Presented by PROGEBE RHOFA Session 1/2013 PROGEBE RCU Procurement committee July 12, 2013

RULES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE USE OF CONSULTANTS USING QCBS (AFDB) REVISED JULY 2012

PROCUREMENT FRAMEWORK

Grant agreement between AfDB and ITC specified type and methods of procurement AfDB relevant rules dating May 2008 revised July 2012 Consultants includes a wide variety of private and public entities, including consulting firms, engineering firms, construction managers, management firms, procurement agents, inspection agents, auditors, Specialized Agencies and other multinational organizations, investment and merchant banks, universities, research institutions, government agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and individuals

PROCUREMENT PRINCIPLES
Need for high quality services economy and efficiency effective competition develop and use national and regional consultants transparency in selection process

CONFLICT OF INTEREST (MANUAL 1.9)

Avoid conflicts between Consulting activities and procurement of goods (a firm hired to provide consulting services for the preparation
or implementation of a project shall be disqualified from subsequently providing goods resulting from or directly related to the firms consulting services for such preparation or implementation /Page7-1.9 )

consultants hired to prepare Terms of Reference (TOR) for an

Conflict amongst consulting assignments (for eg. Relationship with borrower staff

assignment shall not be hired for the assignment in question )

FRAUD AND CORRUPTION (MANUAL 1.22)

Borrowers or Grant beneficiaries such as ITC (and project management units PROGEBE) should ensure staff, consultants and their agents, sub-contractors, subconsultants, service providers or suppliers and any personnel thereof, observe the highest standard of ethics during the selection and execution of Bank-financed contracts and avoid : Corrupt practice Fraudulent practice Collusive practice Coercive practice Obtrusive practice

QUALITY AND COST BASED SELECTION

Page 14 / 2.2 Steps :

Preparation of TORs Preparation of cost estimate and budget based on TORs Advertising and shortlisting AFDB non objection Prepare RFP Issue and receive proposals Technical evaluation consideration of quality AFDB non objection Public opening of financial proposals Financial evaluation Final evaluation of quality and cost AFDB non objection Negotiation, finalize contract AFDB non objection Award

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Normally prepared by a person or a firm specialized in the area of the assignment Scope of services to be compatible with available budget define clearly the objectives, goals, and scope of the assignment and provide background information If transfer of knowledge or training is an objective, it should be specifically outlined along with details of number of staff to be trained, and so forth, to enable consultants to estimate the required resources TOR shall list the services and surveys necessary to carry out the assignment and the expected outputs TOR should not be too detailed and inflexible, so that competing consultants may propose their own methodology and staffing Firms shall be encouraged to comment on the TOR in their proposals. Borrowers and consultants respective responsibilities should be clearly defined in the TOR

COST ESTIMATE (BUDGET)

essential if realistic budgetary resources are to be earmarked assessment of resources needed to carry out the assignment: staff time, logistical support, and physical inputs Costs divided into categories: (a) fee or remuneration and (b) reimbursable, and further divided into foreign and local costs cost of staff time shall be estimated on a realistic basis for foreign and national personnel

ADVERTISING AND SHORTLISTING

Assess relevant qualifications Depending on type of procurement : regional : 4 PROGEBE countries /national : Gambia only For regional/international bidding 6 firms of similar category, capacity, business objectives and a wide geographic spread and not more than 2 firms from any one country AFDB non objection on shortlist

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Use standard templates to draft and issue to shortlisted consultants

Between 4 weeks minimum and 3 months maximum Request for clarifications allowed. Any response given to one candidate should be sent to all shortlisted along with original question Offers received remain sealed until opening and should be complete (technical and financial in separate envelopes) and cannot be changed Offers received after closing time to be returned unopened Technical envelopes opened after proposals submission closing time (no need for public opening)

Letter of invitation Information for Consultants TORs Proposed contract

EVALUATIONS : QUALITY

Indicative evaluation categories ,weighted for importance and graded on a scale of 100 each

Consultant relevant experience for assignment (0-10)

Quality of proposed methodology (20-50) Qualifications of only key staff proposed (30-60) : CVs accurate, complete and signed by both consultant firm head and individual General qualifications Adequacy for assignment Experience in region

Transfer of knowledge (if indicated in TORs 0-10) National staff participation (0-10)

Essential sub-criteria breakdown allowed Proposal unsuitable if it does not respond to important aspects of the TOR or fails to achieve minimum score Technical evaluation report AFDB non objection

EVALUATION : COST

Return financial proposals not to be opened for non technically qualified firms Notify vendors with the minimum technical grade, Schedule and hold financial proposals opening (read aloud and record consultant name, technical points, proposed prices) and send minutes to AFDB. Correct arithmetic, convert to single currency (using selling rates from central or commercial bank) Exclude local identifiable indirect taxes Lowest cost given 100 and other proposals given financial scores that are inversely proportional to their prices or other method to be documented in RFP

FINALIZE EVALUATIONS, NEGOTIATE

Combined quality and cost scores according to weights indicated in RFP

Negotiate on TORs, methodology, staffing, borrowers inputs, etc without affecting substantially original TOR and integrate in contract (description of services part) Major reductions in work inputs not to be made solely to meet budget No staff substitution unless both party agree that changes are critical to meet objectives and substitution has equal or better qualifications than staff being replaced Financial negotiations should clarify consultants tax liability in the borrower country (if any).

Quality weight usually 80% Cost weight usually 20%

CONTRACTING

Types of contracts

Reimbursable to be paid on actual expenses incurred upon presentation of receipts. Ceilings for unit prices or standard perdiem rate can be indicated in RFP AFDB non objection on initialed, negotiated contract Notify all unsuccessful bidders Publish award info (consultant name, technical points, evaluated price, final point raking, name of winning offer, price, duration, summary scope) in UNDB online and on bank website Debriefing allowed for interested bidders in person or by email detailing why the bidders proposal was not selected Information on proposal evaluation and awards recommendations to be held confidential until award publication

Lump-sum : payment based on delivery of outputs. Price includes all costs. No price renegotiation unless outputs change. Time-based : payment based on inputs. Staff rates and reimbursable estimated. No price renegotiation allowed on base rates except to reduce fees (with Afdb clearance) if they are higher than usual rates for similar contracts