REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING FIRMS)

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV)

Avenue Joseph Anoma, 01 BP 1387 Abidjan 01- Côte d’Ivoire

Cluster Evaluation of the Effective Management of African Development Fund Projects in Regional Member Countries

 

 

  1. The African Development Bank (AfDB) hereby invites Consulting Firms to indicate their interest in the following Assignment : Consultancy Services for the Cluster Evaluation of the Effective Management of African Development Fund Projects in Regional Member Countries (RMCs), henceforth “the assignment” being carried out by its Independent Development Evaluation ;
  1. The objective of the cluster evaluation is to assess the quality of the management of resources for a group of selected ADF-funded projects (project cluster). The cluster evaluation will undertake a thorough review by assessing selected projects from the total portfolio of ADF financed operations including active, completed, and canceled projects in beneficiary RMCs. The cluster evaluation will address the efficiency and effectiveness of operations in order to draw lessons from the experience ;
  1. Mainly, the cluster evaluation will undertake a deep-dive assessment of the quality of management of the Fund as regards efficiency in budget allocation (on the basis of needs), fiduciary management issues (project approval, procurement and disbursement ), business processes (project supervision, implementation and completion reporting, management oversight and risk assessment) as well as effective and efficient use of resources (financial, material and human) in meeting the selected projects’ objectives ;
  1. The evaluation plans also to review any Internal Audit Department (PAGL) reports related to the selected projects, to see whether the existing internal control framework, including corporate governance and entity-level controls, provides reasonable assurance that the ADF’s operations are carried out efficiently and effectively, focusing on fiduciary management procedures and business processes identified ;
  1. The cluster evaluation will draw lessons including good practices within the Bank Group and from other MDBs/IFIs to improve the management of ADF-funded projects ;
  1. The services to be provided under the Assignment include :
  •  Project Performance Assessment Reports ;
  •  Technical Cluster Evaluation Report.

The cluster evaluation will include the following three phases :

  • Inception Phase – The objective of the Inception Phase will be to assess available background information, identify available data, assess data quality, identify information gaps and finalize a suitable methodology for the evaluation. The evaluation team will fine-tune and prioritize the evaluation questions, further develop the evaluation design and finalize the issues-indicator matrix, prepare and test data collection tools, identify required resources, and agree on the roles and responsibilities, as well as the detailed workplan ;
  • Data Collection and Analysis Phase – The objective of the Data Collection and Analysis Phase will be to implement the approved inception report and collect primary data to complement the review of project documents and fill identified data gaps. Subsequently, all available data will be triangulated against the approved evaluation matrix to identify evaluation findings and conclusions ;
  • Reporting Phase – The reporting phase will proceed in three stages with the objective of: (1) consulting key stakeholders on the preliminary evaluation findings; (2) validating the preliminary findings and identifying evaluation recommendations; and preparing the draft and final technical cluster evaluation report. The final technical cluster evaluation report will be drafted at this stage and shared with internal peer-reviewers, external peer-reviewers, the Reference Group, and IDEV management.
  1. IDEV will provide guidance and ensure adherence to standards during the evaluation design and conduct, ensure quality control at all stages and will also be involved in missions where possible. IDEV uses both the OECD DAC evaluation criteria, principles and quality standards as well as the Evaluation Cooperation Group’s Big Book. As part of the finalization of the evaluation, IDEV will also use the technical evaluation report to prepare a summary evaluation report for submission to the Bank’s Board ;
  1. It is anticipated that a Request for Proposals will be issued in November 2021, with contracting of the Firm and commencement of activities by December 2021. The final technical cluster evaluation report is expected to be produced in April 2022 ;
  1. IDEV invites Consulting Firms to indicate their interest in providing the above-described services. Interested eligible Consulting Firms or associations of Consulting Firms shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to provide the services (documentation, references for similar services, experience in comparable Assignments, availability of qualified staff including CVs of proposed team members, etc.). The firm should be able to bring together a range of expertise relevant for the assignment– including robust evaluation and subject matter specialists – and providing an experienced evaluation Team Leader. The Firm is also expected to include national consultants from the selected projects in the team. Details of the profiles of the firm, the team leader and other evaluation team members will be outlined in the Terms of Reference (ToR). Firms should also note that the Bank covers the whole continent and therefore, constitute teams that can work in English or French primarily, but also other associated languages for RMCs involved in the evaluation, in particular the case studies ;
  1. The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the Bank’s Rules and Procedure for the Use of Consultants under projects financed by the Bank Group, available on the Bank Website at http://www.afdb.org. Please, note that interest expressed by a Consulting Firm does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include it in the shortlist. IDEV reserves the right to adjust the scope and details of the assignment described here, in the Request for Proposals ;
  1. The estimated duration of services is six (6) months, and the estimated starting date is December 2021 ;
  1. Interested Individual Consultants may obtain further information at the address below during the Bank’s working hours: from 09:00 to 17:00 hours (GMT) ; 
  1. Expressions of interest must be received (by email) at the address below no later than 25 November 2021, 17:00 Hours local time and specifically mentioning Cluster Evaluation of the Management of African Development Fund Projects in Regional Member Countries. Expressions of interest should be written in either English or French.

For the attention of: Mr. Joseph MOUANDA, j.mouanda@afdb.org; +225 27 20 263 679; copy to: Stephanie YOBOUE, s.yoboue@afdb.org; +225 27 20 263 185; and Henda AYARI, h.ayari@afdb.org; +225 27 20 263 185.

Independent Evaluation Development (IDEV) African Development Bank

Avenue Joseph Anoma – 01 BP 1387 Abidjan 01- Côte d’Ivoire

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