1. Background
The Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation (the Alliance) is a public-private partnership for trade led growth jointly hosted by the World Economic Forum, the International Chamber of Commerce and the Center for International Private Enterprise in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
The Alliance’s work is designed to help governments in developing and least developed countries implement the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). It brings together governments and businesses as equal partners to identify trade facilitation issues such as customs delays and unnecessary red-tape at borders, and design and implement targeted reforms that deliver commercially quantifiable results.
The Alliance is supported by the governments of the United States, Canada, Germany, and Sweden and works with private sector partners from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the world’s largest multinationals.
The services required relate to the investigation of a Project Idea (“UNICEF Democratic Republic of Congo Project”) for the facilitated importation of UNICEF health products into Democratic Republic of Congo. UNICEF has reported delays in the clearance of health supplies, particularly in relation to approvals by Ministries and Other Government Agencies.
The selected consultant will provide the technical expertise and know-how required to validate the Alliance’s current understanding of the challenges and evaluate the feasibility of developing a project to address these challenges.
2. The Services
Introduction
The objective of the services is to validate and add detail to the Project Idea, the Alliance’s current understanding of the business process and associated challenges (these have been documented and are available upon request).
The services will be delivered in 2 stages:
- Stage 1 – Preparation
- Stage 2 – Project Idea Validation
It is expected that total effort for this will not exceed 20 person days.
2.1 Stage 1 – Preparation
During Stage 1 the consultant will prepare and submit a Project Idea Validation Plan outlining the activities that will be carried out in Stage 2 for approval by the Alliance BAP Team Manager.
2.2 Stage 2
2.2.1 Project Idea Validation
During Stage 2 the Consultant will conduct activities in accordance with the approved Project Idea Validation Plan. These will consist primarily of conducting, documenting, and analysing in-country meetings with relevant government and private sector stakeholders. The expectation is to improve understanding of the:
- Trade facilitation problems
- Investigate the challenges reported by UNICEF (available upon request)
- Validate the existing flow diagram for ‘AS-IS’ process (available upon request)
- Clarify and elaborate on the challenges to create a more detailed Problem Statement
- Potential solutions to address the identified problems
- Project environment
- Provide insight into the project environment and assess both opportunities and risks associated with such a project.
- Verify the commitment of the public sector stakeholders.
Throughout Stage 1 and Stage 2 the consultant will liaise with the Alliance’s Business Action Project Manager to ensure that objectives are met.
2.2.2 Expected Outputs
Stage 1
- Project Idea Validation Plan
Stage 2
- Project Idea Validation Report – including
- Validated problem statement
- Stakeholder map
- Validated process diagram of interactions from export preparation to delivery (including documentation requirements at each step)
- Analysis of commitment of the public sector stakeholders.
2.2.3 Timelines for Deliverables
The Consultant will provide the Alliance with the following deliverables (the “Deliverables”):
- Within five working days of contract signature, the Project Idea Validation Plan
- Within thirty days working of contract signature, the Project Idea Validation Report.
3. Requirements
The Consultant must:
- Have a proven track record in implementing trade facilitation projects.
- Have experience with public-private partnerships.
- Possess strong written communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
- Be based in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Possess strong written and oral communication skills in English and French.
4. Submission of Proposals
Interested consultants should submit a technical and financial proposal in PDF format to: Christopher Holden (christopher.holden@iccwbo.org) with the subject line: “Project Idea Validation – Democratic Republic of Congo [YOURNAME]” by 11:59pm on 23-Dec-24. Please note that submission of a proposal in the manner described above will deem all terms and conditions of this Request for Services have been accepted by the Bidder and incorporated into its proposal unless specifically notified otherwise.