REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (REOI)
African Development Bank
Sierra Leone Country Office
Consultancy Services for the Study of Manufacturing Productivity and Innovation in Sierra Leone
Date of Issue: 3 June 2021
- The African Development Bank (the AfDB or the “Bank”) herby invites individual consultants to express their interest in the following assignment: A Study on Manufacturing Productivity and innovation in Sierra Leone (the “Assignment”) ;
- The consultant selected for the Assignment will be expected to work on all relevant workstreams associated with the launch and implementation of the study. The TOR of the Assignment is provided as Appendix I to this Request for Expressions of Interest (REOI) ;
- Interested individual consultants must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services envisaged under the Assignment (documents referencing past relevant experience, etc.). Interested parties are requested to submit Expressions of Interest (EOI) comprising their curriculum vitae (CV), along with any additional and relevant supporting documentation ;
- Eligibility criteria, establishment of the shortlist and the selection procedure shall be in accordance with the “Rules and Procedures for the Use of Consultants”. Please note that interest expressed by an individual does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include the individual in the shortlist ;
- The expected duration of the Assignment is 4 months (with possibility for extension). The Commencement Date is anticipated as 1 July 2021 ;
- Interested individuals may obtain further information at the email addresses below during office hours: 09:00 – 17:00 GMT. For the EOI to be considered, the consultant needs to be registered in the AfDB DACON Consultant Database by following the link: https://www.afdb.org/fr/projectsand-operations/procurement/consultancy-services-e-consultant/ ;
- Expressions of interest must be received in electronic form to the email addresses below no later than 9 June 2021 at 23:59 GMT and specifically mentioning: “Expression of Interest –A Study on Manufacturing Productivity and Innovation in Sierra Leone”.
Sierra Leone Country Office African Development Bank 13 Lamina Sankoh Street
5th & 6th floor, Bishop Building Freetown, Sierra Leone
Attn : Eva Taylor
Email : e.taylor@afdb.org;
For any requests for additional information, please contact the preceding email address.
- 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 judged on the following criteria :
- General qualifications and adequacy for the assignment to be undertaken (30%) ;
- Similar experience in the area of expertise of the assignment (50%) ;
- Experience with the Bank and/or multilateral development organizations (10%) ;
- Language proficiency (05%) ;
- Knowledge of the region (05%
TERMS OF REFERENCE
A STUDY ON MANUFACTURING PRODUCTIVITY AND INNOVATION IN SIERRA LEONE
CONSULTANCY SERVICE
WEST AFRICA REGIONAL DIRECTORATE SIERRA LEONE COUNTRY OFFICE AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
JUNE 2021
- Background :
1.1 The Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Complex (RDVP) of the Bank provides overall strategic direction to country offices within the regions and is responsible for the Bank’s operations, business development, project management and overall effective delivery of the Bank’s High 5’s of “Light up and Power Africa”, “Feed Africa”, Industrialize Africa”, and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.
1.2 Opened in June 2007, the Sierra Leone Country Office (COSL) is responsible for the delivery of the Bank’s development programme and provide evidence based policy and advisory services to the Regional Member Country. The AfDB Country Strategy Paper 2020-2024 for Serra Leone approved by the Board of Executive Directors in September 2020 focuses on enhancing access to quality infrastructure facilities and supporting inclusive growth and job creation through private sector development, the key priorities of the Medium Term National Development Plan 2019-2023. The implementation of the Bank’s program consists of knowledge work to inform country dialogue on structural reforms needed to accelerate economic transformation and inclusive growth and poverty reduction.
1.3 The Sierra Country Office of the Bank is currently working with the Government to identify key constraint and opportunities to reindustrialization in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is a low-income country a factor driven economy heavily dependent on natural resource endowment with very little value addition, insufficient diversification and structural transformation. The share of the manufacturing value added remains very low and has been dawdling over the past two decades. Promoting economic diversification and competitiveness through revitalization of manufacturing and mining sectors is one of the core priorities of the Medium-Term National Development Plan, 2019-2023 and the Bank is working with the RMC to support the Government achieve its goals.
- Objective :
2.1 COSL is requesting the service of a consultant (the Consualtant) to conduct the study. The key purpose of the study is to assess Sierra Leone’s manufacturing sector productivity and innovation so as to identify key challenges and prospects for re-industrialisation amid limited economic diversification and slow economic transformation. The study will investigate the performance and key constraints to manufacturing sector productivity, innovation and growth.
- Scope of the Work to be Performed :
3.1 The study will cover all provinces, focusing on informal as well as formal manufacturing enterprises including micro, small, medium and large enterprises operating in the country. It will address key questions including: What is the size of the manufacturing sector in Sierra Leone? What are key constraints to productivity growth and innovation in the manufacturing sector? What must be done to revitalize the manufacturing sector to propel economic diversification and transformation and foster inclusive economic growth and alleviate poverty? In particular, the study will conduct an in-depth assessment of the following :
- Definition, history and the role of manufacturing sector in Sierra Leone including in terms of manufacturing value added, manufacturing exports and employment Structural changes in the Sierra Leonian economy and in the manufacturing sector since independence in 1961; and in particular the structural adjustment both in the wider economy and within the manufacturing sector following the end of civil war in 2002 ;
- Assess trends in manufacturing value added and structure of manufacturing activities by key sub sectors for the period 1961-2019 or the latest period for which data is available ;
- Investigate trends in manufacturing exports in Sierra Leone for the period 1961-2019 including (a) Export growth; (b) Export by labour intensive manufacturing sub sector; (c) exports in the capital intensive manufacturing sub sectors; and (d) High technology export; (e) Export sophistication; (f) Export propensity; and (g) How Sierra leone could benefit from the recently launched African Continental Free Trade Area arrangement ;
- Assess foreign direct investment flows into the manufacturing sector in Sierra Leon ;
- Analyse the trends in manufacturing sector employment both in informal and formal subsectors including micro, small, medium and large manufacturing sub sectors ;
- Investigate the manufacturing unit labour costs and productivity including total factor productivity (TFP) in the manufacturing sector ;
- Analyse the link between manufacturing innovation for focusing on technology performance indicators including (a) R&D expenditure as share of GDP; (b) Researchers per population; (c) National patents and co-invention; (d) Technology balance of payments (TBP); and (e) Readiness for the 4IR ;
- Discuss the nature of technological change and constraints to innovation in Sierra Leone with particular emphasis on (a) The nature of the existing technological change/innovation; (b) Main constraints; (c) Government policy and local linkages; (d) Government support programs for industrial innovation ;
- Investigate the inter-sectoral linkages in Sierra Leone and the employment multiplier with particular emphasis on (a) Forward linkages by key sectors (total and import adjusted), as well as by key manufacturing sub sectors and agriculture, mining, construction, utility and services ;
- Backward linkages covering the same sectors in (a); (c) Disaggregate forward and backward linkages by manufacturing sectors ;
- Assess the labour market and employment multipliers with particular emphasis on (a) Economy wide employment multipliers by major sectors; (b) Employment multiplier in the manufacturing subsectors, and (c) Skills levels and skills gap and remuneration in the manufacturing sector in Sierra Leone ;
- Discuss the Government strategy to accelerate economic growth and job creation through revitalisation of the manufacturing sector as stipulated in the MTNDP 2019-2023 with a particular focus on manufacturing and industrialisation strategies and various incentive programs.
- Minimum Qualifications and Competency of the Consultant :
- The consultant must be the citizen of a member country of the AfDB (regional or non-regional) ;
- The appointed service provider is required to demonstrate the skills and experience necessary to undertake the range of tasks set out in this TOR ;
- The consultant is required to possess at least 15 years of experience; post-graduate qualifications with a degree in economics, development economics and finance or similar; preferably with previous experience in research in the manufacturing sector in Africa ;
- The consultant must have proven experience and knowledge of macromonomeric modelling and forecasting ;
- The consultant must have working experience in Sub-Saharan Africa and similar developing economies with a clear understanding of the local issues.
- Deliverables :
The consultant will produce the following deliverables :
- Inception report, outlining the approach to be adopted in the study and overview of the existing studies in the manufacturing sector ;
- Final Consolidated Report ;
- Executive Summary ;
- 10-15-page synthesis report highlighting key findings and recommendations ;
- Presenting the report to stakeholders for validation and incorporating observations, involving a number of consultations and engagements.
- Timelines and Location of the Assignment :
6.1 The study is expected to be undertaken in a period of four months beginning in July 2021.
| Activity | Timeline (estimated) |
| Request for Expression of Interest | Early June 2021 |
| Submission of Proposals | Mid-June 2021 |
| Evaluation & shortlisting of proposals and | Mid-June to End June 2021 |
| contracting of selected applicants | |
| Kick-off Meeting | Early July 2021 |
| Submission of Inception Report | Mid July 2021 |
| Research (desk plus field research) | Mid July – September 2021 |
| Submission of Draft Report and Findings | Mid-October 2021 |
| Submission of Final Report and Findings | End October 2021 |
| Submission of all agreed outputs | End November 2021 |
| Presentation of key findings to stakeholders | Mid December 2021 |
6.2 The consultant will be based in Free town, Sierra Leone.
- Management of the Consultancy and Remuneration :
- The consultant will work under the overall guidance of the Country Manager, Sierra Leone Country Office and ECCE Lead Economists for RDGW and be accountable for deliverables to the Task Manager, the Country Economist, responsible for operations in Sierra Leone ;
- Remuneration will be based on the Consultant’s experience and the Bank’s Guidelines on Individual Consultants Remuneration.