Recrutement pour consultant individuel responsable de portefeuille, Côte d’Ivoire

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANTS AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Africa Climate Change Fund

Recruitment for Individual Consultant – Portfolio Officer

The African Development Bank (AfDB) wishes to recruit a consultant under the Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) to support the growing portfolio and project management and administration activities within the ACCF secretariat : Under the leadership and guidance of the Climate Finance and Environment (PECG.1) manager and the Africa Climate Change Fund coordinator, the Consultant’s core duties will include the following activities but not limited to (further details are outlined in the Terms of Reference) :

• Provide support on ACCF Portfolio, maintain a pipeline/portfolio management platform ;
• Support all activities related to project management such as but not limited to: Support task managers and project executing entities in advancing ACCF projects through the project cycle, particularly in areas of procurement, developing and executing work plans, disbursement, and reporting in collaboration with relevant Bank departments ;
• Support the development of annual work plans and budgets, and of ACCF’s annual report and periodic updates as required by the ACCF Coordinator and other activities related to fund management support ;
• Support the development of new ACCF second window currently being discussed and developed with ACCF Donors and ACCF secretariat ;
• Provide support on the day-to-day tasks of the ACCF Coordination Unit as described in the terms of reference ;
• Undertake other ad hoc activities as deemed necessary by the Division Manager and the ACCF Coordinator.

Interested Individual Consultants shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to undertake the Assignment (relevant documents, information on similar services undertaken in the past, relevant experience, etc.).

The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the Bank’s procedure for the acquisition of consulting services funded by the administrative budget of the Bank. 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.

The position maybe based remotely and/or in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The duration of services is 12 months [to be renewed based on performance. The expected starting date is 1^st October 2020. Interested Individual Consultants may obtain further information at the address below during the Bank’s working hours from 08:00 to 17:00, Abidjan local time.

Expressions of interest must be received by email at the address below no later than 10^th September 2020at 4 p.m. Abidjan local time and specifically mention “Portfolio Officer”.

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.

TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR)

Consultant – Portfolio Officer, Africa Climate Change Fund

Introduction :

The Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) was established in 2014 as a bilateral thematic trust fund. This was in support of African countries’ aspirations to build climate resilient and low-carbon economies in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, along with considerable financing needs to meet these objectives. Over the years, other donors showed interest and the ACCF was scaled-up to a multi-donor trust fund in early 2017.

The ACCF’s vision is to play a significant role in supporting African countries and to make an important contribution to achieving the ambitious objective that the Bank has set to triple its climate financing to reach 40% of new approvals by 2020. It provides small grants to African governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and regional institutions to support African countries to transition towards climate resilient, low- carbon development and to scale-up access to climate finance.

The ACCF has fifteen approved projects in its current portfolio, eight of which are nearing completion and seven of which are recently approved and have not yet commenced execution. Three pipeline proposals are undergoing a technical and fiduciary appraisal, they will be submitted to the ACCF Technical Committee or Oversight Committee for approval. Following a new contribution from Global Affairs of Canada and from the Government of Quebec, ACCF will start to fund projects focused on Gender and Climate resilience and streamlining Nationally Determined Contributions into National Development Plans.

Approved projects will be executed with the support of Bank task managers and the ACCF Secretariat. In the case of projects for which there is no Bank task manager, the ACCF secretariat will supervise the execution of the project.

Objectives :

The African Development Bank (AfDB) wishes to recruit a consultant under the Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) to support the growing portfolio and project management and administration activities within the ACCF secretariat.

Scope of Work :

Under the supervision of the ACCF Coordinator, and general guidance of the Manager, Climate Finance (PECG1), the Consultant will assist in the following areas:

Portfolio management : 

• Support the call for proposals process, including maintaining up to date the database to manage and track proposals and communications through the appraisal process ;
• Support Secretariat team in project review and screening of full proposals ;
• Maintain a pipeline/portfolio management platform that tracks projects across all ACCF components and maintain up-to-date records of the state of advancement of ACCF projects ;
• Monitor the performance of the ACCF portfolio against the ACCF (technical and administrative) results management framework, using consolidated data from project level reporting as well as Fund-level performance ;
• Keep the ACCF Coordinator informed of any delays, challenges, or risks to the smooth advancement of the ACCF portfolio ;
• Support overall portfolio management, particularly in areas of procurement, legal processing and disbursement, to ensure timely effectiveness of grant agreements and disbursement in line with targets set across the portfolio ;
• Ensure reconciliation of SAP with the disbursement submission by project implementing Unit. Maintain up-to-date guidelines, templates and user manuals for internal and external audiences Engage with relevant Bank departments and other trust funds to share experiences and identify best practices in streamlining project cycle processes and procedures and opportunities for collaboration ;
• Support the secretariat during meetings with project proponents and other stakeholders, including keeping minutes of meetings

Project Management :

Support task managers and project executing entities in advancing ACCF projects through the project cycle, particularly in areas of procurement, developing and executing work plans, legal processing, disbursement, and reporting in collaboration with relevant Bank departments.

Liaise with internal (e.g. other departments and trust funds) and external stakeholders (e.g. other agencies supporting related projects) to ensure effective coordination of ACCF projects with other ongoing related activities in the relevant countries and regions and to explore opportunities for collaboration.

Maintain updated files and documents for all projects.

Fund management support :

• Support the development of annual work plans and budgets, and of ACCF’s annual report and periodic updates as required by the ACCF Coordinator ;
• Manage the ACCF email account, including responding to unsolicited requests for funding and organising correspondence ;
• Maintain an updated database of contacts and keep ACCF files and documents up to date using the platform Collaboration or other appropriate platform ;
• Provide logistical support for the organisation of events, workshops and meetings and take minutes at various events ;
• Engage with other Bank-hosted funds to share experiences and learn from them Carry-out research and prepare briefs as required by ACCF Coordinator ;
• Support the development of ACCF communications materials, including brochures, press releases and graphics.

Other :

Other tasks related to the advancement of the objectives of the ACCF, as requested by the ACCF coordinator.

Qualifications and Experience :

The qualifications required for this assignment are the following :

• Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, finance, international relations, political science, climate change or related field ;
• 5 years of experience in climate change and international sustainable development-related field ;
• Sound understanding of climate change issues, including international climate change negotiations and climate finance ;
• Experience of project or portfolio management and/or of trust fund operations at the Bank would be a strong advantage ;
• Enthusiasm and ability to learn new concepts quickly and to take initiative. Good organisational skills and attention to detail ;
• Good communication and team skills, professional judgment, diplomacy, presentation and maturity ;
• Proficiency in MS Office applications particularly excel and PowerPoint; experience in using web platforms for data management would be an advantage ;
• Professional proficiency and demonstrated writing ability in English and French is required. Working knowledge of Arabic or Portuguese would be an advantage.

Duration of Assignment :

The assignment will commence at completion of the selection process and upon contract signing. The contract with the selected Consultant will last for a period of 12 months, with the possibility of further renewal, based on satisfactory performance and relevant rules. The duty station may be remotely based or at the AfDB Headquarters in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. A precise work program will be agreed upon with the ACCF Secretariat on commencement of the assignment.

Deliverables and reporting :

The consultant will report to the ACCF Coordinator. Specific outputs to be produced during the course of the assignment include :

• An Inception Report four weeks after assumption of duty, outlining the agreed upon Work Program and operational recommendations and brief monthly reports ;
• Support the development of outreach and communications materials including Annual Report, Annual Work Programme, ACCF brochure, ACCF press releases, and others ;
• Support the organisation of occasional outreach events such as workshops and conferences Take minutes of meetings and keep ACCF files and records up to date ;
• Monitor the ACCF website and respond to unsolicited requests Any other report/assignment required by the ACCF Secretariat ;
• A Completion Report at the end of the assignment outlining all deliverables achieved and further work necessary.

At the conclusion of the assignment, the Consultant’s outputs will be evaluated based on the following criteria :

1. Professional competence ;
2. Analytical, reasoning, organizational and communication skills ;
3. Reliability and organisation ;
4. Output ;
5. Quality of work produced.

Timeline and remuneration :

The consultancy is expected to start in October 2020 and will cover a period of up to 12 months with the possibility of renewal. The consultancy will be subject to a three-month probation period. Remuneration will be competitive and based on the qualifications and experience of the selected consultant, in line with the Bank’s guidelines on consultant renumeration.