Demande d’expression d’intérêt pour un consultant individuel en politique et stratégie à long terme, Côte d’Ivoire

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR AN INDIVIDUAL POLICY AND STRATEGY LONG-TERM CONSULTANT

African Development Bank

Strategy and Operational Policies Department (SNSP)

Rue Joseph Anoma,

01 BP 1387 Abidjan 01

Cote d’Ivoire

Brief description of the Assignment: The main responsibility of the Consultant will be to support the activities of a team in charge of revising the Bank Group Operational Manual (OM) as well as to provide support to country classification and creditworthiness assessments. In addition to that, he/she will also provide analytical inputs to the design, review, revision, and consolidation of strategies and policies at the country/region, sector, and institutional levels. He/she will also provide support to the team in planning, organizing and coordinating the activities of the Department. The Consultant’s assignment may be modified for other related tasks so long as they are consistent with his/her qualification and experience.

Department issuing the request : Strategy and Operational Policy Department

Place of assignment : Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Duration of the assignment : 12 months

Tentative Date of commencement : September 25, 2020

Deadline for applications : September 15, 2020

Terms of reference for the assignment : See below

Applications to be submitted by email only : [email protected]; [email protected]; to : [email protected]   interested  consultants  are invited to submit a CV and a Cover Letter.

Any questions and requests for clarifications may be sent to : [email protected]; [email protected]; to : [email protected]

Terms of Reference :

1. Background :

1.1. The Bank :  Established in 1964, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. With 80 Member countries, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries), the Bank’s development agenda is to deliver financial and technical support to transformative projects in Africa that will support the Bank’s twin objectives of inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In order to sharpen the objectives of the Bank Group’s Strategy 2013-2022, and ensure greater developmental impact, five major operational areas (i.e High 5s) have been identified. The High 5s include “Light Up and Power Africa”, “Feed Africa”, “Industrialize Africa”, “Integrate Africa”, and “Improving the quality of life for the people of Africa”.

1.2. The department : The Strategy and Operational Policies Department (SNSP) sits within the Senior Vice-Presidency complex of the Bank and is responsible for developing the corporate vision and the strategic perspectives for the Bank through formulating, revising and providing advice on operational policies and procedures. SNSP works across the institution, helping to ensure strategic and policy focus in decision-making, and improving alignment of resources with strategic priorities. SNSP is also mandated to contribute to the development of new ideas and concepts for corporate initiatives and also to advise the Bank on innovation and institutional efficiency-related matters. As part of its corporate assignments, SNSP provides regular inputs to the Bank review processes through the Senior Management Coordination Committee (SMCC) and the Bank’s Operations Committee (OpsCom). Finally, the department is in charge of maintain and updating the Bank Group classification of its Regional Member Countries based on their eligibility to its concessional and non-concessional windows, taking full account of the countries creditworthiness and risk situation.

As part of its 2019-2021 Work Program, SNSP has committed to the completion of a number of deliverables including but not limited to: (i) the revision of the Bank Group operations manual (OM), (ii) review of sector and thematic strategies, policies and guidelines; (iii) outreach activities and trainings; and (iv) operational studies and research papers.

To this effect, SNSP is seeking the services of a long-term consultant to support the activities of the team finalizing the revision of the OM and also to provide analytical inputs to the design, update, and consolidation of strategies and policies at country/region, sector, and institution levels. He/She will also provide support to the team working on the Bank Group classification of its Regional Member Countries and their creditworthiness assessments. The Consultant is expected to work closely with staff in SNSP and other Bank departments to deliver high-quality Bank operational documents.

2. Scope of the assignment :

Under the general supervision of the Director of SNSP, the main responsibility of the Strategy and Policy Consultant is to provide analytical inputs to the design, update, and consolidation of strategies and policies at country/region, sector, and institution levels. The Consultant will also support SNSP in planning, organizing and coordinating the activities of the Department.

He/she will :

• Provide support in the formulation of policies and strategies, ensure their alignment with the strategic planning orientations, the Bank’s Strategy 2013-2022 and the High 5 priority areas, in particular support the formulation of the new Multi-tranche financing facility ;
• Provide technical and analytical support to the Director and Task Managers on the review of policies, including the Additional financing Policy, the Non Concessional Debt accumulation policy and the Results Based financing policy  ;
• Participate in the design and testing of the online platform (the operations portal) that will host the revised Bank Group operations manual ;
• Carry out a clean-up exercise of the list of directional documents provided in the volume 1 of the Bank’s Group operational manual ;
• Provide technical          support          in          the          preparation          of          a          study          on  security expenditure and its resulting impact on debt accumulation in the G5 Sahel Countries ;
• Contribute to the automation initiative of the Bank’s revised project classification system (PCS) by developing a training manual that will be added to the SAP system and will serve as a guide for the system’s user ;
• Provide support in the preparation of the special risk assessment notes and updates on the graduation projection and calendar for regional member countries (RMCs) ;
• Support the organizing of technical and/or information dissemination meetings through the preparation of PowerPoint presentations and other statistical or informational materials ;
• Support analytical reviews and Economic and Sector Works undertaken by the department as well as operational and non-operational complexes, where required purpose of providing strategy/policy-based upstream support is needed ;
• Provide inputs into documents for review by OpsCom, CRC, SMCC, etc. ;
• Represent SNSP department as requested at selected key strategy meetings and on important missions.

3. Qualifications and experience :

SNSP is looking for a proactive candidate who is committed and driven to deliver high-quality outputs. The key selection criteria for the position include the following :

• Master’s degree in International Development, Finance, or related development fields and a broad knowledge in development issues in Africa ;
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant experience; combination of proven knowledge of policy issues around economic development and operational experience, with solid analytical skills; good understanding of the main economic development concepts and the specificities of Regional Members Countries (RMCs); previous experience working in an International Organization or a Multilateral Development Bank would be an asset ;
• Specific experience working on the Bank Group Policy on Results-Based Financing and the Bank Group policy on additional financing, including the development of guidance and training materials would be a good asset ;
• Specific experience and knowledge on the Bank Group project classification system (PCS) would be a good asset ;
• Proven knowledge of country risk assessments and graduation projections for the Bank’s regional member countries (RMCs) ;
• Strong ability to identify, analyze and synthesize conclusions into recommendations on strategy and policy-related documents, for country regional, operational and sector departments ;
• Demonstrated strong analytical skills, dynamism, results-orientation and problem-solving capability ;
• Superior client relationship management skills and capacity to deliver high-quality work within tight deadlines ;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English or French, with a good working knowledge of the other language ;
• Proven ability to collaborate within teams and across departments, applying a practical approach to problem solving ;
• Competence in the use of standard MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint), and good knowledge of operational management systems ;
• Strong knowledge and background in the use of statistical and econometric methods and packages.

4. Duration and Location of the Assignment :

The consultant is expected to start on September 25, 2020, with a contract duration of 12 calendar months, with possible extension. The consultant shall report to the task manager and the Director, SNSP. Day-to-day management of the consultancy shall be assured by the task manager. The consultancy will be based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and will require full-time presence in the Bank’s offices. Field missions might occasionally be required.

5. Remuneration :

Remuneration will be commensurate with experience, in line with the Bank’s compensation guidelines. The consultancy fees will be paid on a monthly lump sum base. In addition, for candidates who need to travel to take up this assignment, a round trip economy class air-tickets with the shortest route will be provided. The candidate will be responsible for obtaining personal health insurance at his or her own cost. The coverage should include all medical expenses, including those resulting from illness or injury incurred during the duration of the assignment.

6. Eligibility Criteria :

The position is open to nationals of the Member Countries of the AfDB. Interested applicants are requested to send an updated Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a Cover Letter. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and may be asked to participate in a skills assessment exercise.

7. Application and Evaluation Process :

Interested candidates are required to express their interest by submitting their CVs and Cover Letter detailing their qualifications and experiences to the email addresses provided on the Cover Page by September 15, 2020 at 17:00 GMT. The prospective consultants’ expression of interest will be evaluated based on the following criteria and weights :

Only consultants who will score more than 70% will be short-listed and invited to submit a financial proposal.