The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), one of the regional economic communities of the African Union, was created on May 28, 1975. It comprises the following fifteen (15) member states: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

As part of the implementation of projects and programmes contributing to both the operationalization of the ECOWAS Agricultural Policy and the development of regional infrastructure projects, ECOWAS has set up the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF), responsible for the administration and management of projects in the agricultural sector.

Within the framework of the implementation of projects and programmes contributing both to the operationalization of the ECOWAS Agricultural Policy and to the development of regional infrastructure projects, ECOWAS, through its Executing Agencies based in Lomé, in particular the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAA), the Project Preparation and Development Unit (PPDU), hereby invites applications from individual consultants to support the administrative and financial service pool in Lomé.  

1- Description of the mission

1.1 Purpose of the assignment

Participation in the management of procurement operations for ECOWAS entities is supported by the ECOWAS Administration and Finance Pool in Lomé.

1.2. Description of tasks

The consultants will carry out the following tasks :

• Recording and monitoring various purchase requisitions ;
• Entry of the various requisitions in the MM module of the SAP software ;
• Drafting of service offers ;
• Preparation of tender documents ;
• Participation in tender opening sessions and proposals;
• Drafting contracts ;
• Preparation of various notices and monitoring of their publication ;
• Drafting of letters and memos to check compliance with the various stages of the procurement process ;
• Drawing up and analysing the various tender opening and evaluation reports ;
• Identifying and managing the various services involved in organising workshops and conferences ;
• Document review prior to examining a request for an opinion on a contract ;
• Filing of all documents relating to the procurement process (tender documents and notices, requests for no-objection, bidders' proposals, minutes of Contracts Committee meetings, correspondence, etc.) ;
• Recording, monitoring and forwarding invoices ;
• Reconciliation of invoices received and payments ;
• Contract monitoring ;
• carry out any other tasks assigned to them by their superiors.

2. Profile and experience

Candidates must meet the following criteria:

2.1 General qualifications

• Have at least a university degree at the level of BAC+3 in law, procurement, project management, economics, financial administration, accounting, or any other degree in related fields.

2.2 Experience

• Have two (2) years' professional experience in procurement; relevant work placements will be taken into account in the assessment of consultants' experience ;
• Good knowledge of ECOWAS procurement procedures would be an asset ;
• Good experience managing and organising workshops and conferences.

2.3 Skills

• Sound knowledge of procurement in general and of the procurement procedures of international public institutions and technical and financial partners (WB, EU, AFD, USAID, SDC-Swiss Cooperation);
• Good knowledge of the market for meeting and conference support service providers ;
• Good communication and teamwork skills ;
• Good command of Microsoft Excel and Word ;
• Mastery of procurement software ;
• Knowledge of the MM (Materials Management) module of SAP software would be an asset;
• Fluency in one of the three ECOWAS working languages (English, French, or Portuguese) is required. Good linguistic knowledge (written and oral) of a second working language of the Commission would be an asset.

2.4. Skills and qualities

• Ability to work under pressure and good team spirit ;
• Ability to monitor and manage concurrent activities for various internal clients ;
• Maintaining good inter-professional relations ;
• Have good professional and moral integrity;
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment such as that of ECOWAS.

3. Selection procedures

Eligibility and qualifications

The ECOWAS Commission, through the Regional Agriculture and Food Agency (RAAA), hereby invites individuals to express their interest in providing the required services by providing information demonstrating that they have the necessary qualifications and relevant experience to carry out the assignment.

The attention of interested individual consultants is particularly drawn to Article 117 of the revised ECOWAS Public Procurement Code ("Offences committed by candidates, tenderers, and successful tenderers"), which provides information on corrupt or fraudulent practises in the competition or execution of a contract. In addition, please refer to the following specific information on conflicts of interest related to this assignment in accordance with Article 118 of the revised ECOWAS Public Procurement Code.

Expression of interest file

The expression of interest file consists of:

• A letter of expression of interest addressed to the Executive Director of the RAAA, including the deadline for availability ;
• A recent curriculum vitae detailing professional experience and similar assignments ;
• Three professional references (first and last names, current position, position at the time of collaboration with the Consultant, e-mail and telephone contacts);
• Certified copy of diploma(s) ;
• Copies of work or service certificates are listed in the curriculum vitae.

Selection method

The selection method is "selection based on the consultant's qualifications," as described in the ECOWAS Procurement Code.

Request for further information

Interested consultants can obtain further information by writing to the following e-mail addresses: procurement@araa.org  cc: ctienon@araa.org , mnakorba@araa.org , and bkpessiglo@araa.org  with the subject "SCI047-ARAA: Personnels d'Appui PM".

How to Apply

• Deadline for receipt of applications: December 4, 2023, at 17:00 GMT
• Submission links: applications must be submitted by uploading to Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/request/BTf5x8LMbqHWblSRZXxq
• Application format: the application must be in the form of a single PDF file

The ARAA reserves the right not to consider applications that do not comply with the above conditions for submission.