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2024/ROETDAITBESIEMS/11241

Job offer type
Experts

Type of contract
Service contract

Activity sectors
Climate and Energy ; Business facilitation and regional integration ; Technological Innovation

Deadline date
2024/06/21 13:02

Duration of the assignment
Short term

Contract
Wage portage

Duration
3 mois

Mission description

1)     General objective 

The main objective of the consultancy is to develop National Strategies and implementation plan for the highlighted Member States on blue economy through a national consultative process, based on the Africa Blue Economy Strategy and the ECOWAS Strategy on Blue Economy.

Major duties and responsibilities: 

The specific objectives will be to: 

(i)        Develop a draft national Blue Economy strategy and implementation plan for the Selected Member States and their implementation plans, based on the Africa Blue Economy Strategy, regional strategies, and relevant international frameworks;

(ii)              Conduct review of existing instruments, institutions relevant to Blue Economy in the selected Member States;

(iii)            To engage with local stakeholders and national institutions;

(iv)      To develop specific frameworks for setting up national Blue Economy strategies and Blue Governance coordination mechanisms as well as a tool to supervise the level/extent of implementation;

(v)              Support and Facilitate stakeholder consultation in the region;

(vi)            Facilitate national stakeholder consultative sessions and discussions;

(vii)           Facilitate the process of validation of the final draft.

2)     Outcome

The consultant should provide the following:

·        A draft inception report within ten working days of signing the contract. The inception report should demonstrate a clear understanding of the assignment by the consultant(s). The report should also include a detailed work plan, timeline and deliverables of the assignment.

·        A baseline assessment and plan to address any information gaps through survey or other relevant data collection tools.

·        First draft of the national Blue Economy strategy to be submitted after 60 working days.

·        The second draft of the national Blue Economy strategy to be submitted after 90 working days incorporating all comments and suggestions made by stakeholders.

·        A comprehensive report on the consultancy with lessons and best practices.

·        Participate and present the draft of the national Blue Economy strategy at a consultative meeting with stakeholders.

 

Project or context description

Expertise France is a French public international cooperation agency. It designs and implements projects which aim to contribute to the balanced development of partner countries, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and the priorities of France’s external action. Expertise France’s mission is to meet the demand of partner countries seeking to enhance the quality of their public policies in order to address the environmental, social, economic and security challenges they are facing. The agency achieves this goal by implementing projects in the main areas of public action: 

-    Democratic, economic and financial governance;

-    Stability, international security and peace Stability, international security and peace;

-    Sustainable development, climate and agriculture;

-    Health and human development.

In order to give substance to this dialogue and to enshrine it in the long term and with a specific focus on the second theme of its declaration of intent, a total of EUR 2.75 Million in funding have been granted by the French Development Agency (AFD) to Expertise France in the form of a technical assistance and capacity-building facility to support the African Union (AU) on issues within its area of expertise.

Based on a request from different departments from the African Union Commission (AUC), the French Facility for Technical Assistance to the AU facilitated the conduct of a number of studies, strategy and policy papers aimed at supporting the AUC on topics related to economy and commerce.

The Africa Blue Economy Strategy

The Africa Blue Economy Strategy (ABES) was adopted in 2019 with the objective of allowing Africa to guide the development of an inclusive and sustainable blue economy that becomes a significant contributor to continental transformation and growth, based on SDG14: Life Below Water, and the aspirations of Agenda 2063. The strategy rests on the following thematic areas:

1.      Fisheries, aquaculture, conservation, and sustainable aquatic ecosystems;

2.      Shipping/transportation, trade, ports, maritime security, safety, and enforcement;

3.      Coastal and maritime tourism, climate change, resilience, environment, infrastructure;

4.      Sustainable energy and mineral resources and innovative industries;

5.      Policies, institutional frameworks and governance, employment, job creation and poverty eradication, innovative financing.

The implementation of the ABES will play an important role in the development of communities, AU member states, regions and Regional Economic Communities. It has the potential to drive job creation, innovation, security, and protection of key aquatic assets. However, the implementation process is complex, multi-sectoral, multi-level and encompasses a broad range of stakeholders.

(i)    Economic output: the blue economy must increase revenue, value addition, sustainable income, and contribute to the creation of decent, dignified jobs on the continent, especially for youth and women, while fostering value addition within the continent and the creation of knowledge-based economies;

(ii)   Environmental sustainability: the creation of the aforementioned economic outputs is in dissociable from the health of the environment. Furthermore, the blue economy must also achieve conservation and environmental protection aims;

(iii) Social capital: the blue economy must mainstream gender concerns and achieve principles of equity and access, as well as include youth in a meaningful way;

(iv) Policy outcomes:  the blue economy is also interlinked with safety, security and good governance measures, frameworks, instruments and strategies at continental, regional, sub-regional and national levels.

In view of the above, consultancy services are required to develop the national blue economy strategy of 3 ECOWAS countries, and produce the final strategy document. The following countries from the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) targeted are the following:

The Republic of the Benin

The Republic of Gambia

The Republic of Guinea-Bissau

Required profile

1)     Number of experts per assignment: 1

2)     Profile of the designated expert responsible for contract execution

The Consultant: 90 days

The Consultant will provide advice and technical support to the French-AU Technical Facility and African Union Commission (Blue Economy Division) stakeholders on the implementation of the Blue economy strategies. In addition, she/he will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the mission, including planning, coordination of inputs, ensuring that outcomes are delivered, and that the overall quality of the services provided is maintained. The Consultant will have overall responsibility for the smooth running and timely implementation of the project. She/he will be responsible for coordination with the main stakeholders and networks approached during the mission. 

Expertise and Qualifications

The ideal candidate should possess the following qualifications and experience:

Qualifications and skills: 

·        Advanced degree in Environmental Science, Marine Biology, Statistics, Environmental Management, or a related field;

·         At least 10 years of experience in project/Program design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, preferably in the marine/ maritime and environment sector.

Specific Professional Experience:

·        In-depth knowledge of and experience in development of strategy in an African Country;

·        Good record of working with relevant national, continental institutions and specialized regional institutions on blue economy;

·        Record of interaction with relevant Blue Economy institutions in AU Member States and/or Regional Economic Communities;

·        Familiarity with the blue economy concept and its relevance to sustainable development;

·        Strong analytical, report-writing, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills;

Required Skills:

·        At least one African Union language; knowledge of additional African Union languages would be beneficial.

·        Demonstrates focus on achieving quality results and impact.

·        Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Additional information

1)     Anticipated deliverables

The Consultant will deliver an inception report, an interim report including the final draft by the stakeholders, AUC and French-AU Technical Facility.

(i)               Inception Report outlining the approach, methodology, and work plan.

(ii)              Baseline Assessment Report.

(iii)            Draft National BES Methodology.

(iv)            Final National BES Methodology.

(v)              Training materials and workshop reports.

(vi)            Final Comprehensive Report with recommendations.

Name of report

Content

Time of submission

Draft Inception report

The report should also include a detailed work plan, timeline and deliverables of the assignment.

To be submitted within 10 days of signing the contract.

Needs/ Baseline  Assessment

A baseline assessment and plan to address any information gaps through survey or other relevant data collection tools

To be submitted within 15 days of signing the contract

First draft

National blue economy strategies

To be submitted after 30 days

Second draft

National Blue Economy strategies

To be submitted after 45 days of signing the contract and upon conclusion of the consultative meeting with national stakeholders and incorporation of their inputs.

Final draft

Comprehensive report on the consultancy with lessons and best practices

No later than 5 months following the signature of the contract and upon a conclusion of the validation workshops by all relevant stakeholders and incorporation of their inputs.

 

2)     Submission and approval of reports

Electronic versions of the reports referred to above must be submitted to the Coordinator of the French-AU Technical Facility and African Union Commission (Blue Economy Division). The reports must be written in English. The coordinator and the Blue Economy Division of the AUC are responsible for approving the reports. 

3)     Language requirement

Proficiency in one of the African Union working languages, knowledge of two or more other working language(s) would be an added value.

4)     Evaluation criteria

Interested candidates must provide information demonstrating that she/he has the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the services.  Consulting firms may propose individual consultant/s, but only the experience and qualifications of individuals shall be used in the selection process, and that his or her corporate experience shall not be considered, and the contract would be signed with the proposed individual. 

Interested candidates are requested to submit their CV together with the copies of their diploma, and possibly the references. 

5)    Coordination 

Ø  The service provider shall designate a single contact person for project implementation purposes. M. Kervin Kumapley, Project Coordinator of the Expertise France AU Facility, will be the service provider’s contact persons. Name: Mr. Kervin Kumapley - E-mail: kervin.kumapley@expertisefrance.fr

Ø  AUC Blue Economy’ contact address: Mr. Georges H. Mba Asseko, HoD, Blue Economy - Email: mbaassekog@africa-union.org

 

Ø  Implementation period: From the date the contract is awarded to latest 5 months following the signature of the contract;

Ø  Start date: from the date the contract is awarded (early July);

Ø  Latest end date: 5 months following the signature of the contract;

Ø  Mission location: The mission is home based with travel when required;

Ø  The duration of the assignment is 90 days, starting from the date of contract signing.

Selection criteria for applications

The selection process for candidates will be based on the following criteria :

  • Candidate’s training/skills/experience

Deadline for application : 2024/06/21 13:02

File(s) attached : Expert France ToRs National BE strategies (ECOWAS)_Final_EN.docx - Expert France ToRs National BE strategies (ECOWAS)_Final_FR.docx

Expertise France is the public agency for designing and implementing international technical cooperation projects. The agency operates around four key priorities :

  • democratic, economic, and financial governance ;
  • peace, stability, and security ;
  • climate, agriculture, and sustainable development ;
  • health and human development ;

In these areas, Expertise France conducts capacity-building initiatives and manages project implementation, leveraging technical expertise and acting as a project coordinator. This involves combining public sector expertise with private sector skills to drive impactful results. 

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