Terms of Reference:

Recruitment of an Impact Evaluation Expert,
Individual Consultant

Application Deadline: 07th August 2022

About Smart Africa

The Smart Africa Alliance is a partnership among African countries adhering to the Smart Africa Manifesto (herein after referred to as “the Manifesto”), the African Union (AU Commission, AUDA, specialized institutions and Regional Economic Communities), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the Private Sector, Academic and Research Institutions.

The Smart Africa Alliance (or Smart Africa) is a bold and innovative commitment from African Heads of State and Government to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development on the continent, ushering Africa into a knowledge economy through the usage of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT).  

On 30th-31st January 2014, the Smart Africa Manifesto was endorsed by all Heads of State and Government of the African Union at the 22nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa. This development places the Manifesto at the heart of the ICT agenda in Africa beyond just the 7 original signatories at the Summit to all African countries. The Smart Africa Alliance has since grown to include 32 African countries that represent 815+ million people. 

The Smart Africa Manifesto aims to put ICT at the center of the continental and national socio-economic development of Member States. This means increasing access to ICT solutions, improving accountability, efficiency, and openness through ICT, promoting the introduction of advanced technologies in telecommunication, strengthening the private sector, leveraging ICT to promote sustainable development.

The Smart Africa Alliance as an organization is the framework for implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Manifesto, designed to make it actionable. The Smart Africa Alliance is not a profit-oriented organization.

The organization develop continent-wide goals and milestones as well as best practices to guide the implementation of the Smart Africa Initiative. In light of the above, each adhering country develops and implements flagship projects with clear targets and milestones. These need to be strongly aligned to the Smart Africa Alliance principles. The Alliance provides technical support to countries in the development and implementation of the flagship projects. The organization also assists governments to the extent possible to mobilize funding from development partners and the Private Sector in order to implement their flagship projects.

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Purpose of the Consultancy

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and the Smart Africa Secretariat (SAS) have entered into a financial agreement in 2019 regarding the implementation of the “Smart Africa Digital Acceleration program”. NORAD has awarded the Smart Africa Secretariat a grant to be used exclusively for the implementation of this project during the period from January 1st, 2020 to December 31st, 2022 

The Smart Africa Digital Acceleration Program has covered five areas under Smart Africa’s flagship projects which include E-Agriculture (AgriTech), Smart Cities, Digital Identity, Start-ups and Entrepreneurship Ecosystems, and ICT Skills Development and Capacity Building.  The Project’s planned effect(s) on society (Impact) are strengthened competitiveness and productivity in the project countries. The effects of the Project (Outcome) are an increased degree of digitization and connectivity as well as a broader platform for job-creation.

The overall objective of the consultancy is to draft the impact evaluation report of the Smart Africa Digital Acceleration Program that will be submitted to NORAD by September 2022 and to evaluate the key achievements and areas of improvement of the program. The Consultant will assess the performance of the program according to the OECD/DAC criteria of relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability. The findings of this report are also expected to feed into lessons learned to support the program's continuation and inform NORAD's assessment of the program for a possible extension of its grant.

Key deliverables and estimated duration 

Certain milestones, as laid out in the table below, are to be achieved by certain dates during the contract term:

Milestone	Estimated Duration
Draft an inception report and workplan detailing the key steps necessary for the submission of the impact evaluation report to NORAD by September 2022. This inception report will be submitted and discussed during a validation session with designated Smart Africa staff members. The Consultant will collect comments on this inception report and make the necessary revisions.	2 working days
Review the results framework and theory of change for the program and each of its five pillars together with the relevant Smart Africa staff members to establish an appropriate evaluation methodology.	2 working days
Submit a draft outline of the report and evaluation design to the Smart Africa staff members (including conceptual framework, updated results framework and theory of change, survey questionnaires or interview guides, list of interviewees, focus group discussion guides, data collection instruments and any other relevant document). This evaluation design will be submitted and discussed during a validation session with designated Smart Africa staff members. The Consultant will collect comments on this inception report and make the necessary revisions.	2 working days
Conduct the data collection for a quantitative and/or qualitative evaluation of the program. Some data collection forms may have to be in French.	5 working days
Submit preliminary findings to the Smart Africa staff members, including results of the data collection, updated results framework, findings and limitations, analysis and recommendations based on OECD-DAC principles. This draft report will be submitted and discussed during a validation session with designated Smart Africa staff members and other relevant stakeholders if required. The Consultant will collect comments on this inception report and make the necessary revisions.	3 working days
Draft and submit final report of impact evaluation (in word document) as well as slides presentation (PPT) to the Smart Africa staff members including all annexes.	3 working days
Other related tasks that may be assigned by the Supervisor	3 working days

Key Implementation Notes

• The Consultant will ensure that the deliverables produced are aligned with the Smart Africa vision and constitutive documents adopted by the Alliance, in particular the Smart Africa Triennal Strategy and its theory of change. 
• The Consultant will ensure that the deliverables produced are aligned with the financial agreement between NORAD and the Smart Africa Secretariat and that the final report includes all the content listed in article 4 of the General Conditions of this agreement. 
• The Consultant will ensure that the evaluation methodology follows OECD-DAC principles.
• The Consultant will take primary responsibility for writing the deliverables in English.
• The Consultant will work closely with designated Smart Africa staff to carry out this task. The Consultant will prepare the necessary meeting minutes, slide presentations and document summaries.
• SA staff will provide the consultant with previous reports (including the mid-term report) as well as all required information on past activities and necessary contacts, etc.
• The Consultant will ensure the confidentiality of information shared by the Smart Africa Secretariat, Smart Africa member states and other stakeholders participating in this work. Publication of content can only take place with the permission of the Smart Africa Secretariat.
• The Consultant shall submit each deliverable in electronic copies, editable files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.), in English.
• The Consultant shall perform other related tasks that may be assigned by the Supervisor.

Key qualifications and experience requirements

• At least a postgraduate qualification in Economics, Statistics, Public Policy, Computer Science, Management, Business Administration, , Law, or other relevant fields.
• At least 5 years of professional experience in monitoring & evaluation, impact assessment, or other relevant roles.
• Must have led an evaluation design and execution in at least three (3) regional, international or multilateral institutions in the past ten (10) years. Similar experience with institutions engaged in the digital transformation sector will be an asset.
• Relevant experience in digital transformation policies and programs.
• Relevant experience in impact evaluation of projects with African organizations will be an advantage.

Language requirements

• Excellent knowledge and fluency English (reading and writing). 
• Good working knowledge of French and/or another language such as Portuguese or Arabic will be an advantage.

Duration of the assignment

The assignment will take place immediately after the selection of the candidate. The total amount of workdays estimated to perform these tasks is 20 working days. 

Location

The Consultant will work remotely and may be required to travel occasionally to Kigali - Rwanda or elsewhere, whenever the need of physical consultations/meetings arise, as may be determined by the Supervisor. If travels are required, Smart Africa will cover for the travel arrangements.

Reporting requirements 

The Impact Evaluation Expert, Individual Consultant, will report directly to the Director of Digital Transformation and Services and/or to other Senior Staff as may be delegated. 

Application Submissions and deadline

Candidates should send the following documents to the email address: hr@smartafrica.org, with mention of “Impact Evaluation Expert” in the subject.

1. A brief proposal that summarizes the Consultant’s approach and methodology as well as work plan and schedule for delivering the report. 
2. A one-page cover letter with a motivation statement in relation to the terms of reference.
3. A CV in English with 3 contacts of work-related referees.
4. Recommendation letters signed and stamped for similar assignments of M&E documents developed for regional, international or multilateral institutions in the past ten (10) years. The applicant’s role in the moniroting & evaluation should be clearly mentioned and contacts of references should also be provided. 
5. A copy of the evaluation documents referenced in (iv) above should also be provided.
6. Copies of academic certificates and other relevant professional certificates.

The deadline of application is 07th August 2022, 2022 at 05:00PM (Local time, Kigali)

Shorlisted candidates will be contacted for interviews.