_____________________________________________________
REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
(CONSULTING SERVICES - FIRMS SELECTION)
Country: Multinational
Name of Project: Resilient Irrigation for a Sustainable Economy Project
Grant No .: P P514153
Assignment Title:
Procurement of Consultancy Services to Develop and Deploy the Africa RISE Gateway
Reference No: 926/AUDA/DITIR/RESILIENTIRRIGATIONF/QCBS/2026
Method: Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS)
Introduction
The African Union Development Agency - New Partnership for Africa Development (AUDA-NEPAD) has received financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the "Resilient Irrigation for a Sustainable Economy Project", and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services. "
Consultancy Services to Develop and Deploy the Africa RISE Gateway "
Description of Services
The consulting services ("the Services") include: Task 1: Africa RISE User Requirements Assessment: Map and profile all user groups and partners including relevant African Union agencies and departments (AUDANEPAD, AU-SAFGRAD, SEBE), government ministries, transboundary water management agencies, regulators, MPA focal points, implementing partners, research institutes and universities and technical experts, farmers, aggregators, private sector, equipment suppliers and financial institutions and farmer unions and cooperative societies etc; Task 2:
Design, Develop and Commission the Africa RISE Gateway: Define system architecture, data structures, modules, dashboard requirements and process workflows, including a unified data interoperability Layer that meets vPIC standards and aligns with the Africa RISE Regional Geospatial Analytics Platform and national irrigation monitoring systems. The architecture shall specify: (a) the endpoints and payload schemas through which national data collection tools, the Regional Geospatial Platform, and other authorized external data sources submit and validate benchmarking data; (b) the data lineage and version control mechanisms ensuring that published benchmarks are traceable to their submission source; and (c) the traffic-light alert logic that translates performance indicator values into color-coded risk flags for display in the executive dashboard . Task 3:
Technical Assistance (TA) and Capacity Building: Develop and deliver a structured, tiered capacity-building programme and associated training materials for all user groups, comprising: (i) a Technical Track for AUDA-NEPAD IT personnel, national technical focal points and system administrators, covering system administration, data management, integration and cybersecurity; (ii) an Operational Track for programme managers, extension officers and policy stakeholders, focusing on effective use of the platform and its functional modules; and (iii) an End-User Track providing simplified guidance and orientation materials. Task 4: Sustainable Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Model for the Gateway: Assess the technical and operational requirements for sustained operation of the Gateway, including hosting, security, data management, updates, user support and maintenance schedules and prepare indicative annual cost projections for the post-project period. Task 5: Envisaged functionality of the Africa RISE Gateway: The Africa RISE Gateway, as a go-to information and knowledge solution, is envisaged to serve.
Level of Effort for Key staff :
Key Expert
Person-Days
Key Expert 1: Team Leader / Digital Platform and Systems Architecture Lead
90
Key Expert 2: Business Analyst / User Requirements and Institutional Readiness Specialist
75
Key Expert 3: Lead Software Developer / Gateway Solution Architect
160
Key Expert 4: Data Engineer / API, Dashboard and Interoperability Specialist
110
Key Expert 5: Cybersecurity and Cloud Infrastructure Specialist
55
Key Expert 6: GIS / Geospatial Platform Integration Specialist
50
Key Expert 7: Knowledge Management, Learning and Capacity Development Specialist
80
Total
620
Duration of the assignment
Total duration: 56 weeks from the date of contract signature
The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment can be found on the following website: https://www.nepad.org/corporate-procurement#tenders
Shortlisting criteria:
The African Union Development Agency - New Partnership for Africa Development (AUDA-NEPAD) now invites eligible consulting firms ("Consultants") to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The shortlisting criteria are:
The firm shall demonstrate at least ten (10) years of proven institutional experience in designing, developing, deploying and supporting large-scale digital platforms of similar scope and complexity, preferably for regional, public sector or international development programmes.
The firm should have completed at least three (3) comparable assignments involving enterprise system architecture, API-first platform development, knowledge management systems, data integration, analytics dashboards, workflow management, cloud hosting, cybersecurity, user support and long-term system maintenance.
Relevant experience should include assignments involving interoperability with existing digital ecosystems, geospatial or remote sensing data integration, benchmarking and performance monitoring dashboards, multilingual knowledge repositories, data governance, user access controls and institutional handover.
The firm should also demonstrate experience working with government institutions, regional organisations, development partners and multi-country stakeholder groups in Africa, including the delivery of virtual consultations, capacity building, documentation and post-launch technical support.
Experience in agriculture, irrigation, water management, climate resilience, infrastructure, innovation financing or related sectors will be an added advantage.
The firm should have evidence of at least 3 assignments of similar nature in the region
Conflict
of interest
The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Section III, paragraphs, 3.15, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s "Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers" February 2025 ("Procurement Regulations"), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. In addition, please refer to the following specific information on conflict of interest related to this assignment:
A firm that has been engaged by the Borrower to provide Goods, Works, or Non-consulting Services for a project (or an affiliate that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with that firm), shall be disqualified from providing Consulting Services resulting from, or directly related to, those Goods, Works, or Non-consulting Services. This provision does not apply to the various firms (Consultants, contractors, or suppliers), which together are performing the contractor’s obligations under a turnkey or design and build contract;
A firm that has been engaged by the Borrower to provide Consulting Services for the preparation or implementation of a project (or an affiliate that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with that Consulting firm), shall be disqualified from subsequently providing Goods, Works, or Non-consulting Services resulting from, or directly related to those Consulting Services. This provision does not apply to the various firms (Consultants, contractors, or suppliers), which together are performing the contractor’s obligations under a turnkey or design and build contract;
Neither a Consultant (including personnel and sub-consultants), nor an affiliate (that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with that Consultant), shall be hired for any assignment that, by its nature, creates a conflict of interest with another assignment of the Consultant;
Consultants (including their experts and other personnel, and sub-consultants), that have a close business or family relationship with a professional staff of the Borrower, or of the project implementing agency, or of a recipient of a part of the Bank’s financing, or any other party representing or acting on behalf of the Borrower, that is directly or indirectly involved in any part of: (i) the preparation of the TOR for the assignment; (iii) the selection process for the contract; or iii. the supervision of the contract, may not be awarded a contract, unless the conflict stemming from this relationship has been resolved in a manner acceptable to the Bank throughout the selection process and the execution of the contract.
Consultants may associate with other firms to enhance their qualifications, but should indicate clearly whether the association is in the form of a joint venture and/or a sub-consultancy. In the case of a joint venture, all the partners in the joint venture shall be jointly and severally liable for the entire contract, if selected.
A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) method set out in the Procurement Regulations.
Further information can be obtained at the address below during office.
Expressions of interest must be delivered to the address below by email on or before September 11th, 2026, 14:30 hours (South African Time). All EOI’s must be marked " 926/AUDA/DITIR/RESILIENTIRRIGATIONF/QCBS/2026
-
Procurement of Consultancy Services to Develop and Deploy the Africa RISE Gateway
"
in the subject line of the email.
EOIs can also be sent by email, addressed to the address below. Interested Consultants may also obtain further information at the address below during office hours (09:00 - 17:00 South Africa time):
The Chairperson, Internal Procurement Committee (IPC)
African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD)
Eco Origin, Block F,
349 Witch Hazel Street,
Eco Park, Centurion.
Email: [email protected] ; and copy to [email protected]
Attention of: Procurement Division
annex 1
DECLARATION OF UNDERTAKING
{ Location, Date }
To: The Chairperson Internal Procurement Committee (IPC)
AUDA-NEPAD
230, 15th Road, P. O. Box 218 Midrand,
1685 Johannesburg, South Africa
The Attention of: Head of Procurement Division
We, the undersigned, offer to provide the services for { Title and Procurement Number } in accordance with your Request for Expression of Interest (EOI) dated { Date }
We declare that:
All the information and statements made in this EOI are true and we accept that any misinterpretation or misrepresentation contained in the EOI may lead to our disqualification and/or may be sanctioned by AUDA-NEPAD;
We have no conflict of interest in relationship to performance of this assignment;
We confirm our understanding of our obligation to abide by the AU Ethics policy regarding corrupt and fraudulent practices;
We, along with any of our sub-consultants, subcontractors, suppliers, or service providers for any part of the contract, are not subject to, and not controlled by any entity or individual that is subject to, a temporary suspension or a debarment imposed by the African Union, World Bank or any other multilateral development bank and being listed on the website http://www.worldbank.org/debarr or respectively on the relevant list of any other multilateral development bank. Further, we are not ineligible under the South African laws or official regulations or pursuant to a decision of the United Nations Security Council;
We have not been convicted by a final judgement or a final administrative decision or subject to financial sanctions by the African Union, United Nations or Country for involvement in a criminal organisation, money laundering, terrorist-related offences, child labour or trafficking in human beings; this criterion of exclusion is also applicable to legal Persons, whose majority of shares are held or factually controlled by natural or legal Persons which themselves are subject to such convictions or sanctions;
We are not a shell company nor has our company been created specifically for this bid and confirm we are legally registered to operate a business under the Laws of {insert country of registration} since {insert year of registration}; and
We are not being bankrupt, wound up or ceasing our activities, having our activities administered by courts, having entered receivership, reorganisation or being in any analogous situation;
Are not involved in corruption: offering, giving, receiving or soliciting, directly or indirectly, anything of value to influence improperly the actions of another party;
We comply with our national tax and social security laws.
We commit ourselves to complying with and ensuring that our Subcontractors and major suppliers under the Contract comply with international environmental and labour standards, consistent with laws and regulations applicable in the country of implementation of the Contract and the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and international environmental treaties. Moreover, we shall implement environmental and social risks mitigation measures when specified in the relevant environmental and social management plans or other similar documents provided by AUDA-NEPAD and, in any case, implement measures to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse and gender-based violence.
We undertake to bring to the attention of AUDA-NEPAD, any change in situation regarding points 2 and 3 here above.
We remain,
Yours sincerely,
Authorised Signature:
Name and Title of Signatory:
Name of Firm:
Address: