Independent Procurement Audit

Source: World Bank — Strengthen Ethiopia’s Adaptive Safety Net

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES - FIRMS SELECTION)

Name of Country; Ethiopia

Name of Project: Strengthen Ethiopian Adaptive Safety Net Project (SEASN) 

Credit no. IDA-67980

Assignment Title: Multiyear Independent Procurement Audit of SEASN Project for EFY 2015-17

Reference No.: ET-MOA/FSCD-367111-CS-QCBS

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has received financing from International Development Association (IDA) and other Development Partners toward the cost of: Strengthen Ethiopia’s Adaptive Safety Net (SEASN) Project and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services,

The consulting services (“the Services”) includes review of procurement processing, contracting, and implementation processes for all completed contracts and 30% signed contacts under SEASN and all implementing agencies at federal, regional and woreda levels to confirm their consistency with the Financing Agreement, Project Appraisal Document (PAD), approved procurement plan and Project Operation Manual (POM). The service of the Consultant is required to perform an independent audit for the three fiscal years: EFY 2015 to 2017 (FY2022/23 to 2024/25) with an estimated implementation period of 36 weeks for the whole duration..

The objectives of the Procurement Audit are as follows:

• Verify that the procurement procedures followed for the project comply with the requirements of the legal agreement; and identify any non-compliance with the legal agreement and applicable procurement arrangements.
• Check and verify that the procurement arrangements agreed with the Borrower is still in place.
• Identify and report any contract management issues.
• Check and verify that the implementing agencies have carried out technical compliance reviews and physical completion reviews for implemented contracts.
• Identify and report any indications of possible Fraud and Corruption
• Identify mitigating measures or remedies to correct procurement deficiencies or deter the future and recommend them to the project implementing agencies.
• Identify good practices and lessons learned from implementing procurement and rate the performance of contracts (procurement process and contract implementation) on compliance with the legal agreement and agreed procedures based on the sampled contract for audit and contribute to the Overall procurement performance rating of the implementing agency based on the rating of the procurement audit.

The total duration of the service  for three years  is 36 weeks

The Food Security Coordination Office (FSCO) of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) now invites eligible consulting firms (“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 short-listing criteria are:

Core business and years in business, relevant experience to the field of assignment, Organizational, technical and managerial capability of the firm, general qualification and number of key staff but not individual experts’ bio data.

 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 2017, July 2018 and Nov. 2020 (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.

Consultants may associate with other firms in the form of a joint venture or a sub-consultancy to enhance their qualifications, and should indicate clearly whether the association is in the form of a joint venture or a sub-consultancy.

In the case of a joint venture, all the partners in the joint venture shall be jointly and severally liable for the entire contract, if selected. A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Quality and Cost Based Selection Method (QCBS) set out in the Procurement Regulations.

Further information and the Terms of Reference for the consultancy assignment can be obtained at the address below during office hours, 9:00am to 12:00 noon and 2:00pm to 5:00 pm. From September 7 - September 27, 2023

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person, or by mail, or by fax, or by e-mail) on or before 4:00 PM local time on September 27, 2023.

 Ministry of Agriculture (MoA)

Attention, Degayehu Desso, Director, Procurement Directorate

P.O. Box 62347,

Email: degayehu@gmail.com; or wihibisenbet@yahoo.com

CMC Road, Behind Ministry of Mines and Energy, Building A, 2nd Floor,

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia