Background
The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 46 least developed countries.
With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development.
UNCDF is working with the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) to create the conditions to increase the financial inclusion of the population and small and medium-sized enterprises.
The BCEAO is the joint issuing institute for the eight member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU): Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.
The BCEAO is committed to continuously improving its analytical capacities, which are essential for processing economic and financial information.
A data-collection system has therefore been established to help inform the decision-making process. Having quality data facilitates the monitoring of progress, particularly on financial inclusion, as the needs of underserved populations can be consistently addressed.
Most of the data used to calculate financial inclusion indicators in the WAEMU are collected manually from the relevant financial institutions, i.e., banks, decentralized financial systems, digital currency institutions, postal services, national savings banks, and national treasuries. The way in which these data are collected and processed does not allow for optimal use of the information. In addition, with the continually growing requirements for categorized data to enable more detailed analysis, the capacity to collect data is becoming increasingly limited.
Finally, to improve understanding of access, there is a need to supplement the current BCEAO data-collection system with a financial service outlet geolocation tool to help locate such outlets within the country and understand the types of financial services that they offer.
It is therefore important for the Central Bank to continue modernizing its financial inclusion data-collection and processing tools.
This modernization should help to produce more reliable data that will better describe the state of financial inclusion in the WAEMU. It should also improve understanding of the degree of penetration of financial services in the Union, help identify barriers to financial inclusion and facilitate the formulation of effective policies to remove these barriers.
The purpose of this call for applications is to identify one Expert Data Architect.
The Expert Data Architect will be responsible for assisting the BCEAO in defining the technical specifications and terms of reference for the roll-out of a system for automated collection of financial inclusion data, monitoring, and geolocation of financial services access points in the WAEMU.
Duties and Responsibilities
In close coordination with UNCDF Lead Specialist, Migration and Remittances portfolio, the BCEAO and a statistical expert in data analysis (yet to be selected), the Expert Data Architect will be responsible for achieving the following outcomes:
Expected outputs and Deliverables
The table below outlines the major activities, deliverables, and estimated dates of completion.
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Competencies
- Ability to build strong working relationships with institutions and administrators from various stakeholders
- Ability to work in a multicultural environment and be aware of political sensitivities
- Ability to think and act strategically
Excellent communication skills, including the ability to articulate solutions for high-level stakeholders and present designs to governance forums.
Required Skills and Experience
Academic qualifications: A Master’s degree (or equivalent qualifications) in data science, mathematics or computer science is required.
Experience:
Language:
Institutional Arrangement
Duration: Six months, from 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022. Location: Dakar, Senegal.
Travel and standard living expenses: Please include one round-trip economy ticket from your home to Dakar, Senegal in your financial proposal as well as living costs. Please note that UNCDF cannot guarantee residence permits or visas for consultants. Consultants are responsible for securing theirwork documentation. In the case of national consultants, applicants that are not nationals of the duty station requested will have to provetheir residence status. Please note that consultants residing in the duty station of travel will not be compensated for living expenses. The consultant is responsible for providing his/her own laptop computer and mobile phone for use during this assignment.
Provision of Monitoring, Progress Controls The primary contact for reporting for this assignment is UNCDF Migration and remittances Lead Specialist, based in New York. Monitoring of progress shall be measured both according to the activities and deliverables of the consultant. In addition, the consultant will organize weekly debriefing calls on progress made with UNCDF Migration and remittances Lead Specialist. The contractor will organize regular monthly progress calls with the UNCDF team in West Africa to provide updates on activities and results attained. The contractor will provide a summary report of all activities and deliverables submitted.
Payment Milestones: Payments shall be made upon satisfactory completion and UNCDF’s written acceptance of each deliverables by the Migration and Remittances Lead Specialist. Disbursement of the final payment will require a signed evaluation of the consultant’s performance.
Application process Interested applicants must submit the following documents as proposals in order to demonstrate their qualifications: (NOTE: THE SYSTEM DOES NOT ALLOW FOR MULTIPLE DOCUMENT UPLOADS, SO APPLICANTS MUST ENSURE THAT THEY UPLOAD ALL REQUIRED DOCUMENTS IN ONE FILE).
Applicants who do not submit all the documents listed below may not be considered. All applications must contain the following information:
Link to P11: https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=267495.
When applying for this consultant position, please use your official name as indicated on your government-issued identification document (e.g., passport and/or driving licence). Award of the contract is subject to this verification. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please ensure that you have provided all requested materials. In general, UNCDF will not accept travel costs above economy class. Applicants who wish to travel in a higher class must do so at their own expense. In the event of unscheduled travel as part of this mandate, payment of travel expenses, including tickets, accommodation, and terminal dues, must be agreed between UNCDF and the individual consultant prior to travel. Reimbursement will be paid according to the UNCDF daily subsistence allowance rates.
Evaluation:
Applications will be scored based on technical and financial submissions. The following selection method will be used: highest rated proposal using the combined scoring method, which assigns weight between the technical and financial proposals. The overall combined score will be 100 points, where the weighting will be 70 per cent technical (30 per cent document review + 40 per cent interview) and 30 per cent financial.
Step I: Screening Applications will be reviewed and only those applicants meeting the following mandatory criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:
Step II: Desk review (100 points) A desk review will be conducted to produce a shortlist of applicants based on the following criteria:
Only the top three applicants who obtain the highest score on the desk review out of a minimum of 70 points in the desk review will be considered for technical interviews. Step III: Interview A competency-based interview shall be conducted with the top three candidates who achieve the highest score in Step II (minimum of 70 points). Applicants will be evaluated on:
Only applicants who achieve a minimum of 70 per cent on the total of Step II (desk review) and Step III (interview) will be considered technically qualified and will be subject to further review for a financial evaluation.
Step IV: Financial evaluation The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposals: lowest priced proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated x 30 per cent.
Step V: Award criteria The contract will be awarded to the applicant whose application has been evaluated and determined to be compliant/acceptable and received the highest combined score (technical proposal and interview) 70 per cent + financial 30 per cent = 100 per cent. Individual consultants and people employed by a company or institution are invited to apply. Any individual employed by a company or institution who would like to apply in response to an individual consultant procurement notice must do so as an individual (providing a CV so that their qualifications may be judged accordingly). Women candidates or women-owned businesses are strongly encouraged to apply. UNCDF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, and culture. Individuals from minority groups, Indigenous groups and people with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. |