Facilitation of Thematic Exchange Groups for Actors

Expertise France is the public agency of French international technical cooperation. The agency operates around four priorities:

- democratic, economic and financial governance;
- security and stability of countries in crisis/post-crisis situations;
- sustainable development;
- strengthening health systems, social protection and employment.

In these areas, Expertise France carries out engineering and implementation missions for capacity building projects, mobilizes technical expertise and acts as an aggregator of projects involving public expertise and private know-how.

With an activity volume of 233 million euros, more than 400 projects in portfolio in 80 countries, and 63,000 days of expertise, **Expertise France** focuses its action towards France’s solidarity policy, influence and economic diplomacy.

**1**.1** **Project overview**:
The project “IYBA-SEED: Investing in Young Businesses in Africa - Supporting Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development” is co-funded by the European Union (DG INTPA), the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Team France and SlovakAid, for a period of 4 years (2023-2026).

IYBA-SEED takes an “Ecosystem Strengthening” approach: it targets the entrepreneurship ecosystem and its actors, in order to reach young businesses (i.e. SEED beneficiaries) which are defined as:

- (Very-)early stage businesses and entrepreneurs (pre-seed and seed)
- Exclusively led by young entrepreneurs (18-35yo) and/or women entrepreneurs (of all ages)

The project aims to “contribute to creating decent jobs and resilient economies by strengthening entrepreneurship ecosystems in a number of sub-Saharan countries so that they can increase access to Business Development Services (both financial and non-financial) for SEED beneficiaries” in 5 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Benin, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa and Togo).

IYBA-SEED works on four key components / specific objectives
- ** Capacity Development and Networks**: strengthen and connect Actors of Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (AoEEs) and their networks (both nationally and internationally) to improve access to Business Development Services (both financial and non-financial) for SEED beneficiaries
- ** Business Environment**: contribute to a business environment (policies and regulations) which is conducive to the creation and growth of SEED beneficiaries
- ** Entrepreneurial Culture**: promote an inclusive entrepreneurial culture that encourages existing and future young and women entrepreneurs to create and grow SEED beneficiaries
- ** Knowledge**: foster access for Actors of Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, SEED beneficiaries and other stakeholders to lessons learned and best practices for Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Strengthening

During the 2nd Project Steering Committee, members approved the Regional Action Plan of IYBA-SEED that will complement Country Action Plans (CAP) implemented in the different beneficiary countries. Regional activities, within the context of this project, refer to collaborative interventions and activities that transcend individual national boundaries and strategically complement national-level efforts in Kenya, Senegal, Togo, Benin, and South Africa. These activities aim to create a cohesive and interconnected entrepreneurial ecosystem by fostering cross-border knowledge exchange, resource-sharing, and collaborative programs. This Regional Action Plan has 4 main interventions including the creation and facilitation of a regional knowledge hub (intervention 4), aiming at promoting knowledge access while connecting people from the different IYBA-SEED countries. The IYBA-SEED hub will serve as an umbrella for knowledge sharing and group activities across countries, fostering a sense of community. It will have a specific focus on AoEEs of IYBA-SEED (but with an open-door policy). Activities envisaged under this intervention are three-fold:

- 4.1. Development of a digital platform (IYBA-SEED Knowledge Hub) to organise information, facilitate access to formalised knowledge
- 4.2. Facilitation of thematic exchange groups to foster connection between people, facilitate access to non-formal information.
- 4.3. Enhancing/producing new knowledge products based on needs/knowledge identified within thematic exchange groups, monthly meetings and other project activities.

**1.2** **Assignment objectives**:
The consultancy aims at organising and facilitating thematic exchange groups between Actors of the Entrepreneurship Ecosystems (AoEEs) of IYBA-SEED countries (activity 4.2).

Thematic exchange groups aim at fostering a sense of community between AoEEs of IYBA-SEED countries to address common challenges and leverage opportunities for ecosystem strengthening. It should contribute to the facilitation of the IYBA-SEED hub, encouraging the use of the digital platform and further dissemination of knowledge products.

**1.3** **Expected results of the consultancy**:
The consultancy covered by thes