REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
Immeuble CCIA, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
African Natural Resources Center
E-mail : M.HARRATHI@AFDB.ORG Telephone: +225 27 20 26 32 13
DEVELOPMENT OF THE GUIDING TEMPLATE FOR THE AFRICAN PETRTOLEUM LEGISLATION ATLAS (APLA) PROJECT
- The African Natural Resources Centre of the African Development Bank hereby invites consulting firms to express their interest in the following Assignment: Consultancy Services for the “development of the guiding template for the African Petroleum Legislations Atlas (APLA) project” ;
- The services to be provided under the Assignment: Under the supervision of the APLA Secretariat made up of African Natural Resources Centre (ANRC) and African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) staffs. The selected Consulting firm will develop the guiding template for the African Petroleum Legislations Atlas (APLA) project ;
- The ANRC invites consultancy firms to express their interest in providing the above services. Interested consulting firms shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to undertake the Assignment (documents, reference to similar services, experience in similar assignments, etc.) ;
- Firms applying as a consortium should provide a consortium agreement or a proof of registration as a consortium and a Power of Attorney granting the firm representing the consortium the right to act on the behalf of the consortium ;
- Only firms registered in the regional and non-regional member countries of the Bank are invited to apply ;
- The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the AfDB’s Procurement Policy for Recruitment of Corporate Consultants, available on the Bank Website at https://www.afdb.org/en/projects-and operations/procurement/resources-for-borrowers/policies–procedures ;
- Please, note that interest expressed by a consulting firm does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include the firm in the shortlist ;
- The estimated duration of the Consulting Services is 4 calendar months, and the estimated starting date is November 2021.Interested Consulting firms may obtain further information at the address below during the Bank’s working hours: 08:00 – 17:00 ;
- Expressions of interest must be received by E-mail to the address below no later than 20th October 2021 at 17:00 Hours Abidjan local time and specifically mentioning Expression of Interest: Development of the guiding template for the African Petroleum Legislation Atlas (APLA) project to the attention of: Ms. Promise ADERIBIGBE P.ADERIBIGBE@AFDB.ORG with copy to: Ms. Maali HARRATHI E-mail: M.HARRATHI@AFDB.ORG. Any questions and requests for clarifications may be sent to: Arron TCHOUKA SINGHE (A.TCHOUKASINGHE@AFDB.ORG)
Terms of Reference
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT ANRC, ALSF AND THE APLA PROJECT GUIDING TEMPLATE :
The African Natural Resources Centre (“ANRC”) is a non-lending department of the African Development Bank (AfDB) with a mandate to assist African countries maximize outcomes derived from exploitation of their natural resources. The Centre enhances the capacity of African countries to achieve inclusive and sustained growth from natural resources. To achieve this, it provides practical knowledge and expertise, advisory services, technical assistance and advocacy for improved and transparent management of renewable and non-renewable resources. The core activities of the centre include: (i) knowledge building; (ii) advocacy; (iii) technical assistance; and (iv) policy advice.
The African Legal Support Facility (“ALSF” or “Facility”) is an international organisation established by Treaty in 2008. The Facility is hosted by the AfDB. Its membership is open to All AfDB Member States (b) other states (c) AfDB and (d) other international organisations or institutions. The ALSF’s main objectives include: (i) assisting the AfDB’s Regional Member.
Countries (RMCs) address litigation brought against them by vulture funds (and other such entities); (ii) creating an avenue for the AfDB’s RMCs to access technical advice when negotiating complex commercial transactions relating to extractive resources, infrastructure, PPPs, debt, and related commercial agreements; (iii) investing in and organizing the training of legal counsel from participating RMCs to equip them with the legal expertise necessary to better represent their countries; and (iv) the development of knowledge products.
The African Petroleum Legislation Atlas (“APLA”) is a project aimed at legislation gathering, organization, and dissemination, as well as capacity building and capacity utilisation. The APLA Project comprises three main activities, namely: (i) the creation of the APLA platform, a free online one-stop resource for Africa’s petroleum legal frameworks (petroleum laws, regulations and related legislation) with interactive features to provide comparison of laws amongst countries; (ii) production of a guiding template, an annotated document that outlines a menu of legislative solutions to assist countries in the preparation or revision of their petroleum laws; and (iii) capacity building through training (on-ground and remotely) of African students, researchers and legal professionals in the use of the online platform and on overall issues in petroleum law.
Together, the ANRC and ALSF aim to develop the APLA Guiding Template which is a petroleum law drafting and reference tool that provides guidance on the elements of a petroleum law covering all potential issues that could feature in such petroleum law based on Africa’s present realities.
The development of the APLA Guiding Template will be managed by a committee comprising officials of ANRC and ALSF (the “APLA Secretariat”).
THE APLA PLATFORM GUIDING TEMPLATE :
The Guiding Template is a tool that legislative drafters may utilize in developing legislation, or may serve as an educational instrument for parliamentarians, petroleum sector regulatory bodies, and civil society to better understand some of the possible legal arrangements or architecture for the petroleum sector. As a petroleum law drafting and reference tool, the Guiding template represents an enhanced starting point for its users by providing a clear and practical foundation on which they can thoroughly consider topical issues supported by sample drafting language as they develop, modify or simply assess petroleum legislative frameworks that fit each country’s unique context.
The Guiding Template aims to be responsive rather than prescriptive, in order to provide a resource that is sensitive to the distinct character of each African country, its existing legal framework and the specific context in which each petroleum sector is situated.
The APLA Guiding Template IS NOT a model petroleum law. A model petroleum law is a proposed set of legislative provisions addressing a specified and cross-referenced set of subjects pre-determined to be both desirable and adequate, and which states who seek uniformity may choose to adopt, in whole or in part. The objective of a model petroleum law would be to create identical or similar law among a group of sovereign states.
RATIONALE FOR THE CALL FOR A CONSULTING FIRM TO DEVELOP THE APLA GUIDING TEMPLATE :
In the face of new discoveries of oil and gas reserves and a growing trend towards transparency, several African countries have adopted new petroleum laws over the past couple of decades, with more revisions and new enactments expected. Many of these countries have sought comparative information and guidance on international benchmark practices, which revealed an acute absence of comparative data on petroleum laws. Moreover, there is a conspicuous lack of readily available Africa-centric templates or guidelines in the industry.
The APLA Secretariat seeks to procure the services of a consulting firm specialized in oil and gas sector to develop the Guiding Template. These terms of reference (TORs) describe the scope of services that will be performed by the consulting firm.
THE ROLE OF THE CONSULTING FIRM :
The development of the Guiding Template is to provide AfDB’s regional member countries with specific guidance on setting continental standards for optimizing benefits from oil and gas resources, including ways of increasing compliance and limiting loopholes enabling illicit financial outflows among others.
The Guiding Template will consist of numerous topics that can be addressed in a petroleum law. The topics consist of matters commonly addressed in a petroleum law as well as matters that are the subject of current and salient discourse in the sector. The topics are to be divided into different parts including A through ix) as shown below :
- Part A: Preliminary ;
- Part B: Petroleum Rights ;
- Part C: Licensing ;
- Part D: Development and Production of Petroleum ;
- Part E: Payments ;
- Part F: Environment and Decommissioning ;
- Part G: Local Content and Technological Transfer ;
- Part H: Health and Safety ;
- Part I; Miscellaneous.
The primary role of the consulting firm during the development of the APLA Guiding Template will be to develop a list of sub-topics under each part, provide sample provisions, and annotations for each topic.
Topics :
Each topic is approached in the same format: a brief introduction to the topic, including a definition and key (big picture) issues for consideration; two conceptually distinct examples; and two accompanying annotations. In few cases, only one example is proffered, largely on the basis of a common approach to the topic. The topic list of the Guiding Template is designed to be exhaustive and therefore cannot be adopted blindly wholesale by any country. Rather it should, primarily serve as a checklist for issues that are applicable to the local context and users must carry out the due diligence necessary to identify the topics that are responsive to the local context.
Sample Provisions :
Generally, each topic has two distinct examples that are drawn from or inspired by current African petroleum laws as well as other country petroleum laws or drafted de novo. Examples are edited for clarity and utility, so as to present the reader with a provision that can be understood and replicated or easily tailored for the local country context. These examples are not proffered as the only possibilities to address any given topic but are simply a small sample of some ways that legislative drafters have incorporated principles and contemporary issues into current legislation. This point cannot be over-emphasized – similar to each topic, it is crucial that each example is understood as an indicative provision and the necessary due diligence be carried out to confirm its applicability or its adaptability in order to achieve responsiveness to the local context.
Annotations :
Each example is accompanied by an annotation, written by an expert member of the Guiding Template Review Committee. Unlike the introduction which discusses the topic broadly, the annotation focuses specifically on explaining its companion example, often highlighting the individual strengths and any potential trade-offs in the approach reflected in the example. The annotation is designed to support readers in assessing each example’s value, helping the reader to determine which factors may be the most salient for a country’s particular petroleum context.
SECRETARIAT’S ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE APLA GUIDING TEMPLATE :
The APLA Secretariat will remain responsible for the overall management of the APLA Guiding template.
Specifically, the role of the Secretariat will be to :
- The procurement of a consulting firm with a team of experts in the oil and gas sector tasked with developing the Guiding Template ;
- Monitor the work being conducted by the consulting firm; and
- Monthly meetings between the team of experts and the APLA Secretariat to receive updates and gain insight on the work being conducted.
CONSULTING FIRM SELECTION PROCESS AND RELATED MATTERS :
Interested consulting firms are invited to respond to the current call for a consulting firm, outlining whether they meet the prescribed requirements. The consulting firm shall ideally provide the following information :
- a technical proposal comprised of CV profile of the task team members that will oversee developing the Guiding Template, as well as the proposed methodology. CVs should follow the template in Annex 1 ;
- The task team shall comprise three consultants with strong academic qualifications and proven experience in all petroleum or mining law analysis and research covering, among other topics, those listed as parts of the guiding template in Section IV above ;
- Team composition and qualifications.
The team should consist ideally of three members as follows :
- Team leader should hold a master’s degree in petroleum or mineral law and prove strong experience in legal research, analysis and drafting, with at least 15 years of relevance experience. Relevant experience with African countries will be an added advantage ;
- Legal Analyst should hold at master’s degree in petroleum or mineral law with a strong background in legal research and analysis, with at least 7 experience of relevance experience ;
- Junior Analyst should possess a master’s degree in law, with 5-year proven experience in legal research and drafting ;
- The APLA Secretariat will shortlist potential consulting firms based on the relevance of the information provided in the application and shall begin preliminary discussions to verify whether minimum requirements are satisfied ;
- The final decision on the selected consulting firm will be announced, followed by the commencement of the Secretariat-host coordination.
DURATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GUIDING TEMPLATE :
The agreement shall be for a period of 4 months and work shall commence as soon as the consulting firm is selected.
DELIVERABLES AND MILESTONES :
| Activity | Deliverable | Time | |
| 1 | Consultant’s pre-project meeting | 0 | |
| 2 | Submission of draft inception report | Inception Report | 0+3 weeks |
| 3 | Revise and submission of comments on | Reviewed Inception Report | 0+5 weeks |
| draft inception report | |||
| 4 | Submission of draft interim report | Draft Report | 0+10 weeks |
| 5 | Revise and submission of Comments on | Reviewed Draft Report | 0 +14 weeks |
| interim draft report | |||
| 6 | Submission of draft final report | Final Report | 0+ 16 weeks |
EVALUATING CRITERIA :
The Firm will be selected in accordance with the African Development Bank’s Implementation Manual relating to the Procedures for Acquisition of Consultancy Services funded by Administrative of Capital expenditure budgets of the Bank Group. The candidates shall be evaluated based on following criteria :
| Criteria | Score (%) | |
| The consulting firm’s general experience relevant to the assignment | 40 | |
| Demonstrated experience of working with in AfDB’s Regional Member Countries on all matters | 10 | |
| related to the oil and gas sector | ||
| Understanding the terms of reference and scope of work | 20 | |
| Qualifications and experience of task team to develop a Guiding Template for petroleum | 20 | |
| legislations | ||
| Language and communication skills: ability to deliver projects outputs and effective | 10 | |
| communication in English and French | ||
| TOTAL | 100 | |
Applicants are to submit brief technical proposal in line with objectives and scope of work.
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE :
The African Development Bank conditions for retaining short-term consultancy firms will apply.
Appendix 1 :
Please attach an updated Curriculum Vitae on the basis of the template below :