Consultancy Services for Supporting Business Formalization and Delivery of Financial Education and Entrepreneurship Training to Women Informal Entrepreneurs in Benin and Burkina Faso
1.0 About the Investing in Women Program – Investing in Women Benin and Burkina Faso
The Investing in Women in Benin and Burkina Faso (IIW-B&BF) is a six-year gender transformation and economic inclusion programme implemented by AECF with funding from Global Affairs Canada. The programme aims to economically empower women as entrepreneurs in sectors with a high positive impact on the climate, including technological innovation, digital technology, agriculture, production, processing, crafts, and trade, to remove the obstacles preventing them from contributing to the development of their activities.
The programme aims to improve the participation and economic resilience of women entrepreneurs in a greener economy in Benin and Burkina Faso. These include access to finance for women-owned SMEs, women's cooperatives, and emerging women entrepreneurs; improving the capacity of women owners and managers of SMEs and women's cooperatives to sustainably develop the value chains in which they primarily work, using climate-smart approaches; and overcoming entrenched social and cultural resistance to women's empowerment at national, sectoral and community levels.
2.0 About the assignment
This assignment is intended to support the delivery of practical, demand-driven support to women entrepreneurs operating in the informal sector in Benin and Burkina Faso, with two integrated objectives:
* To support these women to formalize their businesses so they can participate effectively in a greener economy. The assignment will provide tailored handholding support to women entrepreneurs through the administrative, fiscal, and legal steps required to register and formalize their enterprises, including guidance on the most appropriate legal form (sole proprietorship, cooperative, GIE, SARL, or equivalent), tax identification, social security registration, sector-specific licensing, and post-registration compliance.
* To deliver financial education and entrepreneurship training that strengthens their business management capacity. The assignment will design and deliver a structured curriculum in financial literacy, business management, and entrepreneurship adapted to the literacy levels, languages, and time constraints of women in the informal sector.
Against this backdrop, AECF seeks to engage a highly experienced Service Provider to support business formalization and to design and deliver financial education and entrepreneurship training to women informal entrepreneurs in Benin and Burkina Faso under the IIW-B&BF programme.
3.0 Objective of the assignment
Overall Objective: To support women entrepreneurs in the informal sector in Benin and Burkina Faso to formalize their businesses and to strengthen their financial and entrepreneurial capacity so that they can participate effectively and sustainably in a greener economy.
Specific Objectives (Expected Outcomes):
* Support at least 200 women in the informal sector (at least 100 in Benin and at least 100 in Burkina Faso) to formalize their businesses through guidance, handholding, and accompaniment through administrative, fiscal, and legal registration processes by the end of Year 5.
* Design and deliver a contextualized, gender-responsive curriculum in financial education and entrepreneurship for women informal entrepreneurs, adapted to literacy levels, local languages, and the realities of the informal sector.
* Reach a cumulative total of at least 7,000 women informal entrepreneurs (with at least 3,500 in Benin and at least 3,500 in Burkina Faso) with financial education and entrepreneurship training.
* Strengthen the practical capability of women trained to apply financial education and business management skills in their day-to-day operations and to access formal financial services.
* Identify and document the principal barriers women face to formalization and to participation in the formal economy, and generate practical lessons to inform programme adaptation and policy engagement.
* Promote linkages between newly formalized women-led businesses and relevant ecosystem actors, including financial institutions, business development services, public registration authorities, and value chain buyers.
For complete job description and to apply, visit:
https://www.aecfafrica.org/careers/consultancy-services-for-supporting-business-formalization-and-delivery-of-financial-education-and-entrepreneurship-training-to-women-informal-entrepreneurs-in-benin-and-burkina-faso/