| Overview : BACKGROUND:
The Private Sector Development Project (PSDP) is a private sector-led and private sector driven initiative. It aims to incentivize the private sector to deliver sustained, rapid and inclusive growth in alignment with the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDG), ensuring that value chains with strong potential, as identified by the National Export Strategy (NES), contribute to growth and poverty reduction. PSDP aims to better align business incentives with development objectives to promote innovation and inclusive business approaches that draw poor communities into markets more efficiently. The PSDP contributes to the achievement of SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG 9 (Build Resilient Infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation). Specifically, the overall goal of the PSD project is to support poverty reduction and productive partnerships among businesses, local producers and entrepreneurs, especially smallholders. The project contributes to the transformation of the private sector into an engine of growth through economic diversification, job creation and greater economic opportunity for the poor. The Malawi Innovation Challenge Fund (MICF) was launched in April 2014 as a new approach to engage private sector businesses operating in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors of Malawi. The MICF is a competitive, transparent mechanism that provides co-finance for innovative, inclusive business projects proposed by the private sector active in Malawi. The fund is a quick, responsive mechanism to support the needs of the private sector, and has proven a pivotal operational tool in the delivery to the Government of Malawi’s Private Sector Development Project (PSDP). In 2018, the Malawi Innovation Challenge Fund (MICF) grantees will continue implementation of projects based on the first round of competition (Agriculture and Manufacturing), the second round of competition (Agribusiness, Manufacturing & Logistics) , and the third round of competition (Irrigation). At policy level, continued support is provided for the roll out of the ‘Buy Malawi Strategy’, which aims to foster business growth and economic development through the promotion, production and consumption of Malawian products. The Project requires a short-term communications expert who will be hired on a performance-based contract to manage communications respecting the MICF project for the year 2018 and provide technical assistance in the continued rolling out of the Marketing and Communications Plan of the Buy Malawi Strategy (BMS). Communications activities will focus on communicating key impacts and achievements of MICF projects and documenting compelling stories of change in people’s lives. Working under the supervision of Portfolio Manager for Resilience and Sustainable Growth, the expert will be responsible for planning and executing stakeholder and public relations initiatives. He/She will design comprehensive strategies to ensure that the MICF and the roll out of the Buy Malawi Strategy gets support of and the buy-in from private sector actors, and ensure public awareness and engagement. The consultant will provide support to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism in expanding public awareness and confidence in the consumption of Malawian products and also building the confidence of the private sector in the Buy Malawi campaign. |
