Letter of Invitation
Date: July 28, 2021
Dear Mr./Ms.: Eligible Consultant

1. The Ministry of Finance of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (hereinafter called “Client”) has received financing (hereinafter called “the funds”) from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) toward the cost of debt management advisor to support debt management analysis and function of Ministry of finance debt management directorate. The Client intends to apply a portion of the funds to eligible payments under the contract for which this Request for Proposals is issued.

2. The Ministry of Finance now invites proposals to provide the following consulting Services: Individual consulting service to support the debt management directorate of he Mininstry of Finance to strengthen the overall function of the directorate, including analysis and reporting as well as capacity building to handle various required operations . More details on the services are provided in the Terms of Reference (TOR).

3. A consultant shall be selected under the quality-based selection method (Consultant’s qualifications) and cost. The candidate should possess hands-on experience, including at a senior level, on public debt management and analysis, preferably in a developing country context within a Ministry of Finance; Diverse international experience, especially in developing countries, Significant experience providing technical assistance and capacity building and improving institutional structures, including in public debt management functions and offices, experience in conducting debt sustainability analysis and debt service projections; managing sub-sovereign debt and improving systemic reporting by sub-sovereigns and SOEs etc.. The detailed evaluation criterions are stated in the Terms of Reference (TOR)

4. This Request for Proposals includes the following documents:
 This Letter of Invitation;
 The letter of Submission of the Proposal;
 Technical Proposal;
 Financial Proposal;
 Terms of Reference;
 Standard Form of Contract.

5. Your proposal shall comprise your Proposal Submission Form, a Technical Proposal (including curriculum vitae (CV)), a Financial Proposal net of taxes and the signed Statement of Integrity, and must be submitted to: agelgelu@mofed.gov.et with a copy to mezgebua2011@gmail.com, aberag11@gmail.com by addressing to Ministry of Finance (MoF), Channel One programs Coordinating Directorate, MoF main building, sadist Killo, yekatit 12 Square, King George Avenue, 4th Floor, Room no.403, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on or before August 23, 2021 at 3:00pm local time . If necessary, you may request any clarifications by sending an email to the same email address above before August 10, 2021 at 5:00 pm
Best regards,

Terms of Reference
Terms of Reference
Individual Consultant: Support Debt Management Analysis and Function of MOF
June 2021

The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) is undertaking a comprehensive effort to rebalance the country’s macroeconomic framework, as part of the Home Grown Economic Reform (HGER) program, and improve its government funding model through the strengthening of its sovereign and sub-sovereign debt management operations, analysis, and reporting.

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) seeks an individual consultant to work hand-in-hand with debt management Directorate (DMD) officials to further strengthen the overall functions of the office, including analysis and reporting, as well as building capacity to handle various operations required. The consultant’s work will be focused on:

1) An analysis of the current structure, functionality and processes of the DMD, taking stock of analytical tools and products being utilized and/or required,
2) Design and implement capacity-building or reforms to address any gaps in line with international best practice and,
3) Strengthen and/or institutionalize key strategic and analytical capacities in debt management.

Currently the DMD is divided into three sections: Domestic debt, External debt and On-lending, and debt and Analysis. The current structure does not provide sufficient resources for a number of key functions such as institutional investor management and negotiation of debt restructuring options. The consultant will analyze the current structure, functionality, and processes of the DMD and design and implement reforms and/or capacity building of staff to address any gaps in line with international best practice.

The DMD has been benefitting from project-based support in its analytical and strategy development functions for the past few years. However, to ensure full institutionalization of the outputs of these activities including key strategic policies and documents, a review of internal modalities, processes, and resources is required. Specifically, any gaps in the systems and capacity for the preparation and implementation of debt policies, financing plans, debt management policies, debt sustainability analysis, negotiations for debt mobilization, debt re-profiling, and options for restructuring must be addressed. The GoE has issued a Medium Term Debt Strategy (MTDS) to guide government borrowing activities and provide a strategy for sustainable debt management over the rolling five-year implementation period. This will be used to craft a National Debt Policy which clearly identifies the inputs and cooperation from other GoE institutions and provides clear guidance on the use of guarantees and ways to assess related risks. The DMD should have the in-house capacity to conduct its own debt sustainability analysis.

Resident within the DMD and working alongside DMD management and staff on a daily basis, the consultant will provide the following outputs over the course of her/his two-year contract:

A) The consultant will conduct an operational review/diagnostic on the current performance, structure, human resource footprint and processes of the DMD and identify gaps and resource needs.

B) Using the information collected in the above operational review/diagnostic, the consultant will design and implement a capacity building program to address any gaps with international best practice and to ensure the DMD outputs meet the requirements laid out by MOF reform objectives, MOF financing plans, GoE Debt Management Strategy, and other government objectives. The capacity program will build on improvements in data quality, the recording and processing of transactions, including the monitoring of contingent liabilities and guarantees, maintenance of financial records, and data and database management of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). In addition, reporting will be enhanced in order to strengthen public debt transparency. Where gaps exist in the offering of need trainings, the consultant may be asked to identify relevant external trainings, including internationally.

C) The consultant will share knowledge of database and financial management and will support the further institutionalization of the Debt Management and Financial Analysis System (DMFAS) and associated capacity-building provided by other organizations in this area.

D) The consultant will support the DMD in its deliverables for a Debt Management Performance Assessment (DeMPA) and will support day-to-day implementation of the DeMPA recommendations to reform and strengthen debt management capacity, processes, and institutional capacity.

E) Building on the operational review, for each of the key public deliverables of the DMD (Debt Policy, DSA, external data reporting, etc.) the consultant will develop a set of guidelines and procedures (operational manual) to produce them and to strengthen the internal systems and capacity for their production.

F) Working hand-in-hand with DMD staff, the consultant will produce one of each of these reports using the methodology and guidelines developed.

G) The consultant will support MOF in strengthening stakeholder and investor relations including regular engagement with credit ratings agencies. As such s/he will help build up any needed capacity within that office to perform this function. This will help MOF ensure consistent output to all stakeholders.

H) The consultant will provide backstopping support and hands-on training to the DMD for the government’s ongoing debt restructuring negotiations.

Qualifications
• An advanced degree in economics, accounting, financial analysis, or related discipline;
• At least ten (10) years of hands-on experience, including at a senior level, on public debt management and analysis, preferably in a developing country context within a Ministry of Finance;
• Diverse international experience, especially in developing countries;
• Significant experience providing technical assistance and capacity building and improving institutional structures, including in public debt management functions and offices;
• Proven experience in conducting debt sustainability analysis and debt service projections;
• Proven experience managing sub-sovereign debt and improving systemic reporting by sub-sovereigns and SOEs;
• Excellent understanding of international best practices and rules governing debt management, as governed by the Paris Club and Common Framework.
• Experience in supporting sovereign debt negotiations.
• Excellent understanding of DMFAS software.
• Familiarity with the economic context of Ethiopia and East Africa; ability to speak Amharic would be an advantage but is not a requirement.
• As the consultant will be a resident advisor within the DMD, s/he must be willing to relocate to Addis Ababa for the duration of the contract.
Evaluation Criteria/selection criteria

The following criteria shall be used to select candidates:
1. General qualification and relevant training of the candidates (30 points)
2. Relevant Specific experience of the candidates related to the assignment (45 points)

3. Adequate knowledge and understanding of international best practices and rules governing debt management, as governed by the Paris Club and Common Framework and DMFAS software (15 points)
4. Skills and competency –language (ability to speak Amharic would be an advantage but not a requirement), Familiarity with the economic context of Ethiopia and East Africa (10 points)