Selection of an Individual Consultant as a Project Officer for Eastern Africa Regional Statistics Program for Results Project

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT)

Country: Eastern Africa Region

Name of Project: Eastern Africa Regional Statistics Program for Results

Grant No: P176371

Assignment Title: Consulting Service for a Project Officer

Reference No. TN-STATAFRIC - AUC-388642-CS-INDV

The African Union Commission has received financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the Eastern Africa Regional Statistics Program for Results, and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services.

The consulting services (“the Services”) include Consulting Service for a Project Officer. The Project Officer is responsible for the day-to-day management and implementation of the Project, including provide inputs on technical issues of the project and handle all substantive administrative matters related to project implementation as per the project operations manual and the grant agreement. Specific tasks include:

• Assist STATAFRIC’s Staff for technical and functional matters in each work stream. He/She will be in charge of the organization of activities with the AU Member States and service providers (for goods and services), and other stakeholders;
• Assist STATAFRIC in the preparation of annual work plans, training plan, and terms of reference of short-term consultants. and assist in the preparation and finalization of procurement plan in line with the agreed World Bank Project documents including the procurement guidelines.;
• Prepare realistic annual budget in line with the work plans and following STATAFRIC budget process guidelines;
• Facilitate effective communication and coordination between the Project staff and Project actors, STATAFRIC, AU Member States, RECs and the World Bank;
• Monitor the progress of the project, manage the project’s budget, and ensure the key milestones are achieved.
• Ensure timely submission of quarterly & annual physical and financial progress reports, including timely submission of IFR and Audit reports
• Identify any issues that may arise during the project implementation and follow-up the effective resolution of the issues in order to keep the project on track.
• Ensure the project implementation aligns with the Project Management Plan;
• Follow-up the timely update of the work plan and the timely update of the procurement plan in STEP, following the evaluation of the project performance.
• Follow-up the statuses of agreed actions reached during implementation support missions held between the Bank and the AU.
• Assess business and technical issues, and propose changes as needed;
• Ensure timely validation of technical and functional deliverables;
• Provide Secretariat services in the meeting of the project Steering Committee and other relevant meetings;
• Perform any other duties that may be assigned to him/her by the Project Coordinator/Manager.

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

The African Union Commission now invites eligible individuals (“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:

• Master’s degree in either Statistics, Economics, or any other related field from a recognized University. The underlying bachelor’s degree (with honors) should be in either Statistics, Economics or any other related field;
• Relevant working experience of not less than eight years at national, regional or international level in the field of official statistics for master’s degree, three of which must be at senior management level, and twelve years for bachelor’s degree, five of which must be at senior management level;
• Knowledge of development cooperation, including in grant management from development Partner is an added advantage.
• Must have good knowledge of statistics software packages and Project Management software and statistical tools
• A clear understanding of statistical terms and concepts
• Project Management experience, and specific experience in managing World Bank financed projects
• Excellent speaking and writing in English speaking and writing other AUC working language is an add advantage. 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 2016, revised November 2020 (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.

A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Individual Consultant selection method set out in the Procurement Regulations.

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours i.e. 0900 to 1700 hours.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person, or by mail, or by e-mail) by 23 November 2023

African Union Commission,

Attn: Head of Supply Chain Management Division

Building C, 3rd Floor,

P.O Box 3243, Roosevelt Street

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Tel: +251 (0) 11 551 7700 – Ext 4305

Fax: +251 (0) 11 551 0442; +251 11-551-0430

E-mails: [email protected]

Terms of Reference

Consulting Service for a Project Officer

Background

Eastern Africa Regional Statistics Program for Results Project (EACPR) Project (P176371) was approved by the World Bank Board of Directors on May 13, 2022, for US$301 million.

This project will seek to address the challenges facing the region in general and the three-project participating East African countries: Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania (alphabetical order) in particular on harmonizing data and statistics development.

It also covers Continental and Regional entities: The African Union (AU) and the East African Community (EAC). The financing agreement for Eastern Africa Regional Statistics Program for Results Between INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION and AFRICAN UNION-GRANT NUMBER D999-3A, was signed on 09-July-2022 by the African Union Commission and on 23rd June-2022 by the International Development Association.

The continent has recently tried to harmonize, benchmark, and make readily available critical country statistics through the revised African Union Strategy for Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA2) 2017-2026, a continent-wide initiative that the African heads of state have adopted that aims to address the constraints identified above that African statistical systems face and promote the regional integration agenda. SHaSA2 is anchored in four strategic themes:

• Production of better-quality statistics through harmonization of statistical standards and methods;
• Strengthening cooperation between institutions within the African statistical system, establishing effective coordination mechanisms, and setting statistical priorities to support the integration agenda;
• Building sustainable institutional capacity through reform of national statistical systems (NSSs) and establishing an effective technological environment for dissemination and use of data; and
• Promoting a culture of quality decision making. The objective of the project is to strengthen the regional harmonization, dissemination and use of core economic and social statistics for Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania. This is aligned with the Strategy for Harmonization of Statistics in Africa 2017 – 2026 (SHaSA2).

As part of the implementation of the EACPR, AUC has set up a project implementation unit (PIU) to support the African Union Institute for Statistics (STATAFRIC) for the implementation of the project. One of the positions of PIU is project officer.

Objectives of the assignment

The Project Officer is responsible for the day-to-day management and implementation of the Project, including provide inputs on technical issues of the project and handle all substantive administrative matters related to project implementation as per the project operations manual and the grant agreement.

Scope and general description of the work

The project-specific tasks include:

• Assist STATAFRIC’s Staff for technical and functional matters in each work stream. He/She is in charge of the organization of activities with the AU Member States and service providers (for goods and services), and other stakeholders;
• Assist STATAFRIC in the preparation of annual work plans, training plan, terms of reference of short-term consultants. and assist in the preparation and finalization of procurement plan in line with the agreed World Bank Project documents including the procurement guidelines.;
• Prepare realistic annual budget in line with the work plans and following STATAFRIC budget process guidelines;
• Facilitate effective communication and coordination between the Project staff and Project actors, STATAFRIC, AU Member States, RECs and the World Bank;
• Monitor the progress of the project, manage the project’s budget, and ensure the key milestones are achieved.
• Ensure timely submission of quarterly & annual physical and financial progress reports, including timely submission of IFR and Audit reports
• Identify any issues that may arise during the project implementation and follow-up the effective resolution of the issues in order to keep the project on track.
• Ensure the project implementation aligns with the Project Management Plan;
• Follow-up the timely update of the work plan and the timely update of the procurement plan in STEP, following the evaluation of the project performance.
• Follow-up the statuses of agreed actions reached during implementation support missions held between the Bank and the AU.
• Assess business and technical issues, and propose changes as needed;
• Ensure timely validation of technical and functional deliverables;
• Provide Secretariat services in the meeting of the project Steering Committee and other relevant meetings;
• Perform any other duties that may be assigned to him/