Summary
Date Posted: Friday, July 22, 2022 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Individual Consultant to Assess the Design and Operation of Renewable Energy Fund Window 5 Results Based Financing
The Development Bank of Rwanda is Rwanda’s only National Development Bank mandated to support Rwanda’s development goals. Over the last years, the bank has undergone substantial re-organization aimed at positioning it as an “innovative and sustainable provider of development finance for socio-economic impact”.

To achieve this vision, the bank’s new strategic plan (2018-2024) has outlined 3 key strategic themes.
• Operational Excellence: Continuous improvement of our credit and risk management system, financial performance, and customer services.
• Strategic Partnerships: Forming strategic partnerships to deliver our mandate is a key component of our core activities.
• Dynamic Culture: Continuously improving our pool of knowledge to have the most competent and skilled employees.
• BRD is committed to respecting gender equality and disability norms. We promote gender responsive practices. Qualified candidates particularly females and persons living with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
To help accomplish this ambitious and exciting vision, the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) would like to recruit suitable qualified candidates to fill the following position:

Renewable Energy Fund Consultancy (1)
Background Information
Job Title: Individual Consultant to assess the design and operation of Renewable Energy Fund Window 5 Results based financing.
Department: SPIU
Reports to: Renewable Energy Fund Project Coordinator
Contract terms: The assignment will last for a period of 10 weeks from the date of Contract signing.

Background
The REF project was established in 2017 to accelerate the adoption of off-grid electricity access in Rwanda. It has provided credit lines to SACCOs (Window 1), Microfinance Institutions and Banks (Window 2), Mini-Grid Developers (Window 3), and Off-Grid Solar Companies (OSCs) (Window 4). The project has a total financing of USD 48.94 equivalent to Frw 48.5 billion and has a target to connect 445000 households with an estimated 1.8 million people.

In a move to increase Solar Home System (SHS) installations and electrification of households in rural areas of Rwanda, the Renewable Energy Fund (REF) implemented by the Development Bank of Rwanda Plc created a Results-based Financing (RBF) subsidy window called “ Window 5” from the existing REF financing while at the same time additional funding is expected from the Energy Access and Quality Improvement Project (EAQIP) financed by the World Bank and managed by Energy Development Corporation Ltd (EDCL) to further boost access to electricity by the poorest households countrywide.
The Subsidy is designed to address the affordability of Solar Home Systems faced by rural households through the reduction of prices for solar home systems with varying subsidy amounts allocated for Ubudehe 1, 2, and 3 categories with the aim of reaching the lowest income population in Rwanda.
The FRW 29.24 billion (US$ 30 million) subsidy window is funded by the World Bank and is expected to trigger at least 370,000 new off-grid connections. It is expected that this RBF will boost uptake of REF credit windows thus enabling the project to connect more Rwandans using off-grid technology solutions. The subsidy is channeled through eligible solar companies.

Currently, BRD has signed Subsidy Financing agreements with 22 Off-grid Solar Companies (OSCs). 119,568 households have been connected by mobilizing over FRW 11.3 billion subsidy across the different households in various Ubudehe categories. Several OSCs have received the subsidy after their claims were successfully verified by Energy Development Corporation Limited. 2
The SACCOs are also actively engaged in on-lending to households that have acquired subsidized Solar Home Systems.

Purpose of the Job
The objective of the assignment is to receive a set of recommendations for improving design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the program.

Scope of work
BRD intends to hire an individual consultant to conduct an overall assessment of the implementation design and arrangements for W5, aiming at identifying corrective measures that enhance the efficiency of the processes and impact of the program. The proposed consultant is expected to look at the challenges in design and implementation, institutional capacity, cost-effectiveness of the verification process, lessons learned.
S/he should be capable of developing a high-quality impact report with quantitative data analysis of the intervention. The primary beneficiaries of the report will be the Ministry of Infrastructure, BRD, Energy Development Corporation Ltd, World Bank, and Energy Private Developers. Main Responsibilities of the Job
• Review of Window 5 Operations Manual and other key documents (e.g., PAD, quarterly / monthly / weekly progress reports), with a specific focus on a review of the original program objectives.
• Interview with Window 5 implementing agencies – BRD/EDCL to gather lessons learned from implementation so far.
• Interaction with the MININFRA, the World Bank, EPD, Endev, and other development partners working in renewable energy sector to understand their expectations from a policy perspective and whether the W5 implementation so far has fulfilled the expectations.
• Review of the international best practices in similar RBF management for delivery of services / goods in the energy, water, health, education, IT or other relevant sectors and propose key recommendations for the review of Window 5. The Consultant could identify opportunities for doing a study tour to another organization with solid track record of executing RBF.
• Interview all OSCs actively involved in Window 5 implementation and identify the key issues and challenges the OSCs are facing in the implementation of Window 5 and propose the success interventions for each Challenge.
• Conduct field visits and interviews with at least 5 beneficiary households and business enterprises who have benefited from Window 5 RBF from each OSC.
• Review the current subsidy allocation per Ubudehe category and recommend a framework/methodology to periodically revise subsidy levels. The recommended framework/methodology should adequately incorporate economic and market factors such as inflation, household income, foreign exchange rate, among others.”
• Apply the framework to recommend a first round of subsidy revision.
• Review the current subsidy disbursement mechanism/schedule and recommend changes where necessary.
• Review the current implementation platform, Eligibility Tool and recommend for necessary modification in the tool based on the gaps in the tool.
• Propose other changes/additions to the REF window 5 subsidy financing that you deem necessary after a comprehensive assessment that will boost connections and increase uptake of the funds

Key Deliverables
No Deliverable Content of Deliverable Timeline
• 1 Inception report describing how the assignment will be executed (e.g., impact evaluation methodology). The work plan will describe the methodology that will be used and implementation plan, including proposed tools that will be used. The work plan is expected to consist of proposed activities to conduct the review of the design and operation of W5 3 weeks from the date of contract signature including 1 week for BRD to review.
• First draft report and presentation to BRD Management.
• The draft report will describe the consultant proposed design and operation of Window 5, observations, as well as capture lessons learned
• 7 weeks from the date of contract signature including 1 week for BRD’s review.
• 3 Second draft report and presentation to the Energy Sector Working Group.
• The second draft report will have all the major stakeholders’ inputs. 9 weeks from the date of contract signature including 1 week for BRD’s review
• Final report with recommendations.
• The final report is the report approved by BRD.
• 10 weeks from the date of contract signature

Working relationships
• All BRD departments
• Any relevant internal and external stakeholders
• Professional, academic qualifications and experience
• Master’s degree in Engineering, Business Administration, Resource Management, Economics, Finance, Project Management, or relevant discipline.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience working in decentralized small-scale energy access intervention such as stand-alone SHS, mini-grid, improved cooking, biogas, etc.
• At least 5 years of previous experience in design and implementation of similar RBF subsidy scheme in the energy, water, health, education, IT, or relevant sectors will be an added advantage.
• Experience working on impact / program evaluation studies or M&E studies.
• Experience working in sub-Saharan Africa will be an added advantage.
• Demonstrable experience working with energy private sectors, government, and development partners having portfolio in the off-grid energy space.
• Demonstrable experience in designing and implementing operational assessments of an RBF scheme of a similar nature
• Excellent proficiency of English, both written and spoken.

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 36

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Job application procedure
Interested candidate should apply online (https://www.brd.rw/careers/ ) and upload application documents including Curriculum Vitae, copies of degree certificates and professional certificates, motivation letter, names of three previous supervisors (as one document) as well as their emails and telephone.
Only online applications shall be considered.
Email only for inquiries (not application): recruitment@brd.rw 
Address all applications to the Head, Human Capital, and Corporate Services of the Development Bank of Rwanda.
Deadline for application: 6th August 2022
The employment package is highly competitive/attractive.
Due to expected high volume of applications, ONLY shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
Done in Kigali, 21st July 2022

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