Recruitment of an external audit and independent verification of the DLIs of the GFMDP — Project P166695

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

Name of Project: The Gambia Fiscal Management Development Project (P166695)

Grant No.: IDA-D6190

Assignment Title: Recruitment of an external audit and independent verification of the DLIs of the GFMDP

Reference No. GM-PPPPE-199306-CS-LCS

The Government of The Gambia (the Recipient) has been allocated grant funds (the “Grant”) from the International Development Association (IDA) (the “Bank”) and executed by the Ministry of Finance & Economic Affairs - MoFEA (“the Client”), and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services: Recruitment of an external audit and independent verification of the DLIs of the GFMDP.

Reporting to the Director of the DPPP

Objectives of the audit: The purpose of the audit of the project financial statements is to provide a professional opinion on the financial position of The Gambia Fiscal Management Development Project (FMDP for the periods ending 12 months ending 31 December 2020 covering the Project Preparatory Advance and the two subsequent accounting periods ending 31 December 2022 to ensure that the resources provided for the projects are being used to achieve project intended objectives. The project’s books of account provide the basis for preparation of the financial statements and are established to reflect the financial transactions in respect of the project.

Objective of the verification engagement: The Independent Verification Agent will be responsible for the regular verification of the Eligible Expenditure Program spending and results reports. The firm will issue an opinion on the accuracy and fair view of the information presented by the Directorate of Public Private Partnership on the Eligible Expenditure Programs and Disbursement Linked Indicators. This certificate should be sent to the World Bank once available. The IVF activity aims to verify the accuracy of DLIs reported by the responsible Government entities, which is essentially a performance audit.

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment are attached to this request for expressions of interest.

Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA) now invites eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The shortlisting criteria are:

FIRM QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE

Qualification of the audit and verification firm:

• The firm should have proved experience of carrying such validation audits for donor-funded projects at national and international levels, at least two (2) projects funded by the World Bank/IDA in the last three (3) years.

• The firm must have at least Five (5) years-experience of financial audit including at least Three (3) years-experience in auditing projects funded by the World Bank/IDA and a good knowledge of the administrative process, audit of public procurement, financial and accounting management procedures.

• The firm should be registered in the Chartered Accountants Association of the Gambia and/or in Chartered Accountancy Association recognized at the international level by IFAC, having a confirmed experience in performance audit of development projects and acceptable by the IDA

The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Section III, paragraphs, 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” July dated July 2016 and revised November 2017 and August 2018 (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.

Consultants may associate with other firms in the form of a joint venture or a sub consultancy to enhance their qualifications.

A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Least- Cost-Based Selection (LCS) method set out in the Consultant Guidelines.

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours from 09:00 to 16:00.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person, or by mail, or by e-mail) by close of business 8th December 2020.

National Audit Office

Kanifing Industrial Estate

Telephone: (+220) 996-2251, 204-2511

E-mail: [email protected] , [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

TERMS OF REFERENCE

• BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

The Government of The Gambia (the Recipient) has been allocated grant funds (the “Grant”) from the International Development Association (IDA) (the “Bank”) and executed by the Ministry of Finance & Economic Affairs - MoFEA (“the Client”). The Client intends to apply the funds to eligible payments under the contract for which this Request for Proposals is issued. Payments by the Bank will be made only at the request of the Client and upon approval by the Bank, and will be subject, in all respects, to the terms and conditions of the financing agreement. The financing agreement prohibits a withdrawal from the grant account for the purpose of any payment to persons or entities, or for any import of goods, if such payment or import, to the knowledge of the Bank, is prohibited by a decision of the United Nations Security council taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. No party other than the Client shall derive any rights from the financing/grant agreement or have any claims to the proceeds of the grant. “For this contract, the Borrower shall process the payments using the Direct Payment disbursement method, as defined in the World Bank’s Disbursement Guidelines for Investment Project Financing.”

• OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this engagement is to audit the project financial statements and perform the independent verification of the project disbursement linked indicators defined in subcomponent 2.1 of the project and adequacy of Eligible Expenditures Program (EEP). The objectives of the two separate engagement are:

2.1 Objectives of the audit

The purpose of the audit of the project financial statements is to provide a professional opinion on the financial position of The Gambia Fiscal Management Development Project (FMDP for the periods ending 12 months ending 31 December 2020 covering the Project Preparatory Advance and the two subsequent accounting periods ending 31 December 2022 to ensure that the resources provided for the projects are being used to achieve project intended objectives. The project’s books of account provide the basis for preparation of the financial statements and are established to reflect the financial transactions in respect of the project.

•

• Objective of the verification engagement

The Independent Verification Agent will be responsible for the regular verification of the Eligible Expenditure Program spending and results reports. The firm will issue an opinion on the accuracy and fair view of the information presented by the Directorate of Public Private Partnership on the Eligible Expenditure Programs and Disbursement Linked Indicators. This certificate should be sent to the World Bank once available. The IVF activity aims to verify the accuracy of DLIs reported by the responsible Government entities, which is essentially a performance audit.

• RESPONSIBILITY FOR PREPARATION OF ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The FMDP PIU shall be responsible for preparing financial statements and accompanying notes and annexes, in accordance with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) including the maintenance of adequate accounting records and internal controls, the selection and application of accounting policies, the safeguarding of the assets of the project, and adequate disclosure. As part of the audit process, the auditor will request from management written confirmation concerning representations made to us in connection with the audit.

• SCOPE OF THE AUDIT AND DLIs VERIFICATION

4.1. SCOPE OF THE FINANCIAL AUDIT

The audit will be conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. Those Standards require that the auditor plans and performs the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatements. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.

• In complying with International Standards on Auditing, the auditor is expected to pay particular attention to the following matters, including special considerations for public sector entities:

• In planning and performing the audit to reduce audit risk to an acceptably low level, the auditor should consider the risks of material misstatements in the financial statements due to fraud, as required by International Standard on Auditing 240.

• When designing and performing audit procedures and in evaluating and reporting the results thereof, the auditor should recognize that noncompliance by the entity with laws and regulations may materially affect the financial statements, as required by International Standard on Auditing 250.

• The auditor should communicate audit matters of governance interest arising from the audit of financial statements to those charged with governance of an entity, as required by International Standard on Auditing 260.

• The auditor should appropriately communicate to those charged with governance and to management any deficiencies in internal control that the auditor has identified in an audit of financial statements, as required by International Standard on Auditing 265.

• To reduce audit risk to an acceptably low level, the auditor should determine overall responses to assessed risks at the fina