Company Profile

Today, around one billion city-dwellers lack access to safe drinking water, a number the UN estimates will nearly double by 2050 as more and more people are moving to cities for work and other opportunities, most of them ending up living in informal settlements without basic services. Meanwhile the changing climate is making water even more precious. Against this backdrop, our work has never been more vital.

WSUP is a not-for-profit company, expert at improving water and sanitation services for low-income, urban communities. We work alongside utilities, entrepreneurs, and communities to develop and deliver solutions which are affordable for the poor, financially viable for suppliers, and sustainable for the environment.

We were founded in 2005 in the UK, and currently work in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia (Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Madagascar, Ghana, Zambia, Bangladesh), supported by a global Secretariat. We are a small organisation, but we have a big impact; since inception we have helped over 40 million people with improved water, sanitation, and hygiene services. And we have ambitions to reach many more www.wsup.com

WSUP’s innovative approach to creating impact is guided by our values, which are the common fundamental beliefs and principles that guide us. All our staff are expected to embody these values in their day-to-day work and interactions. To learn more about our values, please see www.wsup.com/about/work-with-us/.

Job Description

1       INTRODUCTION

Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) is a tri-sector partnership between the private sector, civil society and academia that brings local and global expertise together and works through local service providers to deliver water and sanitation services, and promotes improved hygiene, to the urban poor. WSUP supports the development of situation specific models and establishing stronger links between multiple stakeholders to mobilize investment finance for pro-poor service scale-up. It achieves this through supporting the adoption and replication of effective, sustainable and scalable models of pro-poor urban water and sanitation services by service providers, local and/or national governments. WSUP operates globally and in Ghana, where it has programme offices in Kumasi and Accra, with key focus on project sites within these cities.

2       BACKGROUND

WSUP in collaboration with KMA is undertaking a 5 year Compound Sanitation Strategy (CSS) to facilitate the provision of compound toilets to households within low income communities in the Kumasi Metropolis. A cardinal principle of the strategy is “breaking barriers between the poor and the market”. Currently, there are no known businesses regularly engaged in investment in and construction of compound toilets due to the lack of viable markets. Additionally professional construction firms with high technical capacity and business skills are generally more interested in larger developments and are thus unwilling to engage and invest in the construction of compound toilets. There is therefore the need to support lower-skilled construction businesses to tackle the challenge. In line with this and as part of the implementation plan of strategy, local low level construction businesses are to be engaged, trained and certified to ensure effective installation of compound toilets. Currently, toilet investments relating to the strategy follow a model where a commitment fee or down-payment from a household is mobilized by the artisan, a loan is then provided to the household through the artisan for the toilet construction and the artisan further engages the household to ensure the repayment of the loan.

This model has thus evolved not only to empower the artisans to install toilets within compounds but also to lead in mobilizing down-payments and recollecting toilet loans from households/subscribers. An appropriate business model is needed to guide the business operations of the certified artisans who will be selected to engage the households in mobilizing down payments, installing the toilets, and undertaking recollections of the investment loans.

The services of a consultant are therefore required to develop a comprehensive and pragmatic business model that suits what is being undertaken and further fosters an effective delivery of the strategy as it relates to financing toilet constructions and enhancing the construction businesses of the artisans. The business model is to be developed to a level of detail sufficient for direct implementation by artisans, without further guidance.

3       OBJECTIVE

The overall objective of the assignment is to develop practical business models that suit the economic structures of the target market, and are replicable to similar locations across the city.

3.1 Specific Objectives

1. prepare criteria and select most suitable businesses for support
2. support multiple businesses (up to 10) in the creation of business plans for the construction of compound toilets
3. develop guidance to support businesses in their operations
4. recommend future steps for setting up a framework or sanitation hub to support small-scale businesses interested in entering the market

4       KEY ACTIVITIES AND DELIVERABLES

To undertake the activities, the consultant is required to read the KMA compound sanitation strategy to better understand what it is about and how it relates to this assignment..

Activities shall include:

4.1 Task 1: Selection of Appropriate Businesses (5 days)

1. Prepare and agree on selection criteria with KMA and WSUP
2. Make a rapid assessment of the different businesses
3. Select the businesses that would be supported based on agreed criteria and report back to KMA and WSUP
4. Ensure the businesses are fairly distributed among the target communities to encourage sufficient competition and coverage

4.2 Task 2: Creation of Business Plans for Construction of Compound Toilets (30 days)

1. Support each of the businesses in the creation of strong business plans for construction of compound toilets
2. Consideration needs to be given to at least two business models: (a) The current model particularly focuses on providing loans to compounds for toilet constructions through the artisan after a down-payment has been made by the compound and the remainder of the loan is recollected by the artisan within a period of one year. (b) Finance is provided by an MFI, which would establish preferred relationships with certified businesses. This model would be ideal for businesses with limited capacity to handle risk.
3. Provide operational cost variations for undertaking recollection of funds within one community. This operational cost projection takes into account but is not limited to loan period, financing, stationery, time, staff (field collector(s), administration and transport).
4. Based on ascertained operational cost for recollection, provide an appropriate, auditable interest rate charge on constructions to support recollections (the current rate is 15% per annum, but this should not be regarded as a target).
5. Provide clear guidelines on improving business profitability. Ways to reduce cost while still maintaining set standards, innovation, development and approaches for profit determination.
6. Present a risk assessment of the model and propose mitigating strategies where appropriate.
7. Outline how these businesses can work and coordinate with different departments of KMA (e.g. WMD, EHSD, etc.) to report on activities and get support on demand generation.
8. Present drafts of all business plans to KMA and WSUP for review prior to finalizing them.

4.3 Task 3: Support Businesses (10 days)

1. In close collaboration with KMA, develop guidance to support businesses in different activities (e.g. record keeping, promotion among community, etc.). All training manuals and guidance would have to be reviewed by KMA and WSUP prior to delivery. Allow for at least 10 working days for review of documents and presentations.
2. Provide appropriate accounting or record keeping system effective for monitoring household payments and amounts reported or recorded by the business operator.
3. Present a stepwise approach (maximum 5 steps) on how businesses can create community awareness on their roles and operations as they relate to CSS implementation.
4. Provide a 3 day training based on this guidance

4.4 Task 4: Support Establishment of Sanitation Hub (or SaniHub) (15 days)

1. Support KMA in establishing a Sanihub that would provide continuous support to small businesses interested in getting involved in the provision of compound or household toilets
2. This support would streamline the lessons learned from the previous 2 tasks
3. The Sanihub would also provide technical support services for artisans on construction of appropriate toilets. As such, the consultant would have to coordinate with another consultant involved in developing the technical training programme for the Sanihub.

4.5 Reporting

Prepare and submit a draft report on tasks 1 in electronic format 3 days after completing selection exercise. Present drafts of all business plans to KMA and WSUP for review before finalizing them, 2 weeks before the business support and guidance training.

Also prepare and submit a draft report on task 4 in electronic format 1 week after the establishment of Sanihub.

Prepare and submit a draft business model document for review in electronic format 2 weeks after the submission of report of task 4 that captures comments received before and during the performance of all the tasks, and includes a record of the business support and guidance training (agenda, attendance, and key points arising).

Finalise and submit the business model document within 1 week after review of the draft business document by KMA and WSUP.

5       ASSIGNMENT LOCATION

The assignment will be carried out in Kumasi Metropolitan area. The Consultant should liaise with KMA and WSUP to obtain any information that could support him/her to undertake the assignment.

6       EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES

Table 1 provides a summary of the expected effort level and the required outputs. All activities are expected to be duly performed and completed within 72 person days of input. To achieve these, and allow time for Client feedback on draft submissions, multiple tasks should proceed in parallel wherever possible.

Table 1 - Expected outputs and implementation period of each task

7       PROGRAMME FOR COMPLETION

Commencement is anticipated by 15 July 2015. Thereafter, deliverable due dates are:

1. Selection of appropriate businesses - 22 July 2015 (1 week from commencement)
2. Creation of business plans -  26 August 2015 (6 weeks from commencement)
3. Business support and guidance training - 9 September 2015 (8 weeks from commencement)
4. Establishment of Sanihub - 23 September 2015 (<10 weeks from commencement)
5. Draft business model document -  30 September 2015 (11 weeks from commencement)
6. Final business model document -  20 October  2015 (12 weeks from commencement)

The deliverable due dates are excluding weekends and holidays.

Required Skills or Experience