Terms of Reference Background:

Transcription

1 Terms of Reference Background: In April 2016, The Government of Cameroon through the Ministry of Trade requested technical assistance from the Secretariat for the review of its legal and institutional framework for Ecommerce and the development of a National Strategy on E- Commerce. Cameroon is a lower middle income country with a population of 23.3 million people. According to a World Bank report, the Cameroonian economy is relatively diversified with services accounting for around 40 percent of GDP. However, the main source of government revenue is from its oil production and exports of crude petroleum. The top exports of Cameroon in 2015 were Crude Petroleum ($1.68B), Cocoa Beans ($578M), Sawn Wood ($440M), Rough Wood ($348M) and Bananas ($306M). The government of Cameroon is keen to take advantage of the opportunities that e commerce portends for the economy. Although Cameroon s financial system is the largest in the CEMAC region, access to financial services is limited, particularly for SMEs. Aside from a traditional tendency for banks to prefer dealing with large, established companies, determining factors are also found in interest rates for loans to SMEs being capped at 15 percent and being heavily taxed. Less than 5 percent of Cameroonians have access to a bank account. While the microfinance sector is consequently becoming increasingly important, its development is hampered by a loose regulatory and supervisory framework for microfinance institutions (MFIs). The banking sector is highly concentrated and dominated by foreign commercial banks. Six out of the eleven largest commercial banks are foreign-owned, and the three largest banks hold more than 50 percent of total financial system assets. While foreign banks generally display good solvency ratios, small domestic banks are in a much weaker position. Their capitalization is well below the average of banks in the CEMAC region and their profits are close to 2 percent, compared to 20 percent for foreign banks in the country. The government is undertaking reforms to increase assess to finance for SMEs and has recently set up

2 a bank for SMEs to achieve this objective. Cameroon is an importer of telecommunication equipment and aims to develop a telecommunications strategy to facilitate internet linkages. A major challenge to facilitate e commerce in Cameroon is the underdevelopment of third party online payment systems. There has to be an acceptable level of secure online payment methods for e-commerce flourish but this is not the case yet in Cameroon. It is reported that some banks issue credit cards and there is an increase in the availability of presence of online and mobile payment system such as PayPal, MTN mobile money, BICEC E-Pay, etc., most of the consumers are still wary of adopting the mobile payments systems and uploading their bank card details online. Cameroon is making significant progress in the development of internet based solutions and business across the country. Notably is the establishment of the Silicon Mountain in Buea in the South West part of the countries an innovation hub that incubates Cameroon young tech start-ups and a growing community of developers and designers. The hub is reported to contribute billions of dollars to nation s economy The growth of the Internet in Cameroon and the need to oversee the increasingly innovative services that it offers led to the adoption of a law in 2010 governing electronic commerce in Cameroon. This law was able to address certain legal problems relating to electronic transactions, in particular the identification of interveners, the integrity of the contents exchanged, the confidentiality of communications, the liability of intermediary service providers for the contents conveyed or hosted, but omitted an aspect Online payment and related security. At present, e-commerce accounts for a growing percentage of global trade of goods and services and is predicted to increase exponentially given the digital revolution. E-commerce is recognized as an important driver of innovation, competitiveness and growth, and holds huge potential for entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide. A small number of SMEs in African countries are currently engaged in some moderate E-Commerce transactions exclusively for the supply of goods and services within their state borders. These SMEs face significant challenges when they attempt to expand their trade outside of the boundaries of their countries primarily as a result of external barriers and limited digital

3 infrastructure. Participation in global digital economy demands substantial investment in organizational capabilities, process innovation, and institutional learning. These challenges have persisted in countries where complementary assets and coordinating institutions are weak or missing. Objective: Tasks: 1. This consultancy is required to develop an E commerce strategy for Cameroon and identify the areas and sectors for which Cameroon can participate in e commerce value chains and expand its market share of global e commerce trade. 2. It should recommend appropriate mechanisms to facilitate digital trade, protect the interests of consumers and businesses, while maintaining the regulatory policy space for the governments to achieve it development objectives. 3. The strategy will be expected to provide strategic directions and guidance to link the e commerce strategy to the National Development plan and other strategic national development policy instruments- including the National Trade Policy and Industrial Development Policy and other efforts of the government to diversify the economy, create employment, reduce poverty and integrate further into the multilateral trading system. 4. It will also Identify priority areas for regional integration and cooperation with other CEMAC countries to fast track e commerce development across the region, 5. And include an implementation scheme with a monitoring and evaluation framework built in to ensure sustainability and track results. The Secretariat has prepared two preliminary reports in the first phase of this project. This reports will be made available to the Consultants (s) The Consultant would be expected to carry out the following specific activities: Stage 1: Diagnostics and Strategy Development a) Review the baseline study undertaken in the first phase of the project on the analysis of the existing macroeconomic policies on trade and

4 development, existing e commerce trade flows and opportunities for export expansion including potentials for both product and market diversification for E commerce in Cameroon b) Review the report of the Legal and regulatory framework for Ecommerce in Cameroon. c) Working with the Ministry of Trade and other relevant government agencies, conduct stakeholder consultations with private sector representatives. d) Identify any gender issues that should be taken into account to ensure equitable access to E commerce opportunities. e) Design an E commerce strategy that articulates the objectives listed above f) Present the draft framework of the strategy at a stakeholder consultation with representatives from the Regional secretariat, the OPS and Civil society and donor community g) Prepare a final document to be submitted to the Government of Cameroon Stage 2: Implementation and Monitoring and Evaluation Plan a) Develop a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the strategy, including templates to be used by implementing agencies. b) Work with key implementing agencies to develop detailed action matrices to support implementation. c) Develop an annualised implementation plan for the strategy period. d) Present the draft implementation plan to stakeholders. e) Submit the final Implementation Plan. Deliverables/Timeline Inception Report following the first mission to Cameroon, within 8 weeks of signing the contract. (To include a situation report, work plan and draft layout of the AfT strategy) A Progress Report, which covers progress made under Stage 1 tasks a-g of the Scope of Work, delivered after 12 weeks. Draft E commerce document and Strategic Action Plans to be presented at a National Stakeholders forum by week 16.

5 The final draft of the Strategy and Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation framework with clear indicators, baselines, targets, timelines with accountable officers indicated by week 20. The Final Strategy is to submitted in both ENGLISH and FRENCH Approach and Implementation Arrangements The project will be supervised by the Trade Adviser, Commonwealth Secretariat. The Ministry of Trade (MTI) which is the main client for this project will provide access to office space, organise meetings and provide administrative support where needed. The assignment will be delivered through a stakeholder-driven approach. The consultant(s) is expected to work closely with stakeholder teams in designing the strategy. The consultant(s) is expected to facilitate/moderate a number of Stakeholder dialogue consultations and other meetings at key stages of the assignment.