the client wanted to deposit on that day.

Even when proximity to a branch is not an issue, a financial transaction at a branch translates into lost time and income for clients as banking hours are not suited to the needs of the consumer; most commercial banks and MfBs operate between 8am and 5pm, whereas most salary earners and micro-entrepreneurs start their work day around 7am and finish after the bank has closed.

Digital financial services (DFS) has the potential to expand the delivery of basic financial services to the poor or un/underbanked through new technologies like mobile phones, computers, electronic money and new channels such as retail agents. These channels (also known as alternative delivery channels - ADC) can drastically drive down costs for customers and service providers, opening the door to the financial inclusion of remote and underserved populations. The use of DFS to advance outreach and accessibility is lagging in Nigeria, and little progress has been made in the last couple of years.

Only 1.3 million adults (around 5.2% of the adult population) use a bank agent. Unlike most of East Africa, Mobile Network Operators (MNO) in Nigeria are prohibited from building agent networks or offering financial services. Sterling Bank was the first to launch Agency Banking in November 2013, GT Bank, launched in December 2013, and Heritage Bank in March 2014. However, each of these agent networks are still limited in size and they are concentrated in Lagos. As of yet, no MfB has begun offering agent banking or mobile money, and there are no financial institutions providing DFS in the South East of Nigeria.

FINCA Nigeria wishes to start exploring DFS to help address the challenges of distances travelled and time spent by clients to access what are often considered basic financial services. The deployment of DFS will provide the market with technologies needed to facilitate transactions quickly and easily, and can help address the challenges of accessibility to and for clients. The DFS will ultimately provide clients with tangible benefits, including the following:

• Cost savings for clients in terms of time spent away from the business and transport costs. Small value transactions become more profitable for the clients as they spend less time on travel.
• Significantly improved banking presence, bringing the benefits of financial inclusion to unbanked clients. Clients can transact on their accounts at times and locations that are convenient for them. They are not hindered by restrictive branch operating hours.
• Increased security for clients by reducing the cash they hold on a daily basis and the distance they travel to make transactions.
• Increased savings mobilization. FINCA’s experience in Africa overall shows that the deployment of DFS increases savings mobilization.

Project Objective

• The immediate objective of this project is to provide FINCA Nigeria a comprehensive strategy and plan to roll out DFS within its recently launched operations in Owerri, Immo State as well as to deliver technical assistance and guidance during development, implementation and pilot.

Scope of Work

• Throughout the course of the assignment, the consultant will work closely with a Project Team made up of key staff from FINCA Nigeria and the FINCA Africa Regional Office and reports to the Management Board of FINCA Nigeria.
• The project team will provide regular feedback, review draft policies, provide information as required, gather data as required, engage country resources as required and participate in workshops and phone conferences.
• In parallel with the consultant, FINCA will handle related IT considerations using internal resources both at the local level in Nigeria and from their African hub-office in Kampala.

The tasks for the consultant are phased and include, but are not limited to:
Phase 1: Strategy Development:

• Assess the current environment including the regulation and other offerings in the market, competitors’ approaches and how the proposed services offer a different value proposition from what is already offered in the Nigerian market.
• Identify and analyse the opportunities, constraints and risks associated with DFS generally and the specific risks for FINCA in Nigeria. Thereby highlighting the potential impact, the likelihood of occurring and potential mitigation strategies that FINCA should employ.
• Outline the potential paths for FINCA to scale and grow DFS and provide detailed justification for the selected approaches; explore and propose agreements with third parties and advise FINCA on relationships and negotiations with regulators and mobile network operators.
• Describe the customer value proposition for DFS, with a focus on FINCA Nigeria’s targeted customer segments.
• Develop the overall business case and plan for DFS, describing the impact of the channels on FINCA’s business. This should include detailed financial analysis, projected profit and loss statement and breakeven analysis, and step by step activities and milestones.
• Describe and outline product features, including pricing and terms & conditions.

Phase 2: Implementation and pilot:

• Prepare project charter and a project implementation plan that includes a pilot.
• Define the project milestones for pilot, roll-out and scale-up phases against success and outline how many clients will use the DFS during specific project timelines - pilot, roll-out, scale-up.
• In line with Phase 1, develop and define business requirements.
• Compose DFS policy that includes, but is not limited to a description of the services provided, the eligibility, pricing, the operational processes (e.g. registration, activation, transaction settlements and reconciliation etc.), customer support and an operational risk register.
• In support with FINCA’s regional marketing team, develop a communication strategy to ensure pricing, terms and conditions are clear for clients. This includes a detailed customer education plan.
• Conduct a training of selected staff trainers who will train fellow staff, agents and clients on DFS services (train-the-trainer approach).
• Monitor and evaluate the outcomes of the DFS pilot and provide feedback on any technology and business issues that have arisen during the pilot to see how these can be addressed. Indicate necessary adjustments to the services (incl. marketing, pricing, sales etc.), policy, processes or IT in accordance with lessons learned from the pilot.

Deliverables:

• The primary output will be a comprehensive strategy for DFS that includes a viable business case, an implementation and growth plan, a detailed analysis of the risks associated with delivering DFS in Nigeria and a budget.
• The consultant should also deliver a report with evaluated results and feedback from the pilot and roll-out strategy to incorporate the channel(s) into business as usual, which will be incorporated into reporting to FMO.
• At the end of the assignment the consultant will organize a closing-out workshop with senior management of the institution. The workshop should evaluate the achievements of the consultancy and discuss the recommendations for the future.

Timeframe:

• The consultant should start his assignment before February 2016 and is expected to conclude the assignment within 6 months, subject to external dependencies, such as from the regulator.
• The consultant is expected to spend most of the time “on-the-ground” in Owerri, Immo State, Nigeria. It is expected to conclude by max August, 2016, subject to external dependencies, such as from the regulator.

  Requirements
The consultant should have the following qualifications:

• Flexible self-starter, comfortable working in a start-up environment
• At least 3 to 5 years hands-on experience working in DFS development with at least 3 years in a business development and/ or managerial role preferably with a mobile network operator, financial institution or payments service provider
• Experience in creating partnerships within the DFS ecosystem (e.g. MNO, Banks, Aggregators, Regulators and Technology Suppliers)
• Ability to advise and convince management and other influential stakeholders
• Ability to think strategically and apply at tactical and operational level
• Excellent analytical skills
• Proven ability to work in challenging conditions
• Experience with standardized project methodology (e.g. Prince2, PMI etc) is considered an advantage
• Bachelor's Degree in Sales, Marketing, or Business; a Master's Degree is considered a plus.

Proposals:

• Prospective consultants should submit their CVs, description of relevant experience, project approach and rates.

The following process and timeline will be used to select Consultant:

• Final proposals must be submitted by Nov 15, 2015
• Final candidate will be informed by Dec 15, 2015
• Work should commence before February 2016.

Confidentiality & Ownership of Materials:

• All data and information received from FINCA for the purpose of this assignment are to be treated confidentially and are only to be used in connection with the execution of this Term of Reference.
• All intellectual property rights arising from this Term of Reference are assigned to FINCA.
• The contents of written materials obtained and used in this assignment may not be disclosed to any third parties without the expressed advance written authorization of FINCA.

Note: For tax and admin related reasons strong preference goes out to Nigerian consultants or consultancy firms.