Recrutement d’un consultant individuel : conseiller en soutien à la planification des systèmes budgétaires, Côte d’Ivoire

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST CONSULTING SERVICES for

BUDGET PLANNING SYSTEMS SUPPORT

Programming and Budget Department (SNPB)

BP 1387 Abidjan 01, Cote d’Ivoire

E-mail : [email protected] copying [email protected]

1. The African Development Bank Group (the “Bank”) is a multilateral Bank engaged in reduction of poverty, improvement of living conditions and mobilization of resources for the continent’s economic and social development. With this objective in mind, the institution aims at assisting African countries – individually and collectively – in their efforts to achieve sustainable economic development and social progress. Combating poverty is at the heart of the continent’s efforts to attain sustainable economic growth ; 

2. Under the Senior Vice-Presidency (SNVP), the primary role of the Programming and Budget Department (SNPB) is to develop a strategic approach to planning and budgeting, and to coordinate the definition, planning, implementation and monitoring of Bank-wide programming and budgeting processes. Since 2008, SNPB has been implementing budget reforms, which include the building of systems and tools to improve the availability, accessibility, and reliability of robust information critical to strategy formulation, planning, budgeting monitoring and reporting. The tools and systems include the Strategic Resource Assessment Software (SRAS) which is an in-house web-based application used for budget planning (submissions, simulations, and reporting) ; 

3. The African Development Bank seeks expression of interest from suitably qualified individual consultants to perform the following tasks : 

• Contribute to the technical and functional revamping of the budget planning software SRAS ;
• Assist client departments in work program master data management and data loading, and propose ad hoc and standard analytical reports to improve data quality during budget preparation process ;
• Design tools to support a smooth monitoring of 2022-2024 budget submissions and baseline utilization in the context of One Bank approach and coefficients-based budgeting ;
• Support the development team in collecting and analyzing business requirements, assessing gaps with user interface (UI) design and propose improvements ;
• Design and develop training material update SRAS documentation (user manual, functional and technical documentation) and contribute in capacity building activities ;

• Provide a technical support during the development, testing and deployment phases of the new SRAS system: ensure SRAS releases are fully tested in Testing environment, check master data quality and system performance ;
• Serve as a technical resource expert in customizing SQL procedures and functions, views, forms, workflow, dashboard, and web resources ;
• Help in ad hoc budget analysis for work program planning and execution, continuous planning and budget reallocation.

4. The African Development is intending to acquire the services of an experienced Individual Consultant in providing the above-described services. The Bank invites Interested Consultants to express their interest by providing information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to undertake this assignment. Specifically, the Consultant must provide an up to date Curriculum Vitae and submit information indicating his/her qualifications to perform the services (brochures, past relevant experience, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, certifications, availability of appropriate skills, etc.), with proven expertise in budgeting and IT tools (Microsoft Visual Studio, SQL Server, HTML5) ; 

5. Eligibility criteria, establishment of the short-list and the selection procedure shall be in accordance with the African Development Bank’s Procedures for the Procurement of and Use of consulting Services Funded by the Administrative or Capital Budget of the Bank Group. Please note that the African Development Bank Group is under no obligation to shortlist any consultant who expresses interest ; 

6. A shortlist of three to six individual consultants will be established at the end the request of expressions of interest. The expressions of interest shall be evaluated based on the following criteria.

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. The duration of the assignment will be twelve (12) months commencing from 16th April 2021. The location will be Abidjan ; 

9. Expressions of interest must be received at the address below no later than Monday 29th March 2021 at 4:00 pm. Abidjan time and must be clearly marked: ‘’ BUDGET PLANNING SYSTEMS SUPPORT ‘’. Electronic submissions of Expressions of Interest are also permitted using the email addresses below. Interested individuals may obtain full terms of reference by requesting in writing to the same email addresses:

For the attention of :

Yao Etienne KOUADIO

Manager, SNPB.1

African Development Bank

Programming and Budget Department (SNPB),

Avenue Joseph Anoma,

01 BP 1387 Abidjan 01 – Côte d’Ivoire Tel: +225 20 26 31 29

E-mail: [email protected]   with a copy to: [email protected]

• The Bank would like to thank you in advance for your consideration of this expression of interest and we look forward to receiving your expression of interest.

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

ANNEX I

Terms of Reference (TOR)

RECRUITMENT OF AN INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT: BUDGET SYSTEMS PLANNING SUPPORT CONSULTANT

1. BACKGROUND :

The African Development Bank Group (hereinafter referred to as “The Bank”), is a multilateral development bank established in 1963 to contribute to the economic and social development of Africa.

Within the Bank, the Programming and Budget Department (SNPB) is responsible for coordinating the allocation of resources, management and execution of the budget and coordinating the monitoring of institutional performance.

Since 2008, SNPB has been embarking on budget reforms, whose priorities include: (i) engendering budget flexibility; (ii) enhancing performance and accountability; and (iii) alignment of resources to strategic priorities. These reforms are in the second phase of implementation with emphasis on UA budgeting.

To facilitate its programming and budgeting work, SNPB has developed the Strategic Resources Assessment Software (SRAS), to assist in the capture and consolidation of budget submissions, which includes consolidation of the 3-year rolling plans.

2. DESCRIPTION OF SRAS :

SRAS is a web application developed in Visual Studio .Net, Framework 4.0.0. This application uses SQL Server 2016 as database system.

The application consists of the following features:

• Planning process: whose function is to capture, collate and consolidate submissions under the following types of budgets: (i) Administrative, (ii), Trust fund and capital expenditure provisions (including the work program, human resources, workload, overheads and investment) ;

• Dashboard built on Microsoft PowerBI Access providing a set of report and graph on the budget and work programme submission ;

• Approval workflow: to manage workflow related to work program and cost items from the Manager to the VPs ;

• Integration point with other bank’s tools such as SAP, time recording system (called ATRS) and the Bank’s project processing and scheduling tool (BPPS) ;

• All other modules that help to manage the master data and parameters (i.e. Unit cost).

SRAS is currently the main Budget Planning tool for the Bank. However, the requirements of the users are many and continue to evolve from year to year, underscoring the importance of designing a system which is scalable and customizable in such a way that it can address emerging needs within shortest possible time frames. In this regard, the Bank employed a consulting firm, in May 2016, to revamp SRAS.

3. SCOPE OF SERVICES :

The required SRAS Revamping Support Consultant will provide advisory and support services to the Bank team on best approaches and modern technology. The emphasis will be on planning and assuring the quality of deliverables, including undertaking configuration, software development and debugging work when requested by the Bank team.

The Consultant shall carry out the following tasks :

1. Contribute to the technical and functional development and maintenance of the new budget planning software (SRAS) ;
2. ssist client departments during budget preparation process ;
3. Collect and analyze business requirements, assess gaps with user interface (UI) design and propose improvements ;
4. Produce standard reports and design a tool for a smooth monitoring of budget submissions for the budget document ;
5. Design, produce and update documentation (user manual, technical documentation, training material) related to the new system, and contribute in capacity building activities ;
6. Assist in deployment of SRAS releases in Test and Production environments ;
7. Help in ad hoc budget analysis for work program planning and execution, continuous planning and budget reallocation ;
8. Support to the post go live phase issues of the project

4. KEY DELIVERABLES :

The Consultant will submit a monthly progress reports to the Bank which shall highlight the following (as may be applicable at each stage of the assignment):

1. Reports and data analysis on work programme and budget ;
2. Coding, testing and system optimization when needed ;
3. Master data loading and harmonization ;
4. Continuous Review and update of training material (SRAS manual, technical document, Job aids) ;
5. User assistance on various needs relating to SRAS utilization ;
6. Exceptions reports relating to the following: i) Technical implementation for the solution, ii) Pilot Testing and Training, and iii) Deployment/Roll out ;
7. Verbal consultation and advices.

The payment of fees in the 1st five months shall be tied to monthly progress reports acceptable to the Bank.

The Consultant shall produce a close out report, which shall be tied to the last payment.

5. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE :

The SRAS Support Consultant shall have at least a Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent IT qualifications with a minimum of 7 years work experience. Holders of Masters Degrees or similar professional level IT qualifications shall have a minimum of 5 years experience.

The expert shall have technical and functional implementation experience in different IT Platforms out of which excellent knowledge in Microsoft Visual Studio programming or Visual Basic 6 or higher, Excel and SQL Server , Internet Explorer 10 / Edge, Data driven Applications, SAP, etc., business analysis and other IT domains.

6. LANGUAGES OF WORK :

The proposed Consultants should have the ability to work either in French or English (excellent written and oral communication).

7. DURATION AND LEVEL OF EFFORT :

It is estimated that selected individual consultant shall expend 12 person months over a period of twelve (12) months, commencing on 16^th April 2021.

8. LOCATION :

The work will be carried out at the Bank’s headquarter at Abidjan, Ivory Coast or remotely if the Bank is Working from Home.

9. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BANK :

The Bank will provide :

1. shared office space or remote access to virtual working space ;
2. documents on the existing SRAS application: users’ requirements, user manual and training material ;
3. document on budget reforms ;
4. a copy of scope of the project

10. REMUNERATION FOR THE CONSULTING SERVICES

The Bank would prefer making a monthly lump sum payment, in accordance with its short-term consultant fee scales, which would cover the following elements :

• Professional fees ;
• Daily subsistence allowance ;
• A round-trip air ticket between the normal duty station and Abidjan covering the period of service.