MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTVITY PROGRAMME FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA (APPSA)
REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
(CONSULTING SERVICES- INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANTS SELECTION METHOD)
LOAN NO: P164486
CREDIT NO: IDA-63580-LS
ASSIGNMENT TITLE: PROCUREMENT OFFICER
REFERENCE NO: LS-DAR-392177-CS-INDV
DURATION: TWELVE MONTHS
BACKGROUND
In an effort, to fight poverty and to accelerate economic growth and improve the welfare of the Basotho the Government of Lesotho (GOL) is part of the SADC regional initiative that implements a regional project for agricultural technology development and dissemination called Agricultural Productivity Program for Southern Africa (APPSA). This is a six year project supported by separate World Bank (WB) – IDA credit and is under the regional coordination of the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA). APPSA seeks to promote regional collaboration and put in place mechanisms to encourage technology generation and dissemination within and across national borders of participating countries in the SADC region by (i) supporting regional collaboration in agricultural research, technology dissemination, and training; (ii) establishing Regional Centers of Leadership (RCoLs) on commodities of regional importance, and (iii) facilitating increased sharing of agricultural information, knowledge, and technology among participating countries. Priority farming systems for each existing Regional Center of Leadership (RCoL) have been identified based on a regional priority setting study that identified top R&D priorities for the SADC region and to that effect Lesotho settled for Horticulture considering the potential comparative advantages that needs to be exploited. The proposed RCoL is implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security through the Department of Agricultural Research (DAR) in collaboration with other NARS institutions (NUL and LAC). The project has four sub-components:
Component 1: Technology Generation and Dissemination
Component 2: Strengthening the Institutional and Enabling Environment for Technology adoption
Component 3: Contingency Emergency Response Component (US$0).
Component 4: Project management, monitoring and evaluation and regional coordination
OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The staffing of Agricultural Productivity Program for Southern Africa (APPSA) Lesotho PIU shall include a Regional Centre of Leadership – Coordinator (RCoL-Coordinator) to handle the procurement of goods, works and services and to provide support and oversight to programmes and grants to ensure procurement is carried out as per the agreed GoL and World Bank procurement procedures. The Project Procurement Officer is responsible for superintending and coordinating the planning of APPSA Lesotho procurement and implementing the procurement plans. He/She informs staff about developments in procurement procedures and ensures compliance with them.
DUTIES
The Project Procurement Officer’s specific duties shall include:
General
- Prepare the procurement plan and monitor/update the same regularly and submit to the World Bank for no-objection. While preparing the plan, inputs shall be obtained from other members of APPSA PIU on prioritizing the urgent procurement and packaging so as to ensure optimum competition, economy and efficiency. Coordinate for publication of the procurement plan on the World Bank website and local media;
- Maintain systematically the procurement related records and documentations for audit/ review by the World Bank;
- Participate in tender committee meetings and timely provide procurement related reports/updates, list of contracts to APPSA PIU and the World Bank as and when required;
- Assist the Senior Staff Members of the APPSA in all related procurement activities;
- Undertake any other related duties assigned by RCoL-Coordinator.
Procurement of Goods, Works & Non-Consultant Services
- Coordinate with scientists and other PIU staff in finalizing the technical specifications of the goods/services to be procured;
- Prepare an 18 months procurement plan for works, goods and services, in accordance with annual work plan and budget, required for submission and approval by Project Steering Committee (PSC);
- Prepare tender notices and advertisements in local and international media and websites (only for open international and open national and in UNDB online/dgMarket through the World Bank only for open international bidding);
- Prepare and assemble bidding and contract documents, in compliance with GoL and World Bank regulations and issue addendum/clarifications where necessary as well as providing feedback to bidders;
- Frequently monitor work in progress (timely supply of the goods/services, release of payments, issuing contract amendments, inventory management etc) to advice accordingly the PSC;
- Coordinate the finalization of drawings/specifications and Bill of Quantities (BOQ) for civil works;
- Co-ordinate with the World Bank for obtaining “No Objection” for the technical specifications/BOQ/drawings and the bid document (only for prior review cases);
- Coordinate the pre-bid conference, if proposed for the package, prepare and circulate the Minutes of pre-bid conference under information to the World Bank (only for prior review cases);
- Receive the bids until the agreed deadline, open the bids and provide feedback to all bidders as per the time indicated in the bid document;
- Publish the contract award notice timely and coordinate the pre-shipment and post-shipment inspections, if required;
- Review and advice accordingly on tender evaluation reports and make necessary follow-ups including sharing the bid evaluation report with the World Bank and obtain the “No Objection” (only for prior review cases);
- If any bid documents and Bids Evaluation Report require Bank’s review and clearance, then the same should be checked and submitted to the Bank; and
- Upload the procurement plan in the STEP system (Systematic Tracking of Exchanges in Procurement) for review and No Objection by the World Bank.
Procurement of Consulting Services
- Liaise with the Principal Investigators (PIs), Project Manager and other staff in finalizing the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the services to be procured;
- For consultancy assignments, invite expressions of interest (EOI) through advertisements in Newspapers and in UNDB online/dgMarket (through the World Bank for assignments for prior reviews in value). Coordinate with the Project Manager, other PIU staff and co-opt a relevant technical officer in the evaluation of the EOI and finalization of the shortlist;
- Based on the standard request for proposal documents, prepare the Request for Proposal (RFP) for various packages contained in the procurement plan as per agreed timelines;
- Co-ordinate with the World Bank for obtaining “No Objection” for the TOR (all cases), the shortlist and the RFP document (only for prior review cases);
- Issue the RFP document to the shortlisted consultants. Prepare the reply of queries, if received from invited consultants before the deadline for submission of proposals;
- Coordinate the pre-proposal conference, if proposed for the package, prepare the Minutes of pre-proposal conference and circulate to the invited consultants, under information to the World Bank (only for prior review cases);
- Receive the proposals until the agreed deadline, and open the technical proposals as per the time indicated in the bid document;
- Coordinate with the Research Technical Committee (RTC) chairperson, Project Manager and other APPSA PIU staff in the evaluation of the technical proposals;
- Share the technical evaluation report with the World Bank and obtain the “No Objection” (only for prior review cases);
- Open the financial proposals of the technically qualified consultant(s) as detailed in the SRFP/World Bank Procurement Regulations for Investment Project Financing (IPF) and coordinate with the Project Manager and other APPSA PIU staff in the evaluation of the financial proposal(s);
- Conduct negotiations with highest ranked consultant, prepare draft initialed negotiated contract and minutes of negotiations and seek the ‘’No Objection’’ of the World Bank for contract award recommendations (only for prior review cases).
- Get the contract documents signed by the winning consultant and provide the feedback to unsuccessful consultants and thereafter publish the contract award notice; and
- Monitor the contract management including timely completion of the assignment, release of payment, issuing contract amendments, etc.
QUALIFICATIONS
EXPERIENCES AND SKILLS
Education and Work experience:
The Project Procurement Officer shall have a minimum of Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Business Administration, Law, Engineering, Procurement,
Economics and any related fields; or a professional procurement and logistics qualification; and at least (five) 5 years’ experience of public procurement;
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Requirements:
- At least two years’ experience in procurement using World Bank or any multilateral funding agency procurement procedures;
- Considerable knowledge of procurement methods and procedures; working knowledge of sources of supplies and price trends;
- Procurement at level of large projects of scale public or private projects involving procurement of Goods and Services for at least two years;
- Fluency in English (reading, writing, and speaking) required;
- Knowledge of computer skills is essential;
- Ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing is a pre-requisite;
- High integrity and accountability in all aspects of project procurement; and
- Experience in training, capacity building, system set-ups etc. in procurement will be required.
CONDITIONS
- Renewal of the contract will be subject to satisfactory performance and funds availability.
- The Client shall render the Consultant with all such facilities as may be reasonably required to enable the Consultant to discharge his/ her duties, that is office space, laptop/computer, landline telephone, and transport.
REPORTING
The Project Procurement Officer will report to the RCoL Coordinator
SUBMISSION
Expressions of interest accompanied by detailed CV must be submitted in a written form to the email address below latest by 16:00 hrs local time on the 15 December 2023 clearly marked “Expression of Interest for Consulting Services – “PROCUREMENT OFFICER’’ LS-DAR-392177-CS-INDV
To: The RCoL Coordinator Agricultural Productivity Programme for Southern Africa (APPSA)
Department of Agricultural Research
P.O. Box 829
Maseru 100
Lesotho
Email: [email protected] copy to [email protected]
Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.