CAWEE Call for Proposals: Entrepreneurial Mindset Training

Background

The Center for Accelerated Women’s Economic Empowerment (CAWEE), established in 2004, supports women-owned and women-managed enterprises in Ethiopia through entrepreneurship development, business development services, market linkages, access-to-finance facilitation, and trade promotion. CAWEE works to strengthen the competitiveness and growth of Ethiopian women entrepreneurs, including businesses participating in domestic and export markets.

About the Mabqat Program

Mabqat (ማብቃት), meaning empowerment, is a five-year program implemented from June 2024 to May 2029. The program is led by PETCO Ethiopia in partnership with CAWEE, Ethiopian Enterprise Development (EED), and with support from the Mastercard Foundation. It aims to expand access to dignified and meaningful work for young women and men by strengthening manufacturing-focused MSMEs and the wider employment ecosystem.

The program’s stated targets include:

Engaging 240,000 young people in work, with 80% young women.

Supporting 6,355 MSMEs, with 40% expected to access finance.

The program operates across Sidama, Central Ethiopia, Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, and South Ethiopia regional states, Addis Ababa, and Dire Dawa City Administration.

Purpose of the Call

CAWEE invites qualified training institutions, consulting firms, and individual consultants with demonstrated expertise in entrepreneurship and behavioral-change training to submit proposals for the design and delivery of an Entrepreneurial Mindset Training package for 540 MSME owners, managers, and staff under the Mabqat Program. The assignment will primarily serve businesses in the textile and garment and leather sectors, while supporting the broader program objective of improving MSME productivity, competitiveness, and job creation.

Objectives of the Assignment

General objective

To strengthen the entrepreneurial mindset, resilience, and growth orientation of MSME owners, managers and staff.

Specific objectives

• Develop structured training content covering goal-setting, opportunity recognition, risk-taking, innovation, and growth mindset.
• Build the capacity of CAWEE and relevant sector-lead staff through a Training of Trainers (ToT).
• Deliver practical, cohort-based training to 540 participants across the designated coordination centers.
• Strengthen participants’ leadership, decision-making, problem-solving, and business management capabilities.
• Use experiential and gamified learning, including business simulations and practical exercises.
• Assess learning and changes in participants’ entrepreneurial knowledge, attitudes, and intentions through pre- and post-training assessments.

Scope of Work

The selected service provider will be responsible for the following tasks:

Curriculum and material development

Develop a structured, cohort-based curriculum appropriate for MSME owners, managers, and staff.

Prepare facilitator guides, participant manuals, presentation materials, case studies, templates, and practical toolkits.

Design activities that reflect the realities of women- and youth-led businesses in the manufacturing sector.

Core training topics

• Understanding the entrepreneurial mindset and growth-oriented thinking.
• Idea generation, innovation, and opportunity recognition.
• Goal-setting, business vision, and growth planning.
• Risk assessment, strategic decision-making, and problem-solving.
• Leadership, communication, and team management.
• Resilience, motivation, adaptability, and learning from failure.
• Business ethics, responsible business practices, and sustainability.
• Human resource management and building productive teams.
• Changing waste in to resources

Training delivery and methodology

• Facilitate interactive workshops, group work, role-play, reflection, and peer-learning sessions.
• Integrate experiential and gamified learning methods, including business simulation exercises.
• Use relevant Ethiopian MSME examples and practical scenarios, with attention to women- and youth-led businesses.
• Organize alumni or entrepreneur success-story panels, where feasible, to demonstrate practical mindset shifts and business growth journeys.

Assessment and certification

• Develop and administer pre- and post-training assessments.
• Summarize results and identify changes in participants’ knowledge, confidence, and growth-oriented attitudes.
• Issue certificates of participation to participants who meet the agreed completion requirements.

Target Participants and Locations

The assignment will target 540 MSME owners, managers, and staff under the Mabqat Program, with particular attention to women- and youth-led enterprises. The training will be delivered through the following coordination centers:

• Addis Ababa
• Hawassa
• Bahir Dar
• Dire Dawa
• Mekelle
• Jimma

The service provider must propose a realistic cohort and delivery plan covering all 540 participants and all six locations. The final participant allocation by location and the schedule will be confirmed with CAWEE.

Deliverables

• Inception note and detailed work plan, including cohort schedule and delivery approach.
• Entrepreneurial Mindset Training curriculum and complete facilitation materials.
• Training delivery reports for all cohorts and locations, including participant attendance.
• Pre- and post-training assessment tools, consolidated results, and analysis of learning outcomes.
• Evidence of certificates issued to eligible participants.
• Final end-of-assignment report documenting activities completed, results, challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations.

Required Qualifications and Experience

Applicants must demonstrate the following:

• Proven expertise in entrepreneurship development, entrepreneurial mindset training, and behavioral-change approaches.
• Experience designing and delivering experiential, participatory, and/or gamified adult-learning programs.
• Practical experience in business coaching, mentoring, facilitation, or MSME capacity building.
• A track record of delivering similar assignments, preferably for MSMEs, manufacturing businesses, women entrepreneurs, and/or youth-led enterprises.
• Adequate human resources and the ability to deliver training across all six locations.
• CVs and profiles of all key personnel proposed for the assignment.

Proposal Submission Requirements

• Interested applicants must submit the following:
• Technical proposal describing the understanding of the assignment, methodology, training approach, quality assurance, and expected results.
• Curriculum outline and description of proposed training tools, templates, simulations, assessment methods, and learning materials.
• Institutional profile or consultant profile, including relevant qualifications and experience.
• CVs of key personnel and a clear description of their roles.
• Financial proposal with a detailed budget breakdown, including cost per participant, training day, and location.
• Evidence of similar assignments, such as sample reports, client testimonials, completion certificates, or references.