Consultancy: To conduct a situation analysis and a gender scoping of the circular and blue economy sectors in Seychelles, with a focus on MSMEs at UNECA – United Nations Economic Commission for Africa: (Deadline 7 September 2022)

(i) An inception report outlining the methodology, presenting the design of the survey questionnaire, and listing the MSMEs operating in the circular and blue economy sectors in Seychelles, disaggregated by area of activity, male/female ownership and age, amongst others.

(ii) A report on the situational analysis of the circular and blue economies in Seychelles, and the readiness of MSMEs from the two sectors to access new markets, with a special focus on women and youth.

(iii) Organisation and coordination of the National Dissemination Workshop and its event report

Work LocationSeychelles, home-based

Expected durationSuccessful National Consultant (NC) will be recruited for a period of one (1) month from the date of Contract and will be paid as per the following deliverable payment trenches:

50% of total Consultancy Service Fees upon submission and approval of an inception report outlining the methodology, presenting the design of the survey questionnaire, and listing the MSMEs operating in the circular and blue economy sectors in Seychelles, disaggregated by area of activity, male/female ownership, and age, amongst others. Its delivery will be within 15 days from the date of Consultancy Service Contract.

50% of total Consultancy Service Fees upon submission and approval of the final report which will include the situational analysis of the circular and blue economy in Seychelles, and the readiness assessment of MSMEs from the two sectors to access new markets, with a special focus on women and youth. The organization, coordination, and reporting of the National Dissemination Workshop will also count as part of this second set of deliverables.

The delivery of the report will be within 30 days from date of Consultancy Service Contract. The delivery of the set of activities related to the National Dissemination Workshop is contingent to the date of the Workshop.

Duties and Responsibilities

PROJECT BACKGROUND:

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Sub-Regional Office for Eastern Africa (SRO-EA) has benefited from the support of the United Nations Joint Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Fund to further the sustainable development agenda of Seychelles, by focusing on capacitating its circular economy sector. The UN Joint SDG Programme aims to service this demarche through a gender-responsive and evidence-based approach.

Being a small island developing state whose land area extends over a total of 455km2, Seychelles has limited capacity to handle the solid waste generated by its population and industries. At present, it is estimated that Seychelles produces 80,000 tons of solid waste annually, out of which 90% are landfilled. The amount of waste generated is expected to increase by 50% by 2030.

While the circular economy is still a new concept in the policy realm of Seychelles, pressured by this imminent environmental threat and crisis, Seychelles developed a Solid Waste Management Strategy 2020-2035. This plan emphasizes a need to practice waste sorting and segregation, develop the recycling sector, and encourage private sector investment in “critical waste management infrastructures”. All three recommendations require the critical “agency” of the private sector– either as a contributor at the bottom of the scale: as an operator, or as a driver of waste management practices. While the activities and contribution of large enterprises which operate in the circular economy in Seychelles is documented, information about micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) of the same sector is limited. Furthermore, there is no insight into the role of women in this sector.

With an Exclusive Economic Zone of 1.35 million km2, Seychelles’ expansive seas also carry potential to contribute to circular symbiosis activities. The Blue Economy allows the optimization of unutilized or underutilized sea-based resources which could act as alternatives to polluting materials. In 2020, the Blue Economy contributed to only 27.4% of Seychelles’ GDP and yet 41% of its employment. An activation of Blue Economy activities will increase its contribution to national revenue, employment, as well as reduce dependence of the country on the use of other imported entrants to manufacturing processes as well as in energy production. Currently, the majority of Seychelles’ energy is generated through solid biofuels.

A liberalization of the continental market under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will create new opportunities for MSMEs. For operators of the circular and blue economies, along with opening doors to new markets for their services and for their transformed products, the AfCFTA is also a platform to source intermediate goods/waste for transformation. It is in this spirit of an enlarged business potential, which can secure an economy-of-scale operation for MSMEs of the circular and blue economy sectors, that this study will be conducted.

Under the UN Joint SDG Programme and with the support of the Fund thereunder, UNECA SRO-EA seeks to recruit a consultant to conduct a situational analysis of the circular and blue economy efforts in Seychelles, along with a gender-sensitive survey of MSMEs operating in the same.

This consultancy aims to carry out: firstly, a situational analysis of the circular and blue economy sectors in Seychelles—including, but not limited to capturing data about the policy, legal, financial, and institutional frameworks currently in place, and the key actors and instruments involved; and secondly, a survey of MSMEs in Seychelles that are moving away from a linear economy and are operating in the circular economy and blue economy sectors, in order to gauge their readiness to penetrate new markets, or expand their presence in markets that they already operate in.

Both the situational analysis and the survey should be gender and youth sensitive in their approaches and should capture disaggregated data