Terms of Reference – Country Review Individual Consultants

TERMS OF REFERENCE

COUNTRY REVIEW INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANTS 

1. BACKGROUND

The African Peer Review Mechanism was established in 2003 by the African Union Heads of State and Government with the primary purpose of fostering practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable and inclusive development, as well as accelerated regional and continental integration. It seeks to rectify underlying deficiencies in governance and socioeconomic development processes among member states of the African Union. The APRM covers four thematic areas: (i) Democracy and political governance; (ii) Economic management and governance; (iii) Corporate governance; and (iv) Socio-economic development. Participating countries go through detailed review processes (including consultations with government, the private sector, civil society and other stakeholders), culminating in a peer review exercise at the level of Heads of State and Government.

Annex 3 to this ToR presents details of the APRM structures and review processes. A key feature of the APRM is that it is home grown. This, as well as its voluntary nature, are important in buttressing and consolidating Africa’s ownership of its development agenda. As an assessment and monitoring tool, the APRM can also help to track progress towards meeting regional and international development aspirations and commitments including AU’s Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The African Union and the Heads of State are cognizant of this and in January 2017 expanded the mandate of the Mechanism from the core reviews to monitoring and evaluation role for the African Union Agenda 2063 and the SDGs. This is a reflection of the confidence reposed in the Mechanism and will contribute to the universalization of the APRM where all AU member states will become members of the APRM.

Description of the Project

 On 28^th March 2018, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank approved the APRM Institutional Support Project. The project will help strengthen the APRM and contribute to the delivery of its mandate. It will support the implementation of the 2016-2020 Strategic Plan and reposition the APRM as an instrument for monitoring AU Agenda 2063 and the SDGs. Apart from addressing the immediate challenges faced by the Mechanism, the grant will help in the review and refinement of the APRM tools and processes, to ensure that the Mechanism remains relevant in a rapidly changing world, and is also able to take on board the expanded mandate and expectations of member countries. In this regard, the project is expected to support the refinement of the APRM Methodology and Processes, including the revision of the questionnaire and development of indicators for the expanded mandate and reinforcement of modalities for ensuring the implementation of the National Programmes of Action that emerge from the reviews and tracking progress over time through a well-articulated M& E Framework. The project will also help the Mechanism to undertake research and diagnostic works and to develop a repository of knowledge in the form of a knowledge hub, targeting policy makers, academia, the private sector and civil society, among others.

In the context of the implementation of the project, the APRM is planning to set up a pool of prequalified experts and senior experts who will participate in the Country Review Missions conducted throughout the year and for which these Terms of Reference (TORs) are prepared.

The Process

The APRM is a self-monitoring mechanism to encourage the adoption of policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated regional economic integration through the exchange of experiences and reinforcement of best practices including identifying deficiencies and assessing the needs for capacity building of the participating countries. So far, 37 of the 55 Member States of the AU have acceded to the APRM and 21 of the country review reports have been peer-reviewed.

The APRM process comprises five phases:

1. i) Phase 1 is a preparatory step at both the national and continental level. During this phase, the national Focal Point establishes the National Governance Commission (NGC) and the sensitization and awareness campaign begins. Once these prerequisites are in place, the country commences the national self-assessment stage. During this stage, the country is also required to develop a Preliminary National Program of Action (NPOA) to address existing capacity constraints. On its part, the continental APR Secretariat compiles basic information on the country called the Background Paper that is used to augment, compare and contract with the national self-assessment that the country prepares. These three (3) documents namely (i) the self-assessment report on governance, (ii) the preliminary NPOA and (iii) the background paper constitute the basis key issues paper that will be prepared ahead of the country review mission.
2. ii) The Country Review Mission (CRM) marks Phase 2 of the process.

iii) Phase 3 is the preparation of the country review report by the review mission that visits the country.

1. iv) Phase 4 is the submission of the report of the country review mission to the continental APRM Secretariat and the APR Panel for deliberation and recommendations. The Panel submits the country review report and recommendations to the Forum of Heads of State for action. Phase 4 ends with Chairman of the Forum communicating the decisions of Heads of State and Government of the country under peer review.
2. v) Phase 5, which is the final stage of the APRM process, involves making public the country review report and actions relating thereto.

• OBJECTIVES

The specific Objectives of the CRM are to visit member countries and carry out the widest possible range of consultations with the Government officials, political parties, parliamentarians, academia, trade unions, faith-based organizations, business, professional bodies and other non-state actors.

APRM now invites African Nationals Experts with experience and expertise in, Economic Governance and Management (EGM), and Corporate Governance to submit their application to be included in one or several roster categories below which are:

1. Economic Governance and Management (EGM); and
2. Corporate Governance (CG)

The consultants will need to demonstrate extensive professional experience in at least one of the following Two (2) thematic areas with the following specific objectives:

2.1 Economic Governance and Management

1. i) Design and implement economic policies for sustainable development.
2. ii) Encourage ownership and participation of key stakeholders in policy formulation and Implementation.

iii) Promote sound public finance management.

1. iv) Fight corruption and money laundering.
2. v) Accelerate and deepen regional integration in the monetary, trade and investment domain.
3. vi) Develop and implement trade and investment policies that promote economic growth.

2.2 Corporate Governance

1. i) Promoting and Enabling Environment and Effective Regulatory Framework for Business organisations and other entities
2. ii) Ensuring Effective Leadership and Accountability of Organisations

iii) Ensuring Ethical Conduct Within Organisations

1. iv) Ensuring that Organisations Treat Stakeholders Fairly and Equitably
2. v) Ensuring that Organizations Act as Good Corporate Citizens

3.0  SCOPE OF SERVICES

Under the general Coordination of the Panel Member, and supervision of Country Coordinator at the APRM Secretariat, who will assess the relevance and quality of his/her deliverables against the TORs, the Consultant shall:

3.1  Familiarization with APRM documents and specific information developed for the Country

1. i) The expert is expected to familiarize themselves with the Base Documents of the and the APR Questionnaire.
2. ii) The expert will also be provided with the Background Paper on the Country and copies of the all the necessary documents (i.e. Country Self-assessment and draft National Programme of Action, the APRM Questionnaire) and specific information developed for the Country.

3.2  Identification of Issues

After analyzing all the collected and compiled documents, the identification of the issues should be informed by the following:

1. Issues related to the Codes, Law, Rules and Regulations in the Country;
2. Issues addressed in the Self-Assessment but needing reinforcement;
3. Issues that have been understated or inadequately addressed;
4. Issues that have been identified in the past but continue to have serious implementation problems;
5. Issues missed completely in the self-assessment report; and
6. Areas of discrepancy or divergence (from cross-checking with the Background paper).

3.3  The structure should follow the Objectives under each of the APRM thematic areas as outlined in the APRM Questionnaire. Cross-cutting or issues of an overarching nature have to be separately addressed.

3.4  The Beneficiaries of the final Report are the following:

1. The APRM Secretariat;
2. The APRM Panel; and
3. The Country undergoing the assessment.

3.5  Prioritization of Issues

Some effort should be made to prioritize the issues, and this may be aided by perusing the draft Programme of Action.

3.6  Participation and Rapporteur

1. The expert will be expected to participate in the Country Review visit and capture the unfolding issues of the visit, which will inform the final Country Review Report.
2. The expert will be expected to capture and explore the specific issues that have been identified in his/her thematic area and to feed this into the final Country Review Report.

• The expert will be expected to participate in breakaway sessions or bilateral meetings focusing on his/her specific thematic area and to keep a record of these sessions. This may include meetings and workshops outside of the capital.

1. The expert may also be required to investigate further specific issues for the thematic area either before, during or after the visit.
2. Further, the expert is required to participate in every briefing meeting of the team relating to the review. A briefing session will be held at the end of every day during the review mission.

3.7    Incorporating the Unfolding and Outcome of the Country Review Visit to the Report

Following the conclusion of the review visit, the expert shall incorporate the relevant details of the unfolding and outcome of the Country Review visit to the report. This section of the report should be circulated to the members of the team for comment, revision and finalization.

3.8 Finalization of the Country Review Report 

 3.8.1 The expert is required to finalize the Country Review Report based on comments or input received from the team and the APR Panel. The expert will ensure that correct feedback is given to team members and will incorporate all team member changes in the final draft for the Report.

• The report is to be satisfactory and acceptable to the APR Panel.
• Compile and collect the information necessary to develop the Country Review Report on the proposed theme

1. i) As per research ethics and requirements all the data available and sources used must be specified to allow for an overall perspective and verification of information;
2. ii) Data must have proper citations on the source of information and must be of quality, up-to-date and relevant to the topic under discussion.

iii)  Questions that arise as a result of the research and require further exploration by members of the review team should be highlighted.

1. iv) The paper should be analytical rather than descriptive.
2. v) Tables can be used to highlight areas of good practice and gaps requiring more study by the review mission.
3. vi) Tables and figures should be subtitled and sequentially numbered.

vii) Use the foot of each page for citations and other supplementary information (author, title, date, page numbering) that is tangential to the topic under discussion on the main page.

viii) Bibliography – provide a complete listing in the Harvard style.

3.9   Format for drafting the Country Review Report

A standard template for all Country Review reports is necessary to ensure comparability.

The content of the Report should be sufficiently comprehensive as the end-users, the Heads of States and Government, would not have to review related documents. In particular the Report should encompass a synthesis of the entire process (i.e. from accession stage to completion), and the substance of the thematic findings (flowing along thematic lines and by objectives and recommendations). An executive summary of about 10 to 15 pages should be included in the report.

3.10  The report shall provide the Country’s position regarding the Standards and Codes, as well as the Objectives of the APRM.

3.11   The Country Review Report shall follow the Framework enumerated under Deliverables.

3.12  Division of Labour

Each thematic expert is principally expected to draft a report for his/her thematic area, and to supervise the work of all review mission participants working within his/her thematic area. The Team leader is expected to contribute and/or supervise the consolidation and collation of the overall report as necessary. It is imperative that the team leader takes note of all details pertaining to the events and work of the mission that he/she took part in.

• DELIVERABLES

4.1 After the Country Review visit the independent expert is expected to prepare the Issues Paper focusing on a specific thematic issues.

4.2 The independent expert shall draft and finalize the Country Review Report.

4.3 The Reporting Framework Format shall be as follows:

      4.3.1 Standards and Codes

1. Status as observed from the Background Information (per Standard or Code).
2. An overview of the reporting in the self-assessment, capturing any further supplemental or divergent information.
3. The findings of the review team with regard to the issues identified under the Standards and Codes.
4. Recommendations and suggested action steps.

4.3.2  Objectives

1. The report will then go on to elaborate on each of the Objectives, following the above format.
2. Over-arching or cross-cutting issues should be captured in a separate section at the end of the report.
3. In addition, the Expert will be required to draft an Executive Summary for his/her thematic area, providing a synopsis of the report in the foregoing format.

5.0  TIME FRAME

The consultancy will be conducted in 15days to 28 days depending on the Country.

6.0  QUALIFICATION, EXPERIENCE & COMPETENCIES

6.1 Education

The Consultant should have one of the following education profile:

• A PhD in Economics and/or Business Administration and/or Corporate Governance, with a minimum of seven (7) years’ experience, or in related fields or;
• A Masters’ degree in Economics, and/or Business Administration, and/or Corporate Governance, with a minimum of ten (10) years’ experience or in related fields.

6.2 Experience, skills and competencies

1. Have at least ten (10) years progressively responsible in National/International experience in the relevant thematic area.
2. Have produced relevant research pertinent to Economic Governance and Management (EGM); and/or Corporate Governance;
3. Have produced Project or Program Reports when participating in or coordinating National or Regional Program or Project relevant to the thematic area with contribution to the Report Publication.
4. Extensive knowledge of the Constitutive Act of the African Union as well as the overall objectives of the APRM, in the thematic area of Economic Governance and Management (EGM), and/or Corporate Governance (CG);
5. Knowledge of current trends and best practices in development issues and in particular, internationally accepted governance codes and standards;
6. Knowledge of post-conflict Socio-economic context of African countries
7. Broad knowledge of international relations and development issues in Africa in general global terms;
8. Broad knowledge of one/or more Africa Country’s international relations and development issues;
9. Demonstrate effective ability for teamwork, as well as the ability to work independently
10. Have project management experience and able to respect deadlines; and
11. Language: The applicant must be able to communicate and write in English or French fluently. Knowledge of other AU languages may be an added advantage.

7.0 FACILITIES AND SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED BY THE CLIENT

The APRM Secretariat shall:

• Provide access to all information and stakeholders necessary for the consultant to carry out the assignment adequately; and
• To the extent a meeting may be necessary between the consultant and the staff of the APRM Secretariat, facilitate travel and pay other related expenses from APRM resources.

 8.0 PAYMENT

• A lump sum amount will be paid to the Consultant for the work.
• Payment will be linked to deliverables and timeframe.

9.0 LOCATION

The Consultant shall carry out the assignment in the Country of Review and at a location of their choice.

10.0 GENERAL INFORMATION

1. All consultancies will be advertised on an equal opportunity basis.
2. The performance criteria to be used to assess the consultant shall be based on the deliverables and scope of work defined in this Terms of Reference
3. The Roster will be maintained for three (3) years.

11.0  LANGUAGE OF ASSIGNMENT

The Language of assignment shall be English or French.

12.0 EVALUATION CRITERIA

• Candidates who score 70% or higher will be considered as technically qualified to be included in the roster as experts for each category they have applied for.
• Candidates who score 80% or higher will be considered as technically qualified to be included in the roster as senior experts for each of the category they have applied for.
• This is the first step of selection of Consultants to be included in the pool.
• A second selection process will be conducted to determine the most qualified consultant in terms of language, understanding of specific country etc for a specific assignment in the future.

13. REMUNERATION

The Consultant shall provide their financial proposal as and when they are called upon.

 14. MODE OF APPLICATION

All applications in writing should be accompanied by up-to-date detailed Curriculum Vitae with the names and addresses of three referees, one of which should be the last consultancy.

The Consultant is required to send her/his CV with information (on her/his education, experience, expertise, skills and former position capability pertinent to the items related to the evaluation criteria as described in the paragraph 12.0.

The applications to be addressed to:

African Peer Review Mechanism Secretariat

Private Bag XO8, Halfway House

Physical Address: 230 15^th Road, 1^st Floor,

Raandjies Park, Midrand, 1685,

South Africa

Contact: Project Coordinator

Email: [email protected]