SOMALI ELECTRICITY ACCESS PROJECT (SEAP)
TERMS OF REFERENCE
CPOUNTRY: Republic of Republic of Somaliland
PROJECT NAME: Somali Electricity Access project
PROJECT ID: P165497 GRANT NO: TF-A9095
ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Consumer awareness and citizen engagement Campaign Design and Implementation
PLACE OF ASSIGNMENT: Somaliland
Consumer awareness and citizen engagement Campaign Design and Implementation
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The Government of Somaliland (GoSL) is currently implementing the Somaliland Electricity Project (SEAP), with grant funding from World Bank. The project development objective of SEAP is to expand access to electricity in targeted urban, peri-urban, and rural communities. SEAP aims to catalyze the consumer market for solar off-grid energy solutions to provide approximately 114,000 people with new or improved electricity service. This will lay a solid foundation for scale-up in this sector.
SEAP aims to reduce market barriers for the private sector to provide modern energy access through solar home systems, targeting: (i) poorer households and small businesses in areas that cannot afford to connect to mini-grid services; (ii) households and businesses in these areas that are not sufficiently close to a mini-grid to be economically connected; (iii) isolated villages and smaller settlements where mini-grids do not make economic sense; and (iv) nomadic pastoralists whose livelihoods do not lend themselves to a fixed electricity connection.
One of the key challenges identified has been the low level of consumer awareness around solar technology, particularly regarding the long-term benefits of high-quality products and how to identify these. To address these challenges, the GoSL is seeking to launch a consumer education campaign to educate consumers about the opportunities that modern off-grid solar energy presents, and assist them in making informed purchasing decisions. The campaign will also provide relevant information to enable consumers to adopt these products and increase their affinity for off-grid solutions. It is envisaged that the campaign will reach both urban and rural consumers within the target areas through a broad range of marketing and public awareness activities tailored to address the specific needs of the communities.
To support this work, the GoSL is currently seeking to recruit a consulting firm with specialist expertise in behavior change communications and marketing.
2.0 THE OBJECTIVE(S) OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The broad objective of this assignment is to design, test and implement an integrated consumer awareness and behavior change campaign that will initiate/increase household and institutional adoption and use of solar off-grid energy solutions.
The specific Objectives are;
- To develop a broad communications and consumer marketing campaign to improve awareness of, generate demand for household and community solar products and off-grid solar solutions.
- To develop a set of consumer awareness materials supporting the campaign under i) above. The consumer awareness materials package should include all necessary content to successfully conduct the campaign, including video, radio scripts, printed materials including brochures, posters, leaflets, etc. as well as content for any other marketing channels (e.g. social media) included in the campaign.
3.0 SCOPE OF WORK
Under the guidance of the GoSL, the Consulting Firm will be responsible for the successful strategy development, launch, and implementation of the Consumer Awareness and Communications Campaign. This will include the activities listed below.
Consumer Awareness and Communications Strategy
- Develop an integrated consumer education strategy that clearly defines the key communication objectives, value proposition, key message themes, desired audience responses/ behavioral changes, and the communication platforms to be deployed.
- Clearly map out and define the various target audience segments in the target areas with special consideration given to their way of life and traditions. Identify their needs, factors influencing their purchasing decisions, and the nature of the content needed to influence behavioral change. Also, identify potential objections to product adoption and such interventions. This analysis should culminate in a distillation of key consumer insights that will drive communications in the category
- Develop a media strategy showing how communications efforts will be deployed across various media and supported by plausible rationales for each recommendation. The media strategy must make use of innovative, effective and efficient platforms and initiatives that can guarantee the highest return on media investment.
- Develop a media reach monitoring plan as well as an overall impact measurement
- Prepare all marketing content required to conduct the campaign, including video, radio, print, social media, and content for any other channels included in the campaign.
Stakeholder Engagement Strategy
- The proposed SEAP Consumer Education Campaign takes cognizance of the need to engage all stakeholders who participate directly or indirectly in the energy ecosystem. These stakeholders include regulatory bodies, central government, local government, and any local leaders, civil society, opinion leaders etc. who may have a say in the welfare of the communities as well as the adoption of the solutions.
- As part of the consumer awareness and communication strategy, the Consultant will need to identify how to best engage these different stakeholder groups, developing appropriate insights and messaging to ensure buy-in.
Implementation Plan and Budget
- Develop an implementation plan/media roll out plan for the awareness campaign with
associated timeline for all activities.
- Conduct a well-planned and controlled pilot programme, after which necessary refinements may be made to the strategy, content and platforms before mass roll out.
- Implement a transparent media and communications tracking system to ensure accountability on media expenditures, and impact and outcomes of all communication activities.
- Develop a budget for all proposed activities.
- Develop a monitoring tool that provides feedback on the effectiveness/impact of the advert to the targeted audience.
Strategy Implementation
Execute consumer awareness campaign.
4.0 TIME FRAME
the assignment is expected to begin in April 2020. The total contract is for a period of twenty-four (24) months from the signing of the agreement broken down into three phases as detailed below;
| Phase | Time |
| Phase I: Strategy Development | Two Months after signature of contract |
| Phase II: Campaign Tools Development | Two Months after completion of Phase I |
| Phase III: Strategy Implementation | One year after completion of Phase II |
Upon award of the contract, a detailed timeline and reporting schedule will be determined between the consulting firm and GoSL.
5.0 DELIVERABLES
The consultant is expected to provide the following outputs:
- Inception report – outlining in detail the activities to be undertaken by the consultant including methodology, implementation plan and timelines. It should also include an overview of the narrative summarizing the consultant’s understanding of the scope and the intended goals of the consumer awareness campaign and an outline of the final report;
- A comprehensive consumer awareness strategy clearly defining: targets audiences, what communication methods will be used and specification such as channels, frequency, languages, etc.
- An implementation plan/media roll out plan for the awareness campaign with associated timeline for all activities.
- Design layout (for printing/production) of project folder, brochure, banner, billboard, campaign, t-shirt, poster.
- A budget forecast of the costs associated with the suggested activities.
- A monitoring tool that provides feedback on the effectiveness and impact of the advert to the targeted audience.
- Monthly progress reports highlighting both challenges and achievements;
- Quarterly progress on activities undertaken and solutions to challenges;
- Final report – Final Report on Consultancy, which should show the methodology used, activities undertaken, successes, challenges, results (planned and unplanned), lessons identified and recommendations on how to address those lessons.
6.0 GOVERNANCE AND CONTRACTING ARRANGEMENTS
The consultant will be selected and contracted by the GoSL. The implementation of this work will be under a direct oversight of The Ministry of Energy & Minerals (MoEM). The MoEM will review and approve all deliverables.
7.0 TEAM COMPOSITION, COMPETENCE AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS
7.1 FIRM’S COMPETENCE AND EXPERIENCE
The selected firm will be a professional marketing communications firm, or association of firms, with a track record of relevant work in Somaliland. The selected consulting firm’s team will need to demonstrate its experience both in communications and marketing campaign development particularly in the Somaliland/Africa market context and have good knowledge & experience in household electrification or related consumer campaigns.
The firm or consortium will need to demonstrate:
- Extensive consumer marketing experience and expertise, including at least one assignment targeting rural populations in Somaliland
- Demonstrated creativity, dedication and client satisfaction
- Demonstrated ability to develop integrated behavior change campaign including both above- and below-the-line activities
- Demonstrated experience developing rural demand for product/behavior
- Strong understanding of local enabling environment and public sector context in Somaliland
- Strong local staff with fluency in Somali languages in the target counties.
Essential staff for the assignment shall include:
- Team Leader
The team leader will be the primary person responsible for the technical work and will manage the assignment design and implementation process. He/she should hold a Master’s degree in Communications/Marketing, development communications, Public Relations, Journalism or any other relevant qualification and, at least 5 years’ experience in related community-based assignments.
- Community-Based Consumer Education Specialist
The Community-Based Consumer Education specialist should hold a Master’s degree in Communication, Education, or any other relevant qualification and, at least 5 years’ experience in related community-based assignments.
- Technical Staff
The technical staff should hold a Bachelor’s degree in Communication, Creative Designs, Gender and Diversity, Education, Development Communications, Public Relations, Journalism or any other relevant qualification and, at least 5 years’ experience in related community-based assignments.
8.0 TYPE OF CONTRACT AND PAYMENT BASIS
This contract will be lump sum against deliverables for Phases I and II and time-based for Phase III, payable as follows:
| Phase | Mode of Payment | Amount to be Paid |
| Phase I: Strategy Development | Lump-sum upon approval of Strategy Document | 10% of the Contract Amount
|
| Phase II: Campaign Tools Development | Lump-sum upon approval of campaign tools | 20% of the Contract Amount |
| Phase III: Strategy Implementation | One year after completion of Phase II | 60% of the Contract Amount on disbursed on quarterly basis upon approval of Quarter Progress Reports |
| Submission of Project Closure Report | 10% of the Contract Amount |
