Interim Director - Entrepreneurship and Business Development Centre

Reference: PG/SWA/0599
Location: University of Swaziland, Kwaluseni, Swaziland
Duration: 1 year
Closing Date: 7 Aug 2012

Project Background

Development of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector has been an attractive option for Swaziland’s Governments since the early 1970s, as a means of helping to address high levels of poverty, unemployment, underemployment and poor business competitiveness. Despite this, Swaziland’s industrial base remains underdeveloped, with one of the lowest rates of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Southern Africa. Youth unemployment is regarded by Swazi policy makers, employers and educators as one of its greatest challenges. As the Government embarks on its programme of austerity to address the growing national budget deficit, the need to further increase the capacity and performance of the MSME sector is viewed as a priority by policy makers in Swaziland.

The University of Swaziland responded by establishing the Entrepreneurship and Business Development Centre (EBDC) in 2009. Its aim, according to Vice Chancellor Professor Cisco Magagula, is to “empower the MSME community and to harness the resources of UNISWA to foster business development in Swaziland”. The Centre entered the University statutes in 2009 when an Acting Director was appointed and premises allocated. However, the remit, scope, and strategic focus of the centre have only recently been established. How best to implement and prioritise initial activities and existing resources have yet to be developed.

The Commonwealth Secretariat provided funding in August 2010 to help develop the EBDC. This involved recruiting consultants from the University of Edinburgh Business School’s Centre for Entrepreneurship Research to assist in developing a Strategic and Implementation Plan for the Centre, completed in July 2011.

Recommendations of the Plan stressed importance of developing the capacity of Centre staff to effectively implement proposed activities. Crucial in this will be to recruitment a leader with the expertise to drive forward an ambitious programme of activities, inspire and train staff and engage with a wide range of stakeholders to collectively improve support for MSMEs.

Project Purpose

The project's purpose is to position the EBDC as a centre of excellence for support to the MSME sector and suitably manage its internal functions and external relationships.

Project Outcome

The Project is ultimately expected to improve Swaziland’s enabling environment for MSMEs.

Scope of Work

Summary of Project:

This project will provide technical support to the Entrepreneurship and Business Development Centre (EBDC) at the University of Swaziland (UNISWA). This technical assistance will provide essential leadership and expertise to help the Centre build necessary capacities and management practices to implement its Strategic Plan. This will significantly improve Swaziland’s enabling environment for MSMEs and contribute to addressing persistent and escalating poverty levels, unemployment and lack of global competitiveness.

The immediate beneficiaries will be UNISWA which will gain a fully operational Centre of specialisation in supporting business development. Ultimately, the target beneficiaries are those within Swaziland’s MSME sector. Additionally, wider Swazi society will benefit from opportunities within this sector to address problems of poverty and unemployment.

Project Outputs

• Priority activities from the EBDC strategic plan implemented successfully. This will be based on a prioritisation process by the Director in consultation with the Steering Committee; and the drafting of a full timeline for the implementation of all the activities in the strategic plan.

Expected Activities to include:

• Prioritisation of activities in the EBDC Strategic Plan with timeline
• Progress on implementation as per the agreed timeline

• EBDC structures and systems of management established to support the functioning of the Centre. This will include a full Organogram with structural and reporting relationships, role definitions (including that of the long-term Director), and extending to the high-level governance of the Centre by an Executive Committee and Steering Committee.

Expected Activities to include:

• Institutional Assessment
• Design of EBDC structures and systems
• Establishment of key EBDC process and committees

• A ‘Network of Collaborators’ established by the EBDC. This will be made up of staff and researchers from UNISWA faculties and other partners.

Expected Activities to include:

• Identification of potential collaborators and areas for collaboration
• Engagement with identified collaborators

• Stakeholder Engagement Platforms’ established, and appropriately aimed at the private sector and at government. This should ensure that EBDC programmes respond to stakeholder and MSME needs. Furthermore, this will include opening avenues for financial resource mobilisation by demonstrating the role and value of EBDCs work, where applicable.

Expected Activities to include:

• Mapping of key stakeholders
• Establishment of appropriate ‘Stakeholder Engagement Platforms’

• Financial Sustainability Plan in-place and underway. This will cover the main sources of financial resources for the EBCD over the next 1-3 years; and should include a strategy of engagement with development partners and private sector sponsors/clients to be initiated during this project.

Expected Activities to include:

• Outline the EBDC Resource Requirement for the next 1-3 years
• Develop a Financial Sustainability Plan covering this period
• Engagement with development partners and private sector sponsors/clients

• Supplementary short-term consultants to formulate the EBCD’s course materials, training and workshop programmes, case studies, manuals of good practice, and support for policy research.

Expected Activities to include:

• Review of the demands within the MSME sector for training and support
• Production of materials and support services to fulfil the demands of those in the MSME sector.
• Deliver training for EBDC members in the application and use of the produced resources.

Implementation Arrangements

The expert will be based at the EBDC, located within the Faculty of Commerce – University of Swaziland. The expert will also engage in extensive consultations with stakeholders across the University, Government and MSME sector.

UNISWA already employs an Assistant Director and an Academic Advisor who will be understudying the expert. The EBDC has already begun efforts to recruit a permanent Director, who would be supported by the expert as temporary Director leading up to a full hand-over. However, the expert (Director) will be instructive in supporting this recruitment during and hand-over only once the role is suitable filled.

The Special Advisory Services Division (SASD) of the Commonwealth Secretariat will provide technical support throughout the project, which will be developed, managed and monitored by the Technical Cooperation and Strategic Response Group (TCSRG).

The Expert employed under the project will be expected to ascertain baseline indicators at the start of the project upon which to judge project progress towards its objectives. Specifically, this is included within the prioritisation process for the EBDC implementation timeline under Output 1. These will be presented in the inception report, and will be reported against in 6 monthly progress reports, as well as in the final report.

Transfer of Expertise

The Commonwealth Secretariat attaches particular importance to the transfer of expertise and knowledge to counterparts. The expert in his/her discussions with the Reporting Officer should draw attention to the need for key staff to be assigned as counterparts at the beginning of the assignment. This should be reported on in the Inception Report, normally due after three months. A training programme for key counterpart staff should be produced by the expert and agreed with the Reporting Officer. An update should be provided on this in the first Progress Report, normally due after six months.

Experience & Qualifications

The successful candidate should have:

• Masters Degree, MBA or equivalent in Management, Business or other relevant subject from a recognised institution.

Essential Work Experience:

• At least 10 years experience at a senior-level working as part of an outwardly-focused business orientated Centre within a University or other such institution.
• At least 7 years experience and knowledge on best practices concerning support for micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs).
• Proven experience of working with a wide range of stakeholders from academia, the private sector and government to generate collective effort.
• Research and/or advanced knowledge development capacities in enterprise sectors.
• Extensive experience in capacity development / training with regard to business and organisational skills.

Desirable:

• Experience of working in the region would be an advantage

Making an application & further information

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Job Description for Interim Director - Entrepreneurship and Business Development Centre