Avis d’appel d’offre pour l’évaluation de la réponse au Covid-19 du Groupe de la Banque africaine de développement, Côte d’Ivoire

Request for Expression of Interest

African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

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

Independent Development Evaluation department (IDEV)

Consultancy services : Evaluation of the Africa Development Bank Group’s Covid-19 Response

 

1. The African Development Bank Group (AfDB or the Bank) hereby invites Consulting Firms to indicate their interest in the following assignment: Consultancy services for the evaluation of the African Development Bank Group’s Covid-19 Response henceforth “the assignment” ;

2. The Independent Development Evaluation function (IDEV) of the African Development Bank is undertaking an evaluation of the Bank’s Covid-19 response to support Regional Member Countries (RMCs) as part of its approved work program for 2021. Since the declaration of Covid-19 as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 1, 2020; the Bank implemented a package of measures in 2020 to help its RMCs mitigate the multifaceted impact of this pandemic. These measures included both lending and non-lending activities of the Bank with the notable ones, among others, including a USD 2 million emergency assistance to World Health Organization (WHO)-led measures to curb the spread of the disease and a UA7.4 Billion (USD 10 billion) Crisis Response Facility (CRF). As part of the Bank’s resource mobilisation efforts for the Covid-19 response, a USD 3 billion “Fight COVID-19” social bond was successfully implemented ;

3. The purpose of the evaluation is to provide the Board, Management and RMCs with timely and relevant evidence on the effectiveness of the design of the response, the extent of implementation and the achievement of objectives and results of the Bank’s COVID-19 response. The evaluation will help draw useful lessons to strengthen the Bank’s response to the ongoing pandemic and its future crises responses. The findings of this evaluation will also inform the ongoing work of the COVID-19 global evaluation coalition, of which BDEV is a member ;

4. The evaluation has seven overarching evaluation questions covering key evaluation criteria such as relevant, coherence, efficiency and effectiveness as well as strategic fit of the support and enabling effective learning through documenting enabling and hindering factors and key lessons to inform future similar and related responses to pandemics by the Bank ;

5. Given that the pandemic is still ongoing, the evaluation is mainly formative but will also assess the achievement of results and objectives to the extent possible since the stop gap measures implemented by RMCs to prevent and mitigate the health, social and economic impacts of Covid-19 with the support of the bank were scheduled to be completed by December 2020.The evaluation is also theory-based and will be guided by the Theory of Change (ToC) adapted from the Covid-19 Crisis Response Facility (CRF) results and reporting framework prepared by the management of the Bank ;

6. The assignment(s) is expected to include the following activities :

1. Inception Phase : IDEV will provide an approach paper for the evaluation and terms of reference as a basis for the inception phase. The firm will review and updated the approach paper based on agreed changes. The firm will also review relevant documents and develop all the necessary data collection, collation, analysis and synthesis tools and templates which will be validated by IDEV. The firm will also develop a detailed workplan to be approved during the inception phase ;
2. Data Collection, Analysis and Preparation of Background Documents¹ : The firm will undertake quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis which will also include collection of primary data to complement the review of project documents, available self-evaluation evidence and other secondary data to fill identified data gaps. The firm will be expected to produce three background documents under the first component which will focus on answering evaluation questions related to the achievement of intended results and objectives of the Bank’s Covid-19 response. These will include a Portfolio Review report, a Project Portfolio Document Review (PPDR) report and multiple country case studies. At least 10 RMCs will be selected for case studies based on the criteria elaborated in the approach paper and the firm will also be required to produce a synthesis report in addition to individual country case study reports. Under the second component which will focus on the Bank’s own performance at corporate level, the firm will be expected to produce a Corporate Process Review report and a Benchmarking Study report to compare the Bank’s Covid19 response to responses by similar multilateral development institutions ;
3. Reporting phase : The firm will synthesise the findings from the background reports and other sources in line with the evaluation matrix to produce a technical report which will include findings, conclusions, and recommendations that are supported by multiple lines of evidence. The firm will also revise the technical evaluation report following the validation and consultations during the review of the draft technical report and the preliminary findings workshop. 

7. IDEV will lead some components internally and 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 finalisation of the evaluation, IDEV will also use the technical evaluation report to prepare a summary evaluation report for submission to the the Bank’s Board ;

8. It is anticipated that a Request for Proposals will be issued in November 2022, with contracting of the Firm and commencement of activities by the end of November 2022 or early December 2022. Desk and portfolio reviews are expected to undertake in December 2022 while data collection missions are likely to be undertaken in January and February 2022. The draft technical evaluation report is expected to be produced in March 2022.

• Details of the methodology, background reports and responsibilities are outline in the Approach Paper and the Terms of Reference.

9. IDEV invites consulting firms to indicate their interest in providing the required services. Interested eligible 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 10 countries to be selected for case studies 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 (ToRs). 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 ;

10. 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 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 ;

11. The estimated duration of services is 6 (six) months and the estimated starting date will be in November or December 2021 ;

12. Interested consultants may obtain further information at the address below during the Bank’s working hours (09:00 to 17:00) ;

13. Expressions of interest must be received at the address below no later than on Friday 5^th November 2021 at 17.00 local (Abidjan) time and specifically mentioning: Evaluation of the Africa Development Bank Group’s Covid-19 Response. Expressions of interest should be written in either English or French.

For the attention of :

Mrs. Henda Ayari

African Development Bank

Independent Development Evaluation 01 BP 1387 Abidjan 01 Abidjan Côte d’Ivoire

E-mail : h.ayari@afdb.org