Request for Proposal RFP/BEY/25/03 for Private Sector Mapping

Purpose of the consultancy

DRC Lebanon aims to strengthen its engagement with the private sector by facilitating the development of shared-value business models. These models will, among other things, focus on: 

• Creating new value for DRC and the private sector partner through e.g. co-design and delivery of products, services, and business models to serve displacement-affected populations and co-creation of innovation leveraging new technology. 
• Creating training and employment opportunities for refugees and displacement-affected communities within relevant sectors while boosting the private sector’s access to a qualified pool of job seekers through livelihoods technical training and value chain integration. 
• Adapting and expanding the reach of companies’ products and services to suit new customer segments, for example, by targeting the DRC’s people of concern with financial inclusion efforts in partnership with financial institutions. 

With the above objectives, DRC Lebanon is planning to conduct a private sector mapping to identify key market players across Lebanon in areas where DRC operates, particularly in areas affected by recent crises. This will be informed by an ongoing Market system assessment as well as DRC Lebanon’s existing strategy on Partnerships and Localization. The sizes of these businesses as well as sectors and value chains, will be informed by the ongoing Market system assessment.  

The DRC based in Lebanon seeks proposals from a consultant to assess market perceptions and establish initial engagement with the private sector to explore collaborative opportunities and strengthen its engagement with the private sector by facilitating the development of the shared-value business models mentioned above. This mapping will form the basis for the private sector engagement strategy and inform DRC's Economic Recovery Strategy, which will complement the overall partnership strategy, enhancing our understanding of the private sector's role across our platforms and contributing to our localization agenda. This exercise will also help bridge the existing gap between the private sector and international and local organizations, which currently lack collaboration and strategic partnership, such as in livelihood and other programming beyond contributing to assessments. Facilitating employment opportunities and enabling access to services provided by organizations will serve as one of the key examples of how linking the private sector and humanitarian organizations can be mutually beneficial. 

Objectives:

DRC Lebanon aims to conduct a private sector mapping in the specific geographical locations of

Akkar, North, Beqaa, Baalbek-Hermel, and Hasbayya.

 The objectives of this mapping are:

• Research Objective 1: To identify the sectors/industries that are the most relevant to DRC’s programming in Lebanon, including analysing their geographical concentration and legislative frameworks that may impede or catalyse the opportunities for forming partnerships.
• Research Objective 2: To understand the perceptions and sentiments of private sector actors towards DRC’s target groups and how they view the opportunity to hire, target, or generally include these in their business operations.
• Research Objective 3: To assess how DRC might facilitate private sector access to a qualified pool of job seekers with specific technical skills and expertise (RIMS platform, graduates of livelihood technical training by local and international organizations) on both private sector recruitment and the employment outcomes of the graduates. 
• Research Objective 4: To identify the top 5 most relevant potential partners for engagement and distil learnings from the research and interviews into a brief set of clear strategy recommendations for DRC to act on.

The consultant for this assignment should leverage the primary findings of the ongoing assessment conducted by PFC International to inform the decision-making regarding target sectors and the size of the private sector, using it as a foundation for initiating the private sector mapping. The consultant will collaborate closely with the Economic Recovery team to ensure the mapping aligns with the country's Economic Recovery Strategy. 

RFP Issuing date: 10 June 2025

RFP Closure Date: 27 June 2025 at 2:00 pm (Beirut time)