BAHAMAS
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Policy and Institutional Framework for SME Development in the Bahamas
BH-CC2003
End of Project Evaluation
I.
BACKGROUND
Despite The Bahamas’ stable economic policy and political environment, there has
been very low real growth of per capita GDP over the past 20 years, attributed to
low productivity. One often-cited reason is the under-performance of small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These firms, with fewer than 20 employees,
account for an estimated 90 percent of registered businesses in the Bahamas. They
however face several obstacles in the business and financial environment such as
limited access to credit, weak trade-facilitation mechanisms, and a complex system
of land administration; while tariffs and business registration and licensing, elevate
transaction costs for doing business. Finally, public policy that favors high-end
tourism investments has not encouraged linkages with higher value added domestic
activities.
Economic activity is concentrated in a few sectors and geographic areas. Tourism
accounts for almost 50 percent of GDP and the financial sector accounts for about
20 percent of GDP. Production and services are concentrated in Nassau and the
larger islands, as a result, the geographic structure and the nature of the productive
sector in the Family Islands require a specific strategy for its development. SMEs in
the Family islands are predominantly involved in the tourism sector. Specific
interventions to support these SMEs have shown that aside from institutional
support to diversify the tourism offerings towards an SME-inclusive process,
measures to strengthen market access are greatly inadequate and in need of
immediate attention.
Public interventions aimed at supporting domestic business have included the
creation of many institutions, (e.g. the Bahamas Development Bank, the Bahamas
Agricultural and Industrial Corporation and the Entrepreneurial Venture Fund,) as
well as the passing of several encouragement acts that offer tax incentives for
investors seeking to start or expand a business in a particular sector. However, the
provision of financial and non-financial services, and the overall support to SMEs,
(for which there are no clear distinctions between micro and small, or small and
medium sized firms), appears insufficient and ineffective. Moreover, there is no
permanent observatory that tracks SME numbers, growth and challenges, even
though this information is very important for adjusting policies on a long-term basis.
The Government of the Bahamas communicated its desire to reform the overall
business climate and particularly the institutional framework in support of SMEs and
in 2011 the SME Development Act, whose main purpose is to create an SME
Development Agency (SMEDA) was drafted. The Agency would establish the basis
for effectively providing financial and non-financial instruments to SMEs according
to the diverse needs of SMEs, as well as administer and coordinate projects for
specific purposes such as individual Family Island development and grants for
micro-businesses. This legislation was expected to catalyze the work of bringing the
entire sectoral structure and policy together, and is part of the overall economic
strategy of the Government.
In 2011, The Government of the Bahamas entered into a Technical Cooperation (TC)
Agreement (BH-CC2003) with the Inter-American Development Bank under the
Compete Caribbean Program to address build on these initial first steps. 1 The
project was designed to develop a comprehensive and coherent institutional
framework to support Bahamian SMEs, including those in the Family Islands. A
specific feature of the project to stimulate SME activity on the family islands was a
public private partnership to introduce geo-tourism marketing. This was undertaken
in conjunction with IDB’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF). The value of this TC is
$435,000. The project is executed by the Compete Caribbean Project Coordinating
Unit (PCU) located in Barbados. Implementation of project activities is coordinated
by the Ministry of Finance, with the support of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce
and IDB Country Office in Jamaica.
CONSULTANCY OBJECTIVE(S)
In keeping with the Plan of Operations for BH-CC2003, an independent end of
project evaluation is to be conducted three months after project execution or on
disbursement of 95% of Compete Caribbean’s funds, whichever comes first. The
objective of this consultancy is to conduct an End of project evaluation and prepare
the report.
1 Compete Caribbean is a Caribbean private sector development programme jointly funded by the
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the United Kingdom Department of International
Development (DFID) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The ultimate goal of this
Program is to contribute to the increase in the standard of living and quality of life, and the
enhancement of the competitiveness of the 15 independent CARIFORUM countries. Specifically, the
Program will increase: (i) donor harmonization and coherence, equity and sustainability of national and
regional private sector strategies; (ii) the efficiency and effectiveness of Caribbean governments to
promote a competitive, growth-oriented business and investment climate; and (iii) innovation,
productivity, value added production, sales and sustainability in key Caribbean clusters and value
chains, and product sophistication, productivity and exports of individual firms.
The End of project evaluation will examine and assess the performance of the
project, and take into consideration the project’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency
and sustainability; and identify lessons learned.
The evaluation’s main goals are to:

Determine the extent to which the project has fulfilled, or is expected to fulfil
the specific objective of developing a comprehensive and coherent
institutional framework to support Bahamian SMEs, including those in the
Family Islands.

Assess the extent to which the project efficiently met the performance
targets and results as established in the Project’s Results Framework and
resulted in an improvement in the business climate and support services
available to SMEs, particularly in the Family Islands.

Identify any lessons learned that could be applied to introducing business
climate legislation and support institutions and services for SMEs.
Specifically, the evaluation will answer the following questions and address the
following issues:
a.Relevance, project context and review of assumptions:
 Was the project design adequate to address the challenges identified in Plan
of Operations for BH-CC2003? To what extent was the project able to address
the constraints identified within the scope and resources available?

Identify where appropriate any changes in the legal, political, economic or
institutional context which may have had an effect on project relevance as
originally designed.

Review the extent to which the project design addressed the priority needs of
the SME community with respect to business climate constraints and took
into account the constraints identified with respect to provision of financial
services to SMEs.
b. Achievement of projected performance indicators and targets
(effectiveness):
 To what extent were the target outputs and outcomes realized and how have
these contributed to achieving the project purpose?

To what extent have public and private (SMEs) stakeholders’ expectations
been met and is there is satisfaction with the progress towards the
establishment of the institutional framework in support of SMEs?

To what extent have there been changes facilitative of SME development in
the Bahamas as a result of project activities?

To what extent has the introduction of the geo-tourism/destination marketing
activity affected the operation or prospects of SMEs in the Family Islands?

To what extent did the project’s design, approach, and methodology compare
with global best practice to provide business support services to SMEs?

To what extent was the Pilot Project for SME development in the Family
Islands an example of an effective public-private partnership?

Identify where appropriate any factors which may have had a positive or
negative effect on project implementation as originally planned.

Assess the extent to which any changes/modifications to the project were
justified and are contributing to meeting the project objectives. Identify any
unanticipated results.

To what extent were gender equality considerations incorporated into the
project?

To what extent did this project serve to catalyze or complement other private
sector or business climate reform efforts?
c. Results in terms of outputs achieved vis-à-vis projected targets
(efficiency):


Identify any internal and external factors that have positively or negatively
influenced the ability of the PCU and the Ministry of Finance to meet
projected targets or project outcomes in a timely and cost effective manner.

Assess the extent to which project expenditures are in line with initial
budgetary plans. Assess the extent to which any changes/modifications to
the budget were justified.

Determine the extent to which the anticipated Counterpart Contributions
from the Government of the Bahamas were provided and utilized as planned.
Lessons learned
 Identify any lessons learned that can be applied to implementation of
business climate reforms requiring legislative changes.


Identify any lessons learned that can be applied to establishing new
institutions to support SME development.

Identify any lessons learned that could be applied to undertaking effective
public-private partnerships.
Sustainability
 Assess the prospects for the institutional framework to be fully established
and operational as planned.

Assess the prospects for the public-private partnership to be sustained over
time with respect to roles and responsibilities for geo-tourism/destination
marketing of the Family Islands.

Assess the extent to which there is need or interest by other stakeholders,
through technical or financial support, to fill any gaps which may exist, to
continue the business climate reforms covered by this project.
METHODOLOGY
The evaluation methodology must at a minimum include the following activities.
The Consultant may propose additional or alternate methods of conducting the
evaluation and elaborate these in the workplan.
a) Review of project documentation. The Consultant will review as necessary,
available archived material to be provided by the Compete Caribbean PCU
and the Counterpart Agency (Ministry of Finance, and the Bahamas Chamber
of Commerce).
Documentation will include at a minimum, background
material used in project preparation, approved project documents,
Consultants’ deliverables, legislative documents, project monitoring
documents, disbursement reports, progress reports and the draft project
completion report.
b) Review of any other relevant information that may be publicly available.
c) Field visits and interviews. At a minimum, the Consultant will undertake the
following:
i.
Interviews with representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of
Tourism, The Chamber of Commerce, members of the Geotourism
Stewardship Council, Financial institutions supporting SMEs, and
individual SMEs or private sector bodies representative of SME
interests. Stakeholders on Family Islands must be represented.
ii.
Interviews with the former project manager retained by Compete
Caribbean, the Team Leader at the IDB Country Office in Kingston,
Jamaica and staff of the Bahamas Country Office, MIF representative
responsible for the GeoTourism component and Compete Caribbean
and IDB staff involved in the design and execution of the project.
iii.
Interviews with a sample of Consultants and/or technical assistance
providers who were hired by the PCU for project execution.
iv.
The Consultant will propose other stakeholder consultations as deemed
appropriate
d) Collection and analysis of data from other stakeholders or interested parties
should also be considered.
SCHEDULE AND DELIVERABLES
The Consultant will be responsible for submitting the following deliverables:
Inception meeting: Within 5 working days after the awarding of the contract, the
Consultant will participate in an inception meeting(s) for the consultancy services
with representatives of the Bank. The Consultant will be provided with preliminary
access to project documentation to facilitate the preparation of the workplan.
Workplan: Within 5 working days following the inception meeting, the Consultant
will prepare a draft workplan to conduct the end of project evaluation. The
workplan will include (i) an elaboration of the evaluation methodology, data
collection and analysis approaches, (ii) a preliminary list of persons to be consulted,
(iv) timelines for site visits and interviews and all other evaluation activities, and (iv)
deadlines for submission of draft and final reports. The workplan should be
presented to the PCU for review and approval.
Draft End of Project Evaluation Report: Within 4 weeks after the approval of
the workplan, the Consultant will present the draft report.
Final End of Project Evaluation Report: Within 2 weeks after review and
feedback from Compete Caribbean, the Consultant will present the final evaluation
report.
All reports are to be submitted in MSWord and in English, and presented in a format
approved by the IDB.
QUALIFICATIONS:
The Consultant should possess these qualifications:
Education and Experience
•
Undergraduate degree(s) in Business Administration, Economics, Finance, Public
Administration, Public Policy, Statistics, Law, International Development or other
relevant field. A master’s degree or higher in a relevant field is desirable.
• At least 5 years of experience in evaluating technical assistance or projects
(preferably in Private Sector Development) financed by international financing
institutions or bilateral agencies.
• In-depth knowledge of private sector development and preferably business
climate reforms and/or business support services.
• A good understanding of the Caribbean region. Previous evaluation assignments
in the Caribbean would be desirable.
• Professional experience or training in M&E processes of international
development agencies, such as the logical framework, monitoring and evaluation
frameworks and other performance monitoring tools.
• The ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks effectively.
Excellent written and oral communication skills are required, including the ability
to synthesize key issues and draw lessons learned.
• Fluency in is English required.
SUPERVISION
The technical and administrative responsibilities of this consultancy will be
coordinated by Navita Angunu of the Jamaica Country Office, Inter-American
Development Bank. Support in the technical responsibilities of this consultancy will
be provided Christine Scott Dunkley, Consultant (IFD/CTI) and Monitoring and
Evaluation Specialist for Compete Caribbean. Administrative responsibility of this
consultancy will be coordinated by Michael Hennessey, Operations Senior Associate
(CTI/CBA) and Operations Coordinator of Compete Caribbean.
SCHEDULE OF PAYMENT
All travel-related costs related to this Consultancy will be included in the contract
between the Consultant and the Bank.
The Consultant will be paid in three lump sum payments as follows:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
30% on delivery of the workplan;
40% on submission and approval of the draft report; and
30% on submission and approval of final report.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CONSULTANCY
CONSULTANCY CATEGORY & MODALITY: Product and services consultancy
CONTRACT DURATION Period: July-August 2015
PLACE(S) OF WORK: Consultants place of residence and the Bahamas.
Payment and Conditions of Employment: If the work will be carried out at Bank
headquarters in Washington D.C. Remuneration will be determined in accordance
with Bank regulations and criteria. The Bank will additionally contribute toward
travel and moving expenses, if applicable. If a candidate is not a citizen or resident
of the United States, the Bank will apply for a G-IV visa from the consulate of the
United States in the candidate's country of origin. If a candidate cannot obtain a
visa to work at the IDB the contractual offer will be rescinded.
Consanguinity: Individuals with relatives working for the IDB within, and including
the fourth degree of consanguinity and the second degree of affinity are not eligible
for employment as staff, Consultants, or contractors through firms or agencies.
Candidates must be citizens of a member country of the Inter-American
Development Bank.