REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK GROUP

EAST AFRICA REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND BUSINESS

DELIVERY OFFICE

Request for Expressions of Interest from Individual Local Consultant to provide portfolio management support in the Agriculture Sector in Ethiopia.

 

  1. The Eastern Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office (RDGE), wishes to recruit the services of a medium-term consultant to support portfolio management and business development of operations in the Agriculture Sector in Ethiopia. The consultant will be based in Bank’s Ethiopia Country Office, Addis Ababa. Detailed Terms of Reference for the Assignment is included in the Annex ;
  1. The agriculture operations in Ethiopia are complex in nature involving multiple layers of project coordination and implementation levels (federal, regional, zonal, and woreda). Currently there are 4 sizeable and complex agriculture operations that require close and intensive follow-up, monitoring, and technical support from the ground. However, there is no Task Manager (TM) on ground to locally monitor these projects ;
  1. The RDGE invites Individual Local Consultants to indicate their interest in providing the above-described services. Interested Consultants shall provide information through their CV on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to undertake this Assignment (documents, reference to similar services, experience in similar assignments, etc.) ;
  1. The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the Bank’s procedures set out in the Procurement Policy for operations financed by the Bank Group, October 2015 Edition, available on the Bank Website at http://www.afdb.org. 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 ;
  2. The estimated duration of services is 6 months and the estimated starting date is 1st July 2020 ;
  1. Interested Individual Consultants may obtain further information at the address below during the Bank’s working hours: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Addis Ababa time ;
  1. Expressions of interest must be received by email below no later than 15 June 2020 at 5 pm local time to [email protected] and specifically mentioning “EOI for the portfolio management support in Ethiopia”.

Establishment of the Shortlist

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

Evaluation Criteria :

  1. Academic qualifications – 10% ;
  2. Years of relevant experience – 20% ;
  3. Experience in the specific assignments described in the TOR and suitability for the task to be performed – 45% ;
  4. Experience with international organizations – 15% ;
  5. Language proficiency – 10%.

ANNEX : Terms of Reference for Agriculture Portfolio Management Consultant in Ethiopia”

  1. Introduction and objectives :

The African Development Bank (the Bank or AfDB) is a Multilateral Development Bank established in 1964 to catalyze sustainable economic development and social progress in its Regional Member Countries (RMCs), thus contributing to poverty reduction. Through its enhanced decentralized structure, the Bank currently operates in 39 Country Offices across the African continent.

The Eastern Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office (RDGE), oversees the Bank’s operations in thirteen (13) countries in the Eastern Africa that is Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

The AfDB Group wishes to recruit the services of a medium-term consultant to support portfolio management of operations in Ethiopia. The specific objective of the consultancy is to support Bank Task Managers in the overall agriculture portfolio management and business development of operations in the Agriculture Sector in Ethiopia.

  1. Scope of the Work

Under t :he overall guidance of the Country Manager, Ethiopia and the direct supervision of the.

Task Manager, the Consultant shall undertake the following tasks :

  • Support the TM in reviewing and processing requests sent for Bank clearance to ensure timely response and feedback ;
  • Review and advise on the general performance of the project including implementation of the project against the objectives set and outputs ;
  • Review project implementation progress in line with results management framework of approved project ;
  • Assist the task manager in reviewing monitoring reports from the Executing Agency (EA) and Implementing Agencies ;
  • Support the EA in addressing any capacity related challenges; Review project implementation timeframe ;
  • Review the status of recommendations and action plans made in Bank’s supervision missions ;
  • Discuss challenges and constraints in project implementation ;
  • If required, agree on actions that will put project implementation on track.

Procurement :

  • Review and address the procurement plans and pending issues ;
  • Review all contracts in the projects in terms of their disbursement levels, delivery of their targets, and any issues relating to quality and timeliness in completion ;
  • Provide guidance/coaching to FPCU and Regional PCUs staff on the Bank procurement policies and procedures (where applicable).
  1. Qualification and Experience :
  • The consultant should have a minimum of a Master’s Degree in agriculture, natural sciences, economics, social sciences, rural development with considerable knowledge in the area of food security, building resilience and livelihood enhancement in conflict/fragile countries ;
  • The candidate must have at least 10 years’ experience working in his/her area of specialty and must be computer literate and conversant with the Bank’s computer software’s, procurement and financial procedures ;
  • S/he must have extensive knowledge and experience in the Horn of Africa (HOA) region. S/he should have the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with different levels of government officials, private sector agencies and relevant stakeholders ;
  • The consultant should have had previous experience working with multi-lateral development institutions in implementing donor funded projects with a sound understanding of the field aspects of development projects ;
  • The consultant must be very conversant with the project cycle, and be able to demonstrate leadership and ability to manage complex programs and achieve results ;
  • S/he will be based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and should have excellent communication skills and be proficient in both written and spoken English.
  1. Duration :

The duration of the assignment is six months starting 01 July to December 31st, 2020 renewable depending on the necessity and implementation performance.

  1. Reporting Requirements :

The Consultant shall report to the Task Manager and Country Manager COET on Monthly reports on activities carried out and achievements as per the agreed work plan. At the end of the contract, provide a full completion report on hard and electronic copies of literature collected.