The second pillar of the WASOP programme implemented by Expertise France aims to support the implementation of a sustainable and inclusive Blue Economy in 13 countries in West Africa.

Under Outcome 3, it is planned to select and implement pilot actions in the area of the sustainable blue economy. Funded by grants, the objective of these actions will be to demonstrate the potential of the sustainable blue economy as a driver for development. Pilot projects will have to meet a set of criteria: inclusiveness, replicability, sustainability, etc.

Expertise France will monitor these grants and report on activities to the European Union, the WASOP programme’s funder. The Grant Manager will implement the methodology developed by Expertise France to launch a call for projects and monitor grants.

In liaison with the project team (Project Director, Deputy Director, Procurement Officer in particular), they will perform the following tasks:

Identification of Blue Economy projects to be supported - Grant award:

The Grant Manager will be responsible for the entire design, dissemination and development process of the Call for Projects on Blue Economy. They will work closely with the Procurement officer of the WASOP team and in liaison with the grant team and the Department of Legal Affairs (DAJ) at the headquarters of Expertise France. Their tasks will include:

·       Regional sector monitoring and identification of potential initiatives and project promoters;

·       Preparation of the call for projects: specification of priority areas, objectives, desired leverage effects.

·       Guidelines for the award of grants and documents required for the publication of the call for projects. The terms of reference will specify the areas of intervention (green and blue ports, improvement of value chains, integrated aquaculture, circular economy, payments for ecosystem services, etc.), the sizing of the call for projects (duration, amounts, eligible activities) and the criteria for selecting initiatives;

·       Communication on the call for projects through the various channels of the WASOP programme (website, networks, partners, etc.);

·       Publication on the PLACE digital platform: answering any questions and organising public information meetings and training of beneficiaries in response to calls for projects;

·       Selection of beneficiary initiatives: Organization and participation in the multi-criteria evaluation process and selection of project leaders. This step may include participation in the evaluation committee, workshops for pre-selected recipients, requests for supplements, compliance checks, etc.

·       Management of the contracting process: Organization of the contract signing process and formalization of internal documents.

Monitoring the deployment of pilot projects - operational, financial and administrative execution:

The Grant Manager will monitor project execution, identify potential barriers and opportunities, and liaise with grant recipients. This includes, but is not limited to:

·       Development of tools for monitoring grant projects: dashboard, activities planning, analysis of work programmes;

·       Regular liaison and coordination with projects (meetings, missions, exchanges);

·       Monitoring and participation in project governance bodies: monitoring committees;

·       Reminder of deadlines and control of narrative reports at contractual deadlines;

·       In conjunction with the administrative and financial team: development of financial tools for monitoring grants (file for financial reporting, tracking expenses etc...);

·       Monitoring of payment requests and financial reports from beneficiaries for all projects;

·       Monitoring of compliance with EF administrative procedures by the partner(s): rules for public contracts and grants, procurement and contracting, supporting documents, etc.;

·       Verification and control of consistency (accuracy of amounts, completeness, exchange rate, etc.) between expenses recorded in the partners' expenditure logs with the supporting documents transmitted;

·       Analysis of operational and financial risks, and identification of actions to minimize them (in particular the risks of ineligibility of expenses);

·       Overall support for the successful implementation of projects to achieve the expected results/impacts.

Support for capacity building of structures:

Additional technical support will be provided to beneficiaries, in addition to the grant, to ensure the success of projects: training, capacity building, cross-functional support for business management, communication and awareness campaigns, etc.

The Grant Manager will:

·       Identify technical support needs and propose solutions, by identifying providers or directly supporting beneficiaries;

·       Training and ownership of the administrative and financial aspects of EF grants among beneficiaries;

·       Support and train grant recipients on the Expertise France procedures.

Reporting and monitoring and evaluation:

In connection with the MEAL Expert, the Grants Manager will oversee the monitoring and reporting of project performance indicators:

·       Development and regular feeding of the global grants monitoring dashboard;

·       Validation of the beneficiaries’ narrative reports;

·       If necessary, commissioning of external evaluation exercises for pilot projects;

·       Communication during the execution of projects, in particular with the European Union Delegation;

·       Capitalization and compilation of results: organization of peer exchanges, workshops, events, etc.

Capitalization

The Grants - Blue Economy Pilot Projects Manager will be in charge of overseeing the development of the strategy for capitalizing on the pilot projects and disseminating the results at regional/multi-country and international level.  To do so, they will work closely with the Communication Manager of the project and the WASOP SBE Practitioners’ Network Officer.

·       Organization of the framing of the capitalization strategy for pilot projects (mobilization in conjunction with the WASOP team and dedicated experts)

·       Organization, in conjunction with the communication team/network to discuss successes and pitfalls encountered and to feed strategic exchanges/partnerships

·       Direct deployment or follow-up of the deployment of the capitalization strategy.

External audit:

Supported by the Procurement Officer, the Grants Manager will commission and oversee the conduct of annual grant audits:

·       Contracting of audit firms and ordering services;     

·       Support for the preparation of annual audits of grants in conjunction with the focal points of the partners;

·       Receipt of audit reports.

Archiving:

The Grant Manager will be in charge of archiving all operational, accounting and financial documentation for grants, following the procedures of Expertise France.