REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Avenue Jean-Paul II, 01 B.P. 1387, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Financial Sector Development Department (PIFD)

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR PROCUREMENT AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT EXPERT

The African Development Bank (AfDB) “the Bank” hereby invites individual consultants to indicate their interest to work with Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI) as a Procurement Administration and Financial Management Consultant. The Financial Sector Development Department (PIFD) is implementing ADFI ;

The Bank working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Agence Française de Développement (AfD) and the Government of Luxembourg (the Initial Donors) have established the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI). ADFI comprises a multi-donor trust fund and debt funding from the Bank and has a projected ten-year (10) investment horizon. Through catalytic and strategic investments in digital financial services (DFS) throughout Africa, ADFI seeks to break down the barriers to DFS growth and uptake inorder to advance financial inclusion. ADFI’s design is informed by an in-depth market assessment that looked at the factors affecting DFS growth and uptake in several countries and regions in Africa ;

The coordination unit set up by the Bank to operationalise ADFI is seeking to recruit a Procurement, Administration and Financial Management Consultant, ‘the consultant’, to join the team. The consultant will directly report to the ADFI Coordinator with dotted reporting to the other ADFI coordination unit consultants. The consultant will work closely with the AfDB’s procurement and financial management department that has the mandate over project procurement and financial management activities ;

The services required from the consultant include, but are not limited to, the following :

• Managing the procurement and financial management activities of ADFI ;
• Providing technical services and advice related to ADFI’s procurement and financial management aspects applying the AfDB’s rules and procedures ;
• Monitoring and assisting in assuring the quality of ADFI’s project procurement plans and their implementation ;
• Spearhead the preparation of ADFI’s regular and annual reports particularly those focusing on accounting for the utilized as well as outstanding resources ;
• Preparation of ADFI performance dashboard against specific project and overall facility objectives ;
• Assist the ADFI unit coordinator and unit consultants in the management of their project portfolios and initiatives ;
• Spearhead the preparation for Council of Governor sessions

Qualifications and required skills :

The candidate must have a minimum of a master’s degree in any of the development disciplines but mainly, finance, economics and engineering. S/he must have at least 10 years working experience in executing procurement and financial management functions. S/he should have hands on experience in preparing tender and contract documents for national and international competitive bidding. Working experience of procurement functions in Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) and DFI’ funded projects (such as the AfDB) and hence good knowledge of their procurement procedures and guidelines is highly desirable. Other desired skills, knowledge and experience desired include :

• Strong knowledge of procurement rules and regulations including those internationally recognized ;
• Ability to work as part of a team, contributing relevant procurement, administration and financial management expertise and providing mentoring and training to other team members where needed
• Experience in both public and private sector procurement applying MDB and DFIs’ rules and procedures ;
• A good understanding of administration and financial management tasks including budget preparation ;
• Networking, coaching skills, good interpersonal, communication and project management skills, resourcefulness and attention to detail ;
• Working knowledge of the laws and ordinances governing the purchase of goods, works and services ;
• High integrity and accountability in all aspects of project procurement, administration and financial management ;
• Ability to communicate effectively in written and verbal English and/or French with a working knowledge of the other language ;
• Good knowledge of digital financial services, digital finance and payment systems is a plus.

The African Development Bank invites individual consultants to submit their interest in providing the aforementioned services. The position is for one (1) consultant. Interested individual consultants must provide information on their capacity and experience indicating that they are qualified to perform the services (CVs, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, availability of appropriate skills, etc.).

Short-listing and the selection procedure shall be in accordance with the “Rules and Procedures for the use of Consultants”, for projects financed under the African Development Bank window, May 2008 edition, revised in July 2012 which is available on the Bank’s website at http://www.afdb.org. The Bank is under no obligation to shortlist any consultant who expresses interest

The duration of the contract is one year, renewable upon satisfactory performance and will be based at the African Development Bank headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The expected commencement date is 1 May 2019. Interested Individual Consultants may direct any enquiries on the request to the address adfi@afdb.org

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 evaluated based on the following criteria.

Expressions of interest must be delivered by email to address adfi@afdb.org with the title “Procurement, Administration and Financial Management Consultant” in the subject line by 13 March 2019 at 2400 hrs Abidjan time (GMT).

The Bank and ADFI is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender. Women candidates are encouraged to apply for the position. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.