Recrutement d’un consultant pour l’évaluation indépendante de la stratégie informatique de la banque (2018 – 2021), Côte d’Ivoire

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

“Independent Evaluation of the Bank’s IT Strategy (2018 – 2021)”

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Avenue Joseph Anoma, 01 B.P. 1387, Abidjan, CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Corporate IT Services Department (CHIS)

E-mail : [email protected]

Telephone : (+225) 20 26 22 61/ (+225) 20 26 25 83

1. The African Development Bank hereby invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in the following Assignment: Independent Evaluation of the Bank’s IT Strategy (2018 – 2021) ; 

2. The objective of the consultancy is to carry out an independent evaluation of the Bank’s IT Strategy (2018 – 2021).

The main purpose of the evaluation is to assess the overall performance of the Bank’s IT Strategy projects to date, to identify business values achieved, highlighting successes and challenges encountered, and make recommendations for the preparation of the successor strategy as necessary.

The main objectives are primarily to evaluate the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the Bank’s IT Strategy 2018-2021 in achieving its objectives; and to draw lessons for the preparation of the Bank’s IT Strategy 2022-2024.

The detailed terms of reference of the assignment are attached as Annex 1.

3. Required skills and qualifications : 

The consultant should have at least a Master’s degree in a relevant development discipline (such as public administration, international development, economics and/or finance), with a minimum of 15 years of relevant professional experience on similar assignments ; 

In addition, the consultant should have extensive experience/track record in : 

• International Financial Institutions’ and other international agencies’ development assistance operations ;
• Supporting development agencies, international finance institutions, or multi-lateral development banks in defining and evaluating development policies, strategies and programs ;
• Experience having carried out evaluation/reviews for large, complex organizations like the African Development Bank ;
• Working with major international financial institutions in driving efficiency and effectiveness improvement across functions and processes ;
• Knowledge of Africa’s development challenges and business environment ;
• A committed project leadership team with personal experience working in Africa with both public and private sector leaders ;
• Knowledge of and working experience with Multilateral Development Banks in Africa or with the AfDB would be an added advantage ;
• Strong statistical skills as well as skills in qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis ;
• Strong IT skills and experienced in the use of digital tools ;
• Experience managing experts from various backgrounds ;
• Effective communication skills – in French and/or English – both orally and in writing ;
• Proficiency in personal computer and Microsoft products including Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, use of one standard data analysis software or tool.

4. The Corporate Information Technology Services Department (CHIS) invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in providing the above-described services. Interested Consultants shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to undertake this Assignment (documents, reference to similar services, experience in similar assignments, etc.) ;

5. The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short list and the selection procedures shall be in conformity with the Bank’s procedures for the acquisition of consulting services funded by the administrative or capital expenditure. Please, note that interest expressed by a Consultant does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include him/her in the shortlist ;

6. The duration of services is four (04) months and the estimated starting date is 15 January 2021 ;

7. Interested Individual Consultants may obtain further information at the address below during the Bank’s working hours: from 08:00 to 17:00 hours, Abidjan Local Time ;

8. Expressions of interest must be received by email at the address below no later than Wednesday, 30 December 2020 at 17:00 hours, Abidjan local time and specifically mentioning “Independent Evaluation of the Bank’s IT Strategy (2018 – 2021)”. 

For the attention of: IT Recruitment Team African Development Bank Corporate IT Services Department (CIMM) Avenue Joseph Anoma, 01 B.P. 1387, Abidjan, CÔTE d’IVOIRE 

Tel : (+225) 20 26 22 61

Email : [email protected]

9. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SHORT LIST

A shortlist of three to six individual consultants will be established at the end the request of expressions of interest. The consultants on the shortlist will be judged on the following criteria on the basis of their updated resume.

ANNEX 1 – Terms of Reference (TOR) for Consulting Services

INDEPENDENT EVALUATION OF THE BANK’S IT STRATEGY 2018-2021

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1. The African Development Bank (AfDB) is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. The Bank delivers financial and technical support to Regional Member Countries (RMCs) through transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty and bring inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Five priorities (High 5s) have been identified under the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy (2013 – 2022). These are: Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Power Africa, Integrate Africa and improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.

1.2. The Vice-Presidency, Human Resources and Corporate Services (CHVP) ensures the delivery of efficient, people-centered, client-oriented, corporate services to ensure overall institutional effectiveness in all aspects of the Bank’s corporate services. The complex leads efforts to ensure the competitiveness of the Bank as the employer of choice and is responsible for providing leadership in the formulation and implementation of Bank’s strategies on people, Information Technology (IT), general services and institutional procurements, language services, business continuity and, health and safety strategies.

1.3. The Corporate IT Services (CHIS) department mission at the Bank is to align the IT delivery strategy along with the Bank’s business strategy, to increase the organizational effectiveness through efficient use of the Information Systems (IS). Under the leadership of the Bank’s Information System’s Director, CHIS department is mandated by the Bank to deliver the best possible IT services for Bank staff and help achieve the results that will get the Bank closer to accomplishing its development goals.

1.4. The 2018-2021 IT Strategy of the Bank was approved in July 2017. The aim of the IT Strategy was to align and support the implementation of the Bank’s new Development Business Delivery Model (DBDM), the decentralization process, foster the achievement of the High 5s and increasing the operating performance of the Bank.

1.5. The current IT is composed of 129 initiatives which are mapped into seven Transformative Themes to deliver what the multinational organizations of the future need in the digital age.

These transformative themes are :

1. Digital Collaboration: The objective of this theme is to allow staff to collaborate and share documents from all the Bank offices at the HQ, Regions and Country Offices to foster the decentralization process ;
2. Project and Client management: The objective of this theme is to automate and digitalize projects and loans management processes for the lending operations of the Bank and improve knowledge and management of the Bank Clients :
3. Online Visibility: The objective of this theme is to increase the Bank’s visibility and transparency through online tools and platforms. It also aims at sharing knowledge and information through the Internet/intranet portals, social media and news channels ;
4. Financial Management: The objective of this theme is to secure and accelerate the upgrade of financial systems to ensure efficiency in financial management, transparency, and conformity to international standards, accuracy of data and mitigation of financial risks ;
5. Corporate Excellence: The objective of this theme is to improve corporate services operational efficiency ;
6. Data Management and Reporting Tools: The objective of this theme is to improve decision-making, track Bank operations performance and report from a “Single source of truth” ;
7. IT Security and Technological Foundation: The objective of this theme is to improve Cybersecurity, harmonize IT infrastructure at HQ, Regional and Country offices and improve the quality of IT services.

1.6.        The highest priority programs in the IT Strategy roadmap were the following :

1. Transformation of the SAP environment to latest SAP S/4 Hana software and gradual adoption of new SAP functions with mobile capabilities and a new user experience ;
2. Automation of business processes, to allow mobility and digitalization to modernize the Bank;
3. Simplify data management, dashboards and reporting tools ;
4. Support decentralization by providing IT resources and services to HQ, Regional and Country offices to allow staff to access IT services and work as one Bank.

2. OBJECTIVE OF THE INDEPENDENT EVALUATION :

2.1.        The main purpose of the evaluation is to assess the overall performance of the Bank’s IT strategy projects to date, to identify business values achieved, highlighting successes and challenges encountered, and make recommendations for the preparation of the successor strategy as necessary.

2.2. The main objectives are primarily to evaluate the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the Bank’s IT Strategy 2018-2021 in achieving its objectives; and to draw lessons for the preparation of the Bank’s IT Strategy 2022-2024.

2.3.        The specific objectives of the evaluation are to :

• Assess the a) relevance of the objectives and expected results of the Bank’s IT Strategy, b) effectiveness of the interventions of the IT Strategy in terms of results /business values achieved or expected to be achieved, c) efficiency with which the results of IT Strategy were delivered, and d) sustainability of the results of the IT Strategy 2018-2021 ;

• Assess and present the progress achieved by the Bank in the implementation of the Bank’s IT Strategy 2018-2021 with respect to the core priority areas, the factors that affected the achievement of results and document the challenges and opportunities.. ;

• Establish, if any, the existence of a strategic drift from objectives and adjustment for better progress towards results ;
• Present the lessons learnt and make recommendations for the preparation of the Bank’s IT Strategy 2022-2024.

2.4.        Main Evaluation Questions :

To assess the Bank’s IT Strategy 2018-2021, the evaluation will address the following main questions :

• What is the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the Bank’s IT Strategy 2018-2021 in terms of objectives and expected results / business values?

• To what extent has the Bank’s IT Strategy 2018-2021 focused on results / business values?

• What were the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the outputs/outcomes? This question is mainly relevant to draw appropriate lessons ;

• To what extent are the business values of the Bank’s IT Strategy 2018-2021 continue or are likely to continue?

• What is the effectiveness of the Governance Structure and the Operating Model of the IT department?

3. METHODOLOGY AND SCOPE OF WORK

3.1         The consultant will be expected to :

• Review selected key documentation related to the Bank’s IT department activities and other key strategic orientation, including the IT Strategy 2018 -2021, Business Cases and project documents, Program and Budget Documents, etc… and other relevant documentation ;
• Seek the views of a range of stakeholders who have been engaged in the implementation of the Bank’s IT Strategy 2018-2021. This should include Senior management, key Bank departments heads, including Operational departments, Regional Directorate and Country offices. A combination of telephonic/video-conferencing interviews/electronic surveys are to be used for this purpose. Data collection should be both qualitative and quantitative :
• Undertake In-depth Case study of a representative sample of IT projects implemented/being implemented as part of the Bank’s IT Strategy 2018-2021. The desk study will be complemented with surveys/interviews as needed ;
• Carry out a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the Bank’s IT Strategy 2018-2021 and assess the extent to which the design and the implementation of IT projects has delivered business values / results to the concerned departments and the Bank as a whole ;
• Make recommendations for a prospective SWOT analysis for a Bank’s IT Strategy for the period 2021-2025.

4. DELIVERABLES : 

• Inception Report: The consultant shall submit an inception report, which includes a logical framework to assess the Bank’s IT Strategy 2018-2021, the evaluation questions, indicators and data sources and collected methods; approach to sampling stakeholders and IT projects, work plan and schedule, and annotated outline of the Independent Evaluation. The methodology should be clearly outlined in the Inception Report. The Inception Report should be assessed as satisfactory by the IT department and CHVP Management before the consultant proceed to the preparation of the draft final report.

1. Draft Report: The consultant shall submit draft of the Independent Evaluation report in accordance with these detailed Terms of Reference and discuss with Management.

• Final Report: The consultant shall submit a final Independent Evaluation report, which takes into account the comments provided by the Bank and by key stakeholders. The final report should be assessed as satisfactory by CHVP management

1. All data collection tools, and the data collected are to be included as annexes to the final Independent Evaluation report and provided in electronic form. The link between evaluation questions, data collection, findings, analysis and conclusions must be clearly made and set out in a transparent manner in the presentation of the mid-term evaluation findings.

5. TIME SCHEDULE

5.1.        The time frame for this assignment is 4 calendar months with key timelines as shown below.

6. REPORTING :

6.1. The consultant shall report to the Director of Corporate IT Services (CHIS) department. Day-to-day management of the consultancy shall be assured by a person designated by the Director of CHIS department.

7. CONSULTANT PROFILE :

7.1. The consultant should have at least a Master’s degree in a relevant development discipline (such as public administration, international development, economics and/or finance), with a minimum of 15 years of relevant professional experience on similar assignments;

7.2.        In addition, the consultant should have extensive experience/track record in :

• International Financial Institutions’ and other international agencies’ development assistance operations ;

• Supporting development agencies, international finance institutions, or multi-lateral development banks in defining and evaluating development policies, strategies and programs ;

• Experience having carried out evaluation/reviews for large, complex organizations like the African Development Bank ;

• Working with major international financial institutions in driving efficiency and effectiveness improvement across functions and processes ;

• Knowledge of Africa’s development challenges and business environment ;

• A committed project leadership team with personal experience working in Africa with both public and private sector leaders ;

• Knowledge of and working experience with Multilateral Development Banks in Africa or with the AfDB would be an added advantage ;

• Strong statistical skills as well as skills in qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis ;

• Strong IT skills and experienced in the use of digital tools ;

• Experience managing experts from various backgrounds ;

• Effective communication skills – in French and/or English – both orally and in writing ;

• Proficiency in personal computer and Microsoft products including Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, use of one standard data analysis software or tool.