AFRICAN UNION
UNION AFRICAINE
UNIÃO AFRICANA
Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA, P. O. Box 3243, Telephone: +251-11-551 7700,
Fax: +251-11-5517844, website: www. africa-union.org
REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (EOI)
Consultancy Services on Modernizing Cooking Technologies in
Africa
PROCUREMENT NUMBER: AUC/IED/C/039
SECTION I: LETTER OF INVITATION
17
th
April 2019
Dear Applicants,
Request for Expressions of Interest for Consultancy Services on Modernizing Cooking
Technologies in Africa
1. African Union Commission (AUC), plans to introduce a programme aimed at accelerating
the transition to clean cooking in Africa. To this end, the AUC wishes to engage an individual
consultant to carry out the assignment on mordenising cooking technologies in Africa to reduce
pollution.
2. The AUC now invites interested Individual Consultants to submit CVs for the assignment
as per attached Terms of Reference (TORS). AUC policy requires consultants to provide
professional, objective, and impartial advice, and at all times hold the Client’s interests
paramount, without any consideration for future work, and strictly avoid conflicts with other
assignments or their own interests.
3. Consultants will be selected under the Fixed Budget selection method where the Consultant
who has submitted the highest ranked technical proposal within the set pass mark and within
the budget will be selected for award of contract. The consultant will be paid an amount not
exceeding USD20,000.00.
4. The CVs with a covering letter must be delivered by e-mail to [email protected] or
in hard copy to The Chairperson, Tender Board, African Union Commission, Building C,
3rd floor, TENDER BOX, Roosevelt Street, P. O. Box 3243, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
5. The title of the Procurement must appear as subject of e-mail submissions or on the envelope
for hard copy submissions.
6. The Deadline for submission of CVs is 170 May 2019 at 15:00 hours Addis Ababa Time.
Late applications will not be considered.
7. This call for CVs comprise of the following:
Section I – This Letter of Invitation
Section II - Terms of Reference
Yours sincerely,
Head, Procurement, Travel and Stores Division
SECTION II: TERMS OF REFERENCE
Consultancy Services on Modernizing Cooking Technologies in Africa
Background
According to the 2017 International Energy Agency (IEA) Energy Outlook Report, around 2.8
billion people in the world rely on polluting fuels with 2.5 billion of them using fuel wood,
charcoal, and waste to provide over 80% of household energy consumption. The majority of
these people are in Africa. Pollution arising from unclean household energy use causes about
2.8 million deaths annually. Despite progressive increase in electricity access, the use of
traditional biomass and the associated health and environmental impacts has not reduced
correspondingly.
It is therefore, important to pay special attention to cooking energy with a view to making a
transition to clean cooking through policy and strategic interventions, sufficient resource
allocation by the state and incentives for private sector to play a greater role.
There are diverse clean cooking programmes especially focusing on improved cook stoves
using biomass in a modern and sustainable way. At regional level, clean cooking programmes
are spearheaded by the Regional Centres for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.
However, there is need to synergise these efforts, adopt best practices and spread key lessons
across the continent.
Against this background, the African Union Commission (AUC), plans to introduce a
programme aimed at accelerating the transition to clean cooking in Africa. The AUC wishes
to engage an individual consultant to carry out the assignment.
I. OBJECTIVE
The Overall Objective of the project is to accelerate the transition from traditional to modern
cooking technologies in Africa. Specific objectives of the assignment include:
i) Identify policy, regulatory and other incentives to stimulate transition to modern
cooking technologies and practices in Africa;
ii) Identify interventions at continental, regional and national level required to
promote the transition to clean cooking in Africa;
iii) Support capacity development for manufacture and repair of various clean
cooking technologies; and
iv) Increase investment in clean cooking technologies by private sector.
II. SCOPE OF WORK
The consultant shall carry out the following tasks:
1. A Scoping Study on the use of cooking technologies and practices in different regions
of Africa and the extent to which a transition to modern cooking technologies and
practices is taking place. The scoping study shall include a review of the fuels and
technologies in use as well as the policy and regulatory frameworks governing use of
various cooking fuels and technologies.
2. Explore other potential fuels and technologies that can contribute to the transition to
modern cooking. In exploring the fuels and technologies, the consultant will indicate
their sources and supply chain as well as their sustainability into the future.
3. Identify barriers to adopting modern cooking fuels and technologies and recommend
solutions.
4. Evaluate the effectiveness of existing policy and regulatory interventions and
government incentives in encouraging transition to modern cooking fuels and
technologies and propose measures where gaps and opportunities are identified.
5. Analyse existing business and financing models of disseminating modern cooking
fuels and technologies. Identify the success and failure factors and recommend ways
of scaling up successful cases. The consultant shall provide case studies of successful
and failed programmes from Africa and other parts of the world to provide lessons.
6. Analyse the role played by various players including government, private sector,
community-based organisations, civil society, academia, and development partners,
among others, and explore ways of enhancing their participation in Africa’s transition
to clean cooking.
7. Identify the relevant gender dimensions/considerations to incorporate into a clean
cooking programme to enhance the acceptability and attractiveness of modern
cooking
8. Analyse how artisans and technicians are trained to manufacture and repair various
types of improved cooking technologies and recommend ways of enhancing the
training curricular in technical vocational tertiary education institutions to increase
the number of qualified artisans and technician and to address existing gaps, if any,
including incorporating improved cook stoves in the curricula of design and
construction of low-cost residential buildings as well as commercial and institutional
facilities.
9. Recommend actions required at continental, regional and national level, highlighting
the responsible implementing agencies, indicative timeframe and budget.
III. DELIVERABLES
The consultant shall provide the following reports in English language:
1 An Inception Report covering the methodology, work programme and time allocation.
The Inception Report will be submitted three (3) weeks after signing the contract.
2 Draft Report twelve (12) weeks after signing the contract.
3 Stakeholders Workshop to review the Draft Report sixteen (16) weeks after signing the
contract.
4 Final Report including a stand-alone Executive Summary twenty (20) weeks after
signing the contract.
5 Short monthly progress reports submitted electronically to the AUC.
IV. EXPERTISE
The consultant expected to undertake this assignment has to have proven track record in
carrying out similar types of work and should provide references that are not older than three
(5) years. The following competencies and experience are required:
Masters qualification in disciplines such as energy policy, energy economics or any
other relevant field;
At least 10 years’ relevant experience in the energy sector;
Have worked in at least two regions on Africa;
Excellent analytical and reporting skills;
Fluency in written and spoken English. Knowledge other AU languages (Arabic,
French or Portuguese) will be an added advantage.
V. TIME FRAME
The consultant is expected to finish the assignment in four (4) months.
VI. MANAGEMENT OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The AUC will be the contracting agency. The assignment will be carried out under the oversight
of the AUC Department of Infrastructure and Energy.
VII. LOGISTICAL ARRANGEMENTS
The consultants shall visit at least two Africa regions to consult with either RECs or RCREEEs
(whichever is relevant for this subject matter). This will be decided based upon receiving
inception report and after identifying regions that are advanced in promoting clean cooking
technologies. AUC will provide support and facilitation for the consultant’s visit as much as
possible.
Interested candidates are requested to submit the following documents for AUC’s
consideration:
a) Technical Proposal not exceeding 8 pages on:
i) Understanding and interpretation of the TOR
ii) methodology to be used in undertaking the assignment
iii) Time and activity schedule
b) Financial proposal not exceeding 1 page
i) Consultant’s daily rate in US$
ii) Other costs e.g. travel
iii) Total cost
c) Personal Capacity Statement
i) Relevant experience related to the assignment (include samples of two most
recent similar works and/or references for the same)
ii) Contacts of at least 3 organizations previously worked for
iii) Curriculum Vitae of the Consultant (s)
SELECTION CRITERIA
Proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria.
S/N
Max Score
1
20
2
25
3
40
4
10
5
5
100
The pass mark for Technical proposals shall be 70%.
This is a non-residential assignment. Any travel necessary for the successful completion of the
assignment, duly authorized in advance by the Commission will be paid for at the rate of the
most direct economy return flight, as well as a subsistence allowance in accordance with the
AUC Rules and Regulations.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
African Union policy requires consultants to provide professional, objective, and impartial
advice, and at all times hold the Client’s interests paramount, without any consideration for
future work, and strictly avoid conflicts with other assignments or their own corporate interests.
Consultants shall not be hired for any assignment that would be in conflict with their prior or
current obligations to other clients, or that may place them in a position of not being able to carry
out the assignment in the best interests of the Client.
Without limitation on the generality of this rule, consultants shall not be hired under the
circumstances set forth below:
(a) Conflict between consulting activities and procurement of goods, works or services:
A firm that has been engaged to provide goods, works, or services for a project, and
each of its affiliates, shall be disqualified from providing consulting services related
to those goods, works or services. Conversely, a firm hired to provide consulting
services for the preparation or implementation of a project, and each of its affiliates,
shall be disqualified from subsequently providing goods, works or services resulting
from or directly related to the firm’s consulting services for such preparation or
implementation (other than a continuation of the firms earlier consulting services for
the same project).
(b) Conflict among consulting assignments: Neither consultants (including their
personnel and sub-consultants) nor any of their affiliates shall be hired for any
assignment that, by its nature, may be in conflict with another assignment of the
consultants.
(c) Relationship with AUC staff: Consultants (including their personnel and sub-
consultants) that have a business or family relationship with a member of AUC staff
(or of the Client staff, or of a beneficiary of the assignment) who are directly or
indirectly involved in any part of: (i) the preparation of the TOR of the contract, (ii)
the selection process for such contract, or (iii) supervision of such contract may not
be awarded a contract.
The African Union requires that Officers of the AU, as well as Bidders/ Suppliers/ Contractors/
Consultants, observe the highest standard of ethics during the procurement and execution of
such contracts.
1
In pursuance of this policy the AU:
1
In this context, any action taken by a bidder, supplier, contractor, sub-contractor or consultant to influence
the procurement process or contract execution for undue advantage is improper.
(a) defines, for the purposes of this provision, the terms set forth below as follows:
(i) “corrupt practice”
2
is the offering, giving, receiving or soliciting, directly or
indirectly, of anything of value to influence improperly the actions of another
party;
(ii) “fraudulent practice”
3
is any act or omission including a misrepresentation that
knowingly or recklessly misleads, or attempts to mislead, a party to obtain a
financial or other benefit or to avoid an obligation;
(iii) “collusive practice”
4
is an arrangement between two or more parties designed
to achieve an improper purpose, including to influence improperly the
actions of another party;
(iv) “coercive practice”
5
is impairing or harming or threatening to impair or harm,
directly or indirectly, any party or the property of the party to influence
improperly the actions of a party;
(v) “obstructive practice” is deliberately destroying, falsifying, altering or
concealing of evidence material to any investigation or making false
statements to investigators in order to materially impede any investigation
into allegations of a corrupt, fraudulent, coercive or collusive practice; and/or
threatening, harassing or intimidating any party to prevent it from disclosing
its knowledge of matters relevant to the investigation or from pursuing the
investigation;
(b) will reject a recommendation for award of contract if it determines that the bidder
recommended for award has, directly or through an agent, engaged in corrupt,
fraudulent, collusive, coercive or obstructive practices in competing for the contract
in question;
(c) will declare a firm ineligible, either indefinitely or for a stated period of time, to be
awarded an African Union financed contract if it at any time determines that the firm
has, directly or through an agent, engaged in corrupt, fraudulent, collusive, coercive
2
“another party” refers to an officer of the AU acting in relation to the procurement process or contract
execution. In this context, “officer of the AU” includes staff and employees of other organisations taking or
reviewing procurement decisions.
3
a “party” refers to any officer of the AU; the terms “benefit” and “obligation” relate to the procurement
process or contract execution; and the “act or omission” is intended to influence the procurement process or
contract execution.
4
“parties” refers to any participants in the procurement process (including officers of the AU) attempting to
establish bid prices at artificial, non competitive levels.
5
a “party” refers to any participant in the procurement process or contract execution.
or obstructive practices in competing for, or in executing, an African Union financed
contract.
Consultants shall not be under a declaration of ineligibility for corrupt, fraudulent, collusive,
coercive or obstructive practices issued by the.