REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST [REOI]

FOR AN INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

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

Financial Control Department (FIFC) 

Title of the Assignment : Review of the Financial Regulations of the African Development Bank and the African Development   Fund    (together    the    African Development Bank”).

Brief description : Conduct a full review of the current financial regulations, a comprehensive assessment of its fitness for use, and formulate recommendations for enhanced regulations and draft revised financial regulations.

Departments issuing the request : Financial Control Department (FIFC)

Place of Assignment : HQ, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Duration of the assignment : 04 months

Tentative date of Commencement : 01 August, 2021

Deadline for Applications : 09 July 2021 at 6 pm Abidjan Time

1. The African Development Bank hereby invites individual Consultants to indicate their interest in the following Assignment : Review of the Financial Regulations ;
2. The estimated duration of the consultancy mission is six (06) months ;
3. The Consultant will work remotely for the duration of the consulting period ;
4. The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a shortlist, and the selection procedure shall conform with the Bank’s Rules and Procedures for Acquisition of Consulting Services funded by the Administrative or Capital Expenditure Budget ;
5. Please note that interest expressed by a Consultant does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include him/her in the shortlist.

6. The Terms of References (“ToR”) indicate the scope of the assignment to be undertaken as well as the services required from the selected Consultant. You are kindly requested to comment on the ToR (in no more than two pages) for the proposed assignment and present your practical experience and a customized, updated and responsive Curriculum Vitae/Resume, which must be adapted to demonstrate how the candidate meets the requirements of this REOI ;

7. The shortlisted proposals submitted by the consultants shall be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria :

8. The remuneration will be in line with the Bank’s guidelines on remuneration of consultants. The consultant shall be paid a fixed lumpsum fee for the assignment with payment based on deliverables as outlined in the table below.

9. Interested consultants may obtain further information via email from the address below ;

10. Expressions of interest must be submitted by email addressed to Financial_Regulations@afdb.org and received no later than 09 July 2021 at 6 pm Abidjan time and specifically mentioning “Review of the Financial Regulations” in the subject line of the email.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Financial Control Department (FIFC)

Finance Consultant

Background :

The African Development Bank Group (“Bank Group”) is a regional multilateral development finance institution established in 1963 with a mandate to further the economic development and social progress of African countries, individually and collectively. It has 54 regional member countries and 26 non-regional shareholders from Asia, Europe, and the Americas. It cooperates with a large network of international development partners.

The Bank Group delivers its operational programs through three entities: The African Development Bank (“ADB” or the “Bank”), the African Development Fund (“ADF” or the “Fund”) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (“NTF”). The Group has a single combined administrative expense budget and records expenses, when incurred, against such budget. While the three windows are complementary, they are statutorily required to be legally separate and distinct. . This assignment involves the review of the separate financial regulations of the Bank and the Fund as individual entities.

Appropriate financial regulations facilitate the maintenance of the stability and integrity of the financial operations in response to the Bank Groups’ statutory requirements, protecting it from financial risk and fraud. Financial regulations are also the main point of reference for the principles and procedures governing the establishment, implementation, control of the Bank Group’s budget, utilization of financial resources and accounting and preparation of its financial statements. The regulations should be formulated in such a way as to allow the Bank Group to operate efficiently.

The key components/elements of the current financial regulations are summarized as follows :

• General principles of financial administration ;
• Work Programme and budgets and appropriation of resources ;
• Ordinary capital and special resources, trust and special funds ;
• Subscriptions to the capital stock of the Bank ;
• Internal and external audit ;
• Internal financial, accounts and financial statements ;
• Borrowings, investments, and custody of funds and other assets.

A copy of the current Financial Regulations will be shared with the successful Consultant.

The current Financial Regulations were last revised and amended in 2007 for the Bank and 2011 for the Fund. The primary objective of the current review is to identify opportunities to improve and revise the regulations and its application to reflect the evolution of the Bank Group’s business activities and emerging international best practice.

Objectives :

In light of the background mentioned above, the Bank is conducting a full review of the current financial regulations for the ADB and the ADF to identify opportunities to improve them and to formulate recommendations for a more adequate and fit for purpose financial regulations for each entity. Thus, the Services of a Senior Expert ( the “Consultant”) is required to conduct a mission in response to the expressed need, the end deliverable of which are, the Draft Revised Financial Regulations for the Bank and the Draft Revised Financial Regulations for the Fund.

Under the supervision and guidance of the Director of the Financial Control Department (FIFC), the Consultant will work in close collaboration with the different Bank Departments and interested stakeholders.

Scope of Consultant’s work :

This assignment aims at conducting a full-scale review of the financial regulations of the Bank Group, in the light of peer institutions and international best practice and standards, and in the context of the Bank’s Development Business Delivery Model (DBDM), in order to identify existing gaps, conflicts and discrepancies and recommend and implement the necessary corrective action. The Consultant is expected to develop a comprehensive and high-level analysis and review of the adequacy of the current Financial Regulations covering, among other things :

• Review the existing financial regulations and its key components in the light of the instruments establishing the Bank and the Fund in order to identify existing gaps, conflicts and discrepancies ;
• Examine and report on the content and operation of the financial regulations and their relevance for ensuring the efficiency of operations ;
• Review the financial regulations of comparator organizations and based on the evidence collected, identify areas of improvement, and propose and implement actions to improve the current regulations ;
• Based on the results of the reviews and examinations above and, in the light of peer practices and emerging international best practice, prepare a set of recommendations to serve as a basis for drafting further amendments and changes to existing financial regulations for consideration by Senior Management and onward submission to the Boards for approval ;
• Identify any other options for changes, amendments and revisions to the regulations and make recommendations, as appropriate, based on the findings ;
• Analyze the different financial governance implications of the recommended changes ;
• Other issues the review will consider are whether ;
• The financial regulations, as drafted, are operating as intended ;
• Any areas of the regulations have resulted in unintended consequences ;  
• The framework of duties and responsibilities defined therein is effective at protecting the interest of the Bank and the Fund against fraud and can adapt to changes in work organization, business focus and stakeholder relationships ;
• The compliance and enforcement provisions, as drafted, are adequate, effective and, sufficient to deter non-compliance with the regulations.

The Consultant in undertaking the review, must have full regard to the overarching object of the financial regulations and will provide a written report and recommendations, including draft revised regulations, for the consideration of Senior Management as described below.

Deliverables

By the end of its mission, the Consultant is expected to deliver the following elements:

1. A comprehensive report (hereinafter “the report”) covering both the Bank and the Fund, including the different elements detailed in the “Scope of Consultant’s work” ;
2. A Word Document(s) highlighting the key regulations identified for revision, the rationale for the revision, and the proposed amendments/revisions ;
3. Draft Revised Financial Regulations for the Bank and the Fund ;
4. Source documents used for the benchmarking practices and external information driving the proposed changes to the regulations.

The Consultant is also expected to lead a closing presentation meeting with all relevant stakeholders to present the main findings, draft regulations and make final revisions, as appropriate, to the deliverables based on comments and inputs received.

Administration and Timeline :

• The Consultant will provide his/her services as defined in these Terms of Reference for six (6) months from the commencement of the contract ;
• The main tasks and milestones will consist in a) desk research, interviews, benchmarking and meetings with the Bank’s Management, Staff, and other appropriate means of data collection; and analysis: b) completing the 1^st draft of the report by the end of the first month of the contract and c) completing the final report and presentation to Senior Management and the Boards of Directors at the latest two weeks before the formal end of the contract ;
• In conducting the assigned tasks, the Consultant will have full access to relevant documents of the Bank Group ;
• During the term of the contract, the Consultant will work remotely unless agreed otherwise ;
• The Consultant will work under the supervision of the Director of the Financial Control department (FIFC).

Qualifications :

• At least a Master’s degree in Commercial/ Business and or Financial Law or equivalent. Possession of an MBA with a focus on Finance/Accounting would be an added advantage ;
• Have a minimum of fifteen (15) years of relevant work experience in drafting of business and financial regulations, policies and rules; including at least ten (10) years of work experience in a senior legal and/ or financial position within a multilateral development institution, development finance institution, or similar organization ;
• Expert knowledge of international commercial law and finance in a multilateral bank context ;
• Previous work or consultancy experience with the African Development Bank Group, and extensive knowledge of the African environment and development challenges ;
• Previous work or consultancy experience on subjects related to provision of advice on and drafting of Financial Regulations in a similar organization to the Bank Group ;
• Excellent contacts in other MDBs in order to inquire about their practices and facilitate peer-group practice benchmarking ;
• High-level skills in communication, analytical skills, conducting meetings and solving complex problems ;
• Ability to communicate and write effectively in English and/or French with good working knowledge of the other language.