EOI - Preparation of the Country Diagnostic Note for Eswatini - RDGS at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

African Development Bank Group (AfDB) - Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Expression of Interest: Preparation of the Country Diagnostic Note for Eswatini - RDGS

Location: Pretoria, South Africa
Consultant type: Individual Consultant
Job family: Other

Background

• The African Development Bank hereby invites individual consultants to indicate their interest in the following assignment: Preparation of the Country Diagnostic Note (CDN) for Eswatini. The assignment is critical in the formulation of the Bank’s new strategy for Eswatini, covering the period 2025-2029.
• Eswatini is slowly emerging from a difficult period characterized by slow growth, persistent fiscal deficits, volatile and declining SACU receipts, severe cash flow challenges, and large domestic arrears. Public debt rapidly escalated in recent years while the external sector faced considerable pressures.
• The country’s competitiveness has been stagnant while the investment climate became unattractive due to infrastructure bottlenecks, high cost of doing business and structural weaknesses that hampered robust private sector development.
• Over the last few years, Eswatini’s economy was hit by a fourfold crisis that included climate change induced floods; outbreak COVID-19 pandemic that stalled economic activity and resulted in more than 1420 deaths; Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that stoked inflation and induced key supply constraints; as well as a civil unrest. Structural transformation is occurring, albeit at a slow pace.
• Poverty has remained high (58.9%), while inequality and unemployment (33%) have remained entrenched, particularly among the youth (58.2%), amidst high HIV/AIDS prevalence (27.2%).
• The macroeconomic imbalances and structural bottlenecks are putting a break on the high rates of growth as well as its inclusivity, resulting in unfavourable social indicators.
• To address the above challenges, the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini designed successive reform focused programs that include the Strategic Plan for Economic Recovery (2019-22), National Development Plan (2019-22), post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery Strategy as well as a Fiscal Adjustment Plan supported by IFIs. The Government also approved a new NDP (2023-27), which entrenches further reforms to accelerate economic transformation.

Purpose of the Assignment

• The purpose of the assignment is to prepare a comprehensive Country Diagnostic Note (CDN) for Eswatini and to identify the binding constraints to inclusive growth and sustainable development. The CDN will serve as a guide for the Bank’s engagement with the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini over the medium-term. It will provide an analysis of Eswatini’s socio-economic situation and prospects and discuss the policies that need to be implemented to accelerate inclusive growth and achieve the Bank’s High-5s. The CDN will inform the strategic choices for the next Bank’s Country Strategy Paper for Eswatini (2025-2029) and selection of the areas of intervention, the priority areas.
• The proposed work will use existing national and sectoral reports as well as international data to generate a succinct story of Eswatini’s growth and sectoral performance as well as identifying emerging issues going forward. The CDN will underscore the enablers and binding constraints to inclusive growth and social transformation as well as the areas on which the Bank should focus its interventions over the medium-term.

Main Activities and Deliverables

• Prepare, as well as collate macroeconomic and sector inputs, and the draft the CDN for Eswatini. The consultant will ensure that the Bank’s CDN guideline is followed and that all required inputs are included and updated.
• Review existing national planning documents, knowledge products produced by the Bank, development partners and other sources to develop a strong context for the CDN and use the same to prepare the CDN.
• Review and finalize draft sector/thematic notes prepared by the Bank’s sector departments.
• Apply comments by the Bank team to revise and update the entire report to ensure coherence of the story line, interlinkages, and data consistency within and across the different chapters and sections. Revise and update the draft CDN following any additional team comments.

Qualifications, Experience and Competencies
Education:
The candidate should possess at least a Master’s Degree or its equivalent in Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, Development Finance or related field. A PhD in the related fields will be a distinct advantage.

Work Experience:

• Demonstrated work experience of not less than 8 solid years gained in a reputable international development financial institution, government agency or policy-oriented institution with special focus on leading teams in delivering on corporate strategies and/or flagship reports.
• Prior experience in preparing high quality policy, economic research, developing diagnostics or strategy documents, economic intelligence briefs as well as technical and analytical reports, is indispensable.
• The candidate should demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and possess strong interpersonal and networking skills. Prospective applicants should be prepared to work in a culturally diverse environment.
• Demonstrable understanding of socio-economic landscape and current policy dynamics of the economy of Eswatini economy including the political setting is critical.
• Excellent report-writing skills and distinguished track record in the assignment. For this assignment, excellent written and verbal communication skills in English is required.
• Knowledge of and working on similar assignments in other developing countries will be an advantage.
• Ability to think critically and independently to analyze and synthesize complex economic and policy issues affecting economic growth and development in Eswatini.

Other Skills:

•  Capacity to deliver output in a timely manner and ability to use relevant computer packages (especially proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Econometric modelling packages – e.g., E-Views, STATA, GAMS, etc).

Criteria for Short Listing of Candidates:

• The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short-list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the Bank’s Rules and Procedure for Acquisition of Consulting Services and according to criteria set out in Table 1. Please note that expression of interest does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include the candidate in the shortlist.
• A shortlist of individual consultants will be established at the closing date of submission of the Request for Expressions of Interest (REoI).
• Shortlisted consultants will be evaluated based on the following criteria as reflected in their Curriculum Vitae/resumes.

EOI Submission and Evaluation Criteria:

• The African Development Bank, thus, invites individual consultants to indicate their interest (EOI) in providing the above-described services. Interested consultants shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to undertake this assignment. This should include a detailed CV/Resume, motivation letter highlighting qualifications, experience in and reference to similar services/ assignments and proposed approaches to the assignment. A detailed ToR is attached for reference.
• The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the Bank’s Procurement Policy and Procedures for the Recruitment of Corporate Consultants. 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.
• Only the proposals scoring 70 points or above shall be considered for this assignment. A shortlist will be prepared, with a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of six (6) Consultants to be selected on the basis of their qualifications and professional experience related to the proposed assignment. All the Consultants’ final scores shall be ranked and the highest ranked Consultant will be selected for the said assignment if his/her fees are within budget limits. Should the highest scoring consultant’s financial proposal exceed the budgeted amount, the consultant will be contacted for negotiations. If no agreement is reached, the next highest scoring consultant shall be contacted until a suitable financial proposal is achieved.

Remuneration
The successful candidate will be paid in accordance with the Bank’s guidelines for remuneration of individual consultants and will be commensurate with qualifications for the task and satisfactory delivery of all the outputs. The cost will be inclusive of honorarium and reimbursable costs. Should the highest scoring consultant’s financial proposal exceed the budgeted amount, the consultant will be contacted for negotiations. If no agreement is reached, the next highest scoring consultant shall be contacted until a suitable financial proposal is realized.

Application Closing Date
26th May 2023 at 17:00hrs (GMT).

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Expressions of interest to the address below and specifically mentioning Preparation of the Country Diagnostic Note for Eswatini.
African Development Bank,
RDGS, 339 Witch Hazel Street,
Highveld Extension 78,
Centurion 0157,
South Africa.
Emails: Afdb_rdcs_recruit@afdb.org copy: t.baidoo@afdb.org

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Click here for the Job Description (PDF)

Note

• The assignment is expected to be completed within four and half months (4.5 months), with an estimated starting date of 15th June 2023 and completion date of 31 October 2023.
• The consultant will need to commit effort equivalent to three person months. The consultant may work from their location and may travel to Eswatini for consultations necessary.