Advisor Financial Inclusion

Title: Advisor Financial Inclusion

Duty Station:Peshawar

Type of Contract: Consultant

Duration: Intermittent Input of not less than 10 working days a month between April 2024 to September 2024. A maximum of 120 days input to complete all the deliverables under the contract

Background:

The Stabilization and Inclusive Development Programme (SIDP) was established in May 2015 to complement the efforts of the Government of Pakistans vision 2025. SIDP is oriented around four main goals: engaging communities to promote social cohesion and participate actively in the rehabilitation process; improving economic development opportunities for communities; improving access to basic services including education; and promoting economic and social empowerment of women.

The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (GoKP) is aiming to further develop a conducive business environment for the private sector. A supportive policy framework enabling infrastructure and simplified administrative procedures are critical to attract private sector investment in the region. The GoKP intends to further streamline the investment patterns across different sectors in order to leverage the available resources for achieving accelerated economic growth.

UNDP with the support of USAID has established a Planning Support Unit (PSU) in Planning and Development Department for providing technical backstopping for this initiative. The unit is led by a Team Lead having a team of experts in the areas of access to finance economic growth and investment promotion. The PSU supports relevant sections of P&D Finance and Industries Departments along with relevant entities of GoKP like KP Board of Investment & Trade (BoIT) Bank of Khyber (BoK) Chambers of Commerce KP Technical Educational & Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) to improve planning implementation of economic development initiatives and gathering results. Supporting business enabling environment and development of the private sector with key focus on Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the predominant areas of support by the PSU.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Advisor Financial Inclusion (FI) will lead the Financial Inclusion work stream and will work under the direct guidance and supervision of the Team Lead Planning Support Unit (PSU).

Supporting SMEs to Build Collateral through STR:

Enable SMEs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to access credit by building awareness and facilitating the registration of movable assets in the Secured Transaction Registry (STR). Collaborate with key stakeholders including the State Bank of Pakistan Bank of Khyber (BoK) Finance Department and other relevant partners to implement a comprehensive awareness and registration drive for SMEs in KP.

• Initiate collaborative discussions with Finance Department BoK Commerce Chambers and other potential stakeholders
• Define roles and responsibilities for each stakeholder
• Establish a clear communication channel for effective coordination amongst all stakeholders including but not limited to Finance Department BoK Industries Department SMEs and other provincial and/or federal entities
• Identify target geographical areas in KP and develop a communication plan for the STR intervention;
  • Identify highdensity SME areas in collaboration with BoK
  • Develop a targeted communication plan for awareness and registration
  • Determine initial pilot areas based on high SME concentration
• Equip SMEs with the knowledge and skills to register movable assets in the STR;
  • Develop training materials in collaboration with BoK SMEDA and relevant entities of GoKP both in English and Urdu languages
  • Identify and train BoK staff to assist SMEs in the STR registration process
  • Hold training sessions for SMEs on the registration process and collateral utilization
• Support the implementation of STR intervention in a pilot phase targeting up to 100 SMEs;
  • Announce the intervention and register interest from SMEs
  • Facilitate SMEs in registering movable assets through BoK
  • Pilot the process of approving loans based on documented collaterals
  • Monitor and evaluate the pilot phase for effectiveness and areas of improvement
• Engage relevant stakeholders including State Bank of Pakistan Finance Department and others to ensure support and plan for the expansion of the intervention;
  • Engage State Bank of Pakistan to align the STR initiative with broader financial inclusion goals
  • Collaborate with Finance Department for potential financial support and policy alignment
  • Assess the feasibility of expanding the intervention based on pilot phase outcomes and support the development of scaleup plan

Supporting GoKP in Strategic Engagements with State Bank of Pakistan and Other Relevant Entities:

Support the GoKP in its strategic engagement with State Bank of Pakistan and other relevant entities to progressively enhance the share of KP in total credit disbursed through commercial banks and mitigation/redressal of key challenges/issues impeding the efficacy of financial inclusion.

• Consistent engagement and communication responsible for policy advocacy with the relevant government authorities for facilitating easy access to financial services for Small and Mediumsized Enterprises (SMEs);
  • Undertake baseline assessments/studies and reviews to help in the identification of key issues impeding ease of access to credit lines by SMEs
  • Regular meetings with Finance BoK and other relevant entities for an evidence based policy discourse on A2F
  • Collaborate with relevant programs on area of mutual interest
  • Support in the areas related to mass awareness and communication outreach on all facets of A2F
  • Periodic reviews and reporting under a persistent followup action plan
• Organise three roundtable conferences of relevant stakeholders;
  • Identification of key issues warranting multilateral consideration
  • Coordinate and organize roundtable conferences on each key issue identified in collaboration with Finance Department
  • Development of working papers analytical reports and other ancillary technical notes for roundtable conferences
  • Moderate and lead proceedings of the roundtable conferences
  • Develop and disseminate reports depicting key outcomes of these events/conferences

Requirements:

1. Masters degree in Economics Finance Public Policy Business Administration Development Studies or related field. Professional qualification of CA/ACCA/CFA or equivalent preferred
2. At least 10 years of experience in public or private sector in the fields of banking and finance economic development financial markets economic growth financial management fund management SMEs development or allied areas of operation. Previous experience in policy design and implementation support at national or subnational level.

1. Knowledge of banking products and services along with the functioning of microfinance institutions
2. Knowledge of State Banks prudential regulations
3. Developing strategic partnerships with Banks and DFIs
4. Understanding of government systems and functions (federal provincial local tehsil level governance structure and functionality)
5. Understanding the financing needs of SMEs
6. Strong experience in project design and management
7. Strong private sector engagement experience
8. Strong financial and budgeting experience
9. Strong network in provincial government of KP and with banking industry
10. Demonstrated understanding of SME risk capital needs
11. Demonstrated experience in consultative research and producing high quality analyses
12. Excellent writing and communication skills in English
13. Field visits within KP including newly merged districts

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the organizational values and ethical standards.
• Promotes the vision mission and strategic goals of the organization.
• Displays cultural gender religion race nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Organizational Values:

• Human rights and gender equality are prioritized as ethical principles within all actions
• Activities are designed and implemented in accordance with the Social and Environmental Standards of the organization
• Any kind of diversity based on ethnicity age sexual orientation disability religion class gender is respected within all implementations including data production
• Differentiated needs of women and men are considered in all aspects of the programme
• An inclusive approach is reflected within all actions and implementations through the creation of an enabling and accessible work setup
• Necessary arrangements to provide gender parity within all committees meetings trainings etc

Benefits:

• Excellent opportunities to develop your technical skills in a policy environment alongside national and international experts
• Competitive market salary
• Daily sustenance allowance while on official travel outside of duty station
• International work environment
• Womenfriendly workplace

Reporting lines: Direct and dotted line:

• The consultant will work under the direct guidance and supervision of the Team Lead Planning Support Unit (PSU)
• Periodic progress reporting to the Team Lead PSU within stipulated timelines
• The consultant will coordinate with SIDP for all matters related to the contract including the approval of the contract deliverables certification of work completed and final evaluation and payment.

Payment:

Payments will be released after the submission of agreed deliverables and where mentioned their approval by UNDP. In exceptional cases UNDP may consider making partial payment against a deliverable. The deliverables are as follows:

1. Work Plan consistent with the ToRs duly approved 7% of the consultancy fee shall be paid
2. Pilot implementation of Secured Transaction Registry a total of 60% of the consultancy fee shall be paid as per the work break down structure in the following table
3. Policy advocacy with the relevant government authorities for facilitating easy access to financial services a total of 33% of the consultancy fees shall be paid as per the work break down structure in the following table.

S#

Deliverables/ Outputs

Number of Working Days

Means of Verification

Payment
(%)

1

Approved Work Plan

10

7%

1.1

Stakeholders engagement on scope of the assignment

5

Meeting Minutes / Record Notes

1.2

Design review and approval of Work Plan

5

Approved Work Plan

2

Pilot implementation of Secured Transaction Registry (STR)

58

60%

2.1

Geographic Coverage & Communication Plan

10

22%

2.1.1

Report identifying highdensity SME areas

5

Approved Report

2.1.2

Communication plan outlining strategies and channels

5

Communication/Outreach Plan

2.2

Training and Capacity Building

10

2.2.1

Develop training material and conduct training sessions

10

Training Toolkit
Meeting Minutes

Training Report.

2.3

SMEs Registration in STR

28

38%

2.3.1

Announced intervention with documented interest from SMEs

10

Formal announcements media reports
Documented interest of SMEs

2.3.2

Successfully registered movable assets for up to 100 SMEs in the STR

6

BoK/SECP Report

2.3.3

Amount (PKR) of pilot loans processed using STR

12

BoK Report

2.4

Scaleup Plan endorsed by BoK

10

Meeting Minutes / Record Notes
Approved Plan for the rollout of STR

3

Policy Advocacy with the relevant government authorities

42

33%

3.1

Analytical reports papers reviews on SMEs

12

Approved Reports

3.2

Working Papers on key issues impeding SMEs A2F

12

Approved Working Papers
Meeting Minutes / Record Notes

3.3

At least 3 Roundtable Conferences on the issues identified

20

Reports depicting key outcomes

Total

135

100%

1. Travel cost outside the duty station (Peshawar) will be covered.

Remote Work :

No