Cameroon: Business Planning consultancy with the Presbyterian Church of Cameroon and All We Can UK

Business Planning for Tellco-Preswood and PRTC

PCC, Cameroon

1.Background

All We Can is a UK-based charity working in partnership with small-scale, local organisations in Africa, and Asia. Projects are carried out by our local community-based partners, who are best placed to understand local needs, with full participation of the intended beneficiaries. All We Can also responds to emergencies, often in partnership with existing partners in the region, and also through limited number of Humanitarian Aid partners made up of INGOs/international network organisations specialising in Humanitarian Aid work.

The Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC)

The Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) - a Christian Church - is a faith-based organization which gained independence from the Basel Mission in 1957. Its headquarters is in Buea (Synod Office), South West Region of Cameroon. It is headed by a Moderator who is the spiritual head of the Church and assisted by the Synod Clerk who is the Administrative head, and the Financial Secretary who is in charge of the Treasury and financial management. The PCC has 30 Presbyteries (administrative structures) with 1,475 local Church Congregations and about 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 Christians. In carrying out its mission, the PCC runs a structured program for women with 1,078 groups and 46,051 members, men’s program having 837 groups and 19,834 members, youth program of 1,004 groups having 19,921 members and 806 groups of 13,252 young children; 1 university (with two campuses and a Faculty of Theology), 2 professional schools, 23 secondary schools, 151 primary schools and 54 nursery schools; 4 hospitals, 21 health centres, 1 dispensary and one of the best eye services in the whole country as well as sub-Saharan Africa, 5 youth centres, 4 vocational training centres; an Information and Technology Centre, a Christian radio station, four business units, a Central Archives, 2 Church Centres and other educational and development projects and centres. It operates and manages the various organs through the following departments: Treasury, Communication, Education, Health, Development, Women’s Work, Men’s Work, Youth Work and Lay Training and Evangelism with an Internal Audit Department to ensure compliance to the Church’s measures put in place.

The Mission of PCC:

The mission of the PCC is to proclaim the Good News of God through Jesus Christ in word and action. The proclamation of this Good News includes preaching the word, teaching, healing and liberating the people of God from sin (Luke 4:18-19).

The Development Department, Tellco-Preswood and PRTC.

Development Department:

In line with the Church’s objective of making God’s message of salvation more concrete to God’s people and fighting poverty amongst the poorest of the poor, the PCC is involved in the management of several projects under its control and many have successfully brought positive changes in the lives of the underprivileged and poor in society. Headed by a Secretary, the Development Secretariat conceives, designs and supervises projects intended to liberate God’s people from poverty, illiteracy, hunger, sickness, suppression and violence. Some of these projects include the Women Empowerment and Education Programme which educates women on their rights and on income generating activities; Preshostel which provides affordable lodging to university students, Prescraft which promotes craftsmanship and trains underprivileged youth and adults in arts/crafts and ceramic products and markets the products of home producers; Prestech which trains youth in auto-mechanics, welding/spraying and repairs of bio-medical appliances; Presbyterian Rural Training Centre trains school drop outs and unemployed adults in farming, fisheries, poultry, cattle rearing and afforestation; the IT Centre trains youth and adults in computer maintenance, web designing, ICDL and office practice and Tellco Preswood which trains school drop outs in carpentry/joinery. Some of these projects have activities targeting environmental protection like Prescraft, PRTC Fonta and MIM Manyemen Afforestation Projects. The Department is also responsible for the Church’s land and landed property.

Tellco-Preswood

The Presbyterian Wood Work Training Centre is one of the vocational training centres of the PCC under the Development Department located in Ombe, in the South West Region of Cameroon. It is headed by a Manager who reports twice a year (June and December) to the Board of Directors. Working closely with the Manager are the Accountant, the Administrative/Marketing Officer and the Supervisor/Quality Controller. The PCC bought this company in January 1987 and on the 29^th of November 1993; the name was changed from Tellco Cameroon to Presbyterian Woodwork Training Centre mission to train underprivileged young boys and girls in wood work. Tellco-Preswood also supplies quality furniture to most of the Institutions and Departments of the PCC as well as to the public. The centre also serves as an on-the-job training centre for government trainees and some non-governmental training centres in the area.

PRTC Fonta

Presbyterian Rural Training Centre (PRTC) Fonta, another vocational training centre of the PCC is situated some 26 km north of Bamenda, the Regional head quarters of the North West Region. Since 1968, the PCC identified a need to check rural/urban migration and alleviate poverty in the rural areas (which are dependent on subsistence agriculture) in the North West Region. The hard working spirit of the rural people attracted the concern of the PCC, which took it as a task to bring them a step up from their “living a hand to mouth life” to exploiting available avenues that can improve their living standards and serve humanity in the domain of sustainable agriculture. The domains of PRTC’s intervention are in training, cattle and pig rearing, poultry, afforestation (including medicinal plants), fishery, and large scale maize farming. The target groups are youths and adults with focus on crop and animal production. PRTC Fonta therefore strives for improvement of livelihood through food security and training of illiterates, dropouts and professional farmers.

2.Aims:

The aims of the consultancy are:

1) To work with the Development Secretary of the PCC and the management and staff of Tellco- Preswood to review the business plan of Tellco-Preswood and produce a revised document. The review should address the following questions:

· Are the training courses offered by Tellco-Preswood the most suitable to create employment for local people? Are there other courses that would be more suitable?

· Could the business model be improved by making changes to the products, production process, marketing, pricing or sales strategies?

· Can the business be more profitable should new machines be acquired?

· Can recapitalization lead to eventual increase in turnover and profit?

2) To work with the Development Secretary of the PCC and the management and staff of PRTC to write a business plan for PRTC, addressing the following issues:

· Is there a need for training on farming to young people in the areas around Fonta? Is it the most effective way to tackle poverty?

· If there is a need for agricultural training, what training courses are needed and what formats would be suitable to develop skills and create employment?

· Which businesses could be developed on PRTC’s land? Full business plans with 3-5 year financial projections should be developed for each business.

· What is the best use of the businesses on PRTC’s land: should the profits contribute to funding the rest of the Church’s activities or should PRTC run as a training centre with students practicing on the centre’s businesses?

3.Methodology

The Consultant will be expected to apply a participatory methodology to business planning. Business planning research is expected to be thorough and the business plan should include the following sections:

• Background information on the project including legal status
• Vision and mission of the project
• Governance
• Management and reporting lines
• SWOT analysis
• Description of the intended beneficiaries
• Value proposition (social and financial)
• Organisational chart
• Baseline indicators
• Stakeholders analysis
• Each business should be described as follows:
  • The productive proces
  • Competitor analysis
  • Sales strategy and pricing
  • Marketing and distribution
  • Financial projections including initial investment required, cash flow, and profit and loss
  • Risk assessment
  • Action plan

4.Deliverables

Required outputs include:

• Revised business plan for Tellco-Preswood

• Business plan for PRTC Fonta

• Assessment of the need for agricultural training and, if applicable, the most effective ways to teach farming skills and create jobs in the area around Fonta/Manyemen.

5.Schedule

The work is expected to take place starting from November 2016.

6.Skills and Competencies of Consultant

All We Can and the PCC are looking for an experienced consultant with a strong understanding of business planning and needs analysis as well as understanding of the context.

Candidates should demonstrate relevant experience and skills, including:

• Experience of facilitating business planning processes
• Experience of facilitating strategic reviews
• Experience working in Cameroon is desirable
• Excellent communications skills and fluency in English

7.Criteria for Selection

• Clear, credible, well structured methodology;
• Ability to meet the criteria described in ‘Skills and Competencies,’ section above;
• Ability to manage the process, including logistics and management of other team members (if relevant);
• Value for money.

To apply please submit:

• An outline of the proposed methodology and tools;
• A daily schedule;
• A summary budget, clearly identifying all costs, including daily rates, expenses, and indicating VAT if appropriate.

to Jessy Mbock Nkongho Eben at pcc.developmentsecretary@yahoo.com by Monday 12 September 2016.