Description
USAID/Zimbabwe seeks the services of a local entity to conduct a Private Sector LandscapeAnalysis (PSLA). The PSLA will inform the design and implementation of the multisectoralLocal Works Zimbabwe Youth Program, inform USAID/Zimbabwe’s new five-year (2021 –2026) Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS), and support the Mission’sprivate sector engagement (PSE) efforts. Zimbabwe once had a vibrant and flourishing economy, driven by agriculture, mining, tourism, manufacturing and services sectors. Unfortunately, the country has experienced tumultuous economic times dating back to the ill-fated Economic Structural Adjustment Program in the 1990s and the hyperinflation of the 2000s. Despite abundant natural resources, favorable climatic conditions and an educated workforce, Zimbabwe faces myriad challenges including grand corruption, deteriorating rule of law, low foreign direct investment, low levels of domestic capital formation, high levels of unemployment and underemployment, and shortages of foreign exchange. Decades of political and economic mismanagement have resulted in a structural shift from an economy based on large, stable, formal enterprises to an economy based on fragmented, fragile, and informal enterprises (Zimbabwe Labor Market Assessment, 2014). Zimbabwe’s informal sector now contributes about 61 percent of GDP (International Monetary Fund, 2018).. The Zimbabwe Labor Force and Child Labour Survey (2019) estimated that about 76 percent of all employment in Zimbabwe is informal. The goal of the Local Works Zimbabwe Youth Program is to economically empower young Zimbabweans through locally-led development, where youth lead priority setting, design, implementation and management of interventions to create employment, increase incomes and reduce poverty and desperation. In a highly informal economy with limited formal jobs, enterprise development is a viable pathway for employment and income generation. To build and strengthen a network of local actors that can support youth entrepreneurship, and in line with USAID PSE policy, USAID/Zimbabwe would like to consult, strategize, align, collaborate, and implement with the private sector for greater scale, sustainability, and effectiveness of development outcomes. Effective engagement with the private sector requires a deeper understanding of the sector context including available players, current and future priorities, existing opportunities and challenges. One way of getting this deeper understanding is through carrying out a PSLA. USAID/Zimbabwe anticipates that the new CDCS will focus on youth (15-35 years) development and empowerment. Zimbabwe’s youth bulge makes youth the majority demographic. Decades of economic and political crises have made youth the worst-affected demographic with little or no economic opportunities. USAID/Zimbabwe would like to deepen its PSE efforts by identifying different types of global and local private sector actors that can improve the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of development programming through targeted collaboration and partnerships. OBJECTIVES Given the private sector context, the Mission has identified two major objectives this PSLA will seek to achieve. First, the PSLA will help to refine USAID/Zimbabwe’s approach to working with the private sector to promote youth development, employment and empowerment including opportunities for entrepreneurship and supply chain linkages. Second, the PSLA will provide a deep and broad understanding of the private sector ecosystem in Zimbabwe, and private sector perspectives and interests. The PSLA will also document lessons learned in USAID’s previous engagements with the private sector. Below are some specific questions that the PSLA will seek to answer: Which private sector entities in Zimbabwe could USAID engage and partner with forsustainable development interventions? What opportunities (areas of aligned interests) and challenges exist for effective PSE in Zimbabwe? What lessons can we learn from USAID’s previous PSE efforts and which models would work best for effective PSE partnerships? Where do youth fit within the broad private sector spectrum, including how best to facilitate youth entrepreneurship and employment and how to partner with the private sector to engage youth across sectors? The PSLA will cover the agriculture, natural resources management, science and technology, health, media, financial services, and education sectors. In addition, the analysis will: map the private sector landscape in Zimbabwe, identify and recommend broad PSE or partnership opportunities and models that align with USAID/Zimbabwe’s portfolio, and highlight challenges that inhibit successful partnerships and lessen the impact and sustainability of USAID/Zimbabwe’s development programming. Throughout the research, the PSLA should be sensitive to, assess, and report on the oftenclose relationship between the Government of Zimbabwe, the military, the ruling party, and political elites with private sector entities. The PSLA will help USAID/Zimbabwe build upon previous engagement with the private sector by deliberately and strategically targeting PSE, building private sector linkages in new sectors to create more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive development assistance programs that lead to self-sufficiency, and building upon the Mission’s PSE Plan to inform the new CDCS.