First Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence for Development Impact Project ( - Тендер #39726187)

• Project ID

P164546

• Project Title

First Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence for Development Impact Project

• Country

Western and Central Africa

• Notice No

OP00217451

• Notice Type

Request for Expression of Interest

• Notice Status

Published

• Borrower Bid Reference

GH-AAU-333426-CS-INDV

• Procurement Method

Individual Consultant Selection

• Language of Notice

English

• Submission Deadline Date/Time

Mar 14, 2023 10:00

• Published Date

Mar 07, 2023

• CONTACT INFORMATION
• Organization/Department

ASSOCIATION OF AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES

• Name

Emmanuel B. Ansong

• Address

Association of African Universities Secretariat Trinity Avenue, Next to NCTE, NAB Accra

• City

• Province/State

Western and Central Africa

• Postal Code

• Country

Western and Central Africa

• Phone

0209977890

• Email

ebansong@aau.org

• Website

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST - CONSULTING SERVICES - INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT SELECTION

Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE Impact) (P164546)

Consultancy Services for the independent verification of Milestones for enhanced Digital Infrastructure and Networking Capacity to Nigerian Centres (DLI 7.6)

The Association of African Universities has received financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the First Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence for Development Impact Projects (ACE Impact 1) and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services for the recruitment of Individual Consultants to verify the Milestones for enhanced Digital Infrastructure and Networking Capacity to Nigerian Centres (DLI 7.6)

The detailed Terms of Reference for the assignment are attached to the REoI below

The Association of African Universities now invites eligible individuals (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the above Services.

Competency and Expertise

Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The shortlisting criteria are available in the Terms of Reference under Qualifications and Experience.

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 and revised in November 2017, and August 2018 (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest available on this link http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/178331533065871195/Procurement-Regulations.pdf .

A consultant will be selected will be selected in accordance with the Individual Consultant Selection method set out in the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” July 2016 and revised in November 2017, and August 2018 (“Procurement Regulations”). Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 0900 to 1700 hours.

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION OF MILESTONES FOR ENHANCED DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND NETWORKING CAPACITY TO NIGERIAN CENTERS

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE Impact) Project (P164546) is a regional higher education project supported by the World Bank and AFD. The project supports approximately 50 Centers of Excellence, Emerging Centers and Colleges of Engineering in 11 West African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, The Gambia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo and Djibouti.

The development objective of the ACE Impact is to improve the quality, quantity and development impact of postgraduate education in selected universities through regional specialization and collaboration. The project will contribute to participating Governments’ objectives of reducing the higher-level skills gaps and improving applied research and technology uptake in the priority sectors. Further, the project would contribute to the strengthening of the best African universities within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Agricultural Sciences; and Health Sciences, as well as in Applied Social Sciences and Environment.

The AAU is the Regional Facilitation Unit (RFU) for the project. The responsibilities of the RFU include the coordination and facilitation of regional activities, monitoring and evaluation, capacity building for the selected centres of excellence and sharing of good practices across the countries.

ACE Impact is a Results-Based Funding project, in which Centers must make convincing progress against Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) to “earn” money from an available funding envelop (~ USD 6 million over five years). DLI 7 is focused on the Institutional Impact of the ACE Impact project, and requires ACE Impact host institutions to undertake activities for the benefit of the entire host institution (not just the Centers of Excellence) in alignment with global good practice for higher education. A subset of this DLI 7 is focused on Milestones for Enhanced Digital Infrastructure and Networking Capacity and is unique only to the Nigerian centers (labelled as DLI 7.6).

DLR 7.6 ELEMENT (NOT SCALABLE)

To earn DLR 7.6 monies, ACE Impact host institutions must develop and implement the milestone listed in their formulation DLI 7.6. The DLR is worth the value of US$ 100,000 for year for a single or bundle services.

DLR 7.6 REQUIREMENTS

While each ACE Impact host institution has considerable flexibility to develop and implement DLI 7.6 Milestones, the center is expected to meet preformulated and approved milestones in their participation in the Nigerian Research and Education Networks (NgREN) services, results show clear evidence that students and faculty are receiving improved access to the services (as formulated by each institution). The milestones could include; at least 500 mbps broadband connection, (2) access to electronic library/database content, (3) access to high performance computing, and (4) access to high – performance computer applications

An independent verification to the centers in Nigeria is required to be conducted and report documented to enable the ACE Impact Regional Facilitation Unit (RFU: the Association of African Universities (AAU) to recommend to the World Bank for approval prior to disbursement of DLR 7.6 monies.

To this end, The AAU seeks to engage the services of consultants with international experience to support the verification of the milestones developed by the ACE impact host universities.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

The main objective of the assignment is to verify milestones for enhanced digital infrastructure and networking capacity in Nigerian Centers. The indicators of these are aligned with university/ institutional specific Disbursement Linked Indicator formulation. Specifically, the consultants will have to follow a checklist that has been prepared by the AAU to provide assessments and recommendations.

3.0 METHODOLOGY

This assignment will be undertaken through on-site visits to the centers in Nigeria. AAU will provide all the necessary documents (DLI 7.6 formulations and checklists for each of the centers) to the Consultant for review.

4.0 DELIVERABLES

• A detailed verification report services received by each institution.
• To make review of the monetary value of the services provided by NgREN.
• Clear assessment of strengths and weaknesses of each followed by a series of concrete recommendations.

5.0 QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

The independent evaluator must have the following profiles and qualifications:

• Masters Degree in Information and Technology or related fields (Any professional certification will be an added advantage) from a recognised university
• Demonstrate experience in design and deployment of networks experience with a minimum of 5 years experience managing a network
• Ability to use network monitoring tools to determine internet throughput per user
• A good knowledge of Linux platforms (or flavors thereof)
• Good mastery of Command Line Instruction (CLI) for troubleshooting and working at root level
• Hardware Troubleshooting skills
• Ability to evaluate software functionality as per its stated purpose
• Demonstrate experience Systems Analysis and Monitoring
• Have broad experience of practice working in a university environment or with universities, international and regional research, and development projects in Africa
• Demonstrate practical field level support for University Information, Technology and infrastructure either in physical network, software, hardware user support.
• Have a good knowledge of the NREN agenda and their role in supporting Universities

6.0 ASSIGNMENT DURATION AND LOCATION

The assignment will be undertaken for a maximum period of one (1) month effective from the time of signing the contract until the submission of the final report.

7.0 ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS AND REPORTING

While the Consultant will be under the direct supervision of the Senior Project Manager at the Regional Facilitation Unit for the duration of the consultancy, the Consultant will be expected to undertake the assignment in close collaboration with all relevant stakeholders involved in the implementation of the Project.

8.0 RESOURCES AND LOGISTICAL SUPPORT / FACILITIES TO BE PROVIDED BY THE CLIENT & AAU

Consultant

• Familiarize with the relevant AAU and particularly the ACE Impact Project documents.
• Develop close working relationship with AAU/ RFU to ensure smooth running and liaison in the process of the assignment.
• Submit the draft and final consultancy report, in soft copy to the RFU.

RFU - AAU

• Provide access to all necessary documents and processes to facilitate the assignment.
• Provide guidelines for reporting.

9.0 Payments

Payment will be tied to deliverables and shall be made in full after the review and acceptance of the verification report.

Reimbursable expenses will be paid for on receipt of the supporting documents

KEY DOCUMENTS FOR THE EVALUATION

Operations Manual

Project Appraisal Document

Guidance note DLI 7

Formulations for DLI 7.6 per center

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