Senior Non-key Expert State-level Development Planning – BRA Pillar 2: “Sustainable Economic Development”

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Senior Non-key Expert

State-level Development Planning – BRA

Pillar 2: “Sustainable Economic Development”

Project              EU – Somalia Technical Assistance and Partnership Facility [NDICI Africa/2023/451-029]

Start date and duration          The role is expected to commence in May 2025 (extendable, subject to project need / requirements and resource availability), and to be implemented either as a single, continuous assignment, counting from the date of first deployment of the expert, or in two sections, separated by a brief interlude.

Inputs A maximum of 35 working days, delivered over a period not exceeding three (3) calendar months.

Location and travel    The main place of assignment shall be Mogadishu, capital of the Federal Republic of Somalia, and headquarters of the Banadir Regional Administration (BRA).

Travel within the State may be required and will be subject to relevant project and EU rules and regulations, including security protocols and the outcome of contemporary security assessments.

Supervision    The role will be answerable to the Director General (DG) of the BRA Department of Planning, Investment and Economic Development (DoPIED) and will be supervised by the TAPF Team Leader, in close collaboration with the TAPF KE2 / Partnership Advisor.

Time sheets will be approved by the TAPF Team Leader and the EU Delegation (EUD).

1. BACKGROUND

The European Union – Somalia Technical Assistance and Partnership Facility (TAPF) is a three-year initiative designed to support the European Union Delegation (EUD) to Somalia’s engagement in and cooperation with the Federal Republic of Somalia, and to expedite progress towards achievement of the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The project is being imp through a service contract, signed between the EUD and DAI Global Belgium, and operates from DAIs offices in Mogadishu and Nairobi.

The project duration runs for an initial total term of 36 months, from 1st January 2024, through to 31st December 2026.

It is resourced and implemented by a Key Expert 1 / Team Leader (with an allocation of 660 working days) and a Key Expert 2: Partnership Advisor (660 working days), complemented by seven State Level Coordinators (each with 660 days: 4,620 days in total), and three Senior Technical Advisors (1,500 working days in total).

In addition, the project has an allocation of (respectively) 850 Senior and 1,000 Junior Non-Key Expert days, to fulfil demand-driven tasks in accordance with the project’s overall Terms of Reference and in line with its “facility” modus.

Key experts are supported by in-country administrative staff in Mogadishu and Nairobi, responsible for local administration, operational logistics and financial management, while overall project delivery is underpinned and supervised by DAI’s backstopping team in Europe.

2. OBJECTIVES

2.1 Project Objectives

The TAPF has three main result areas:

1. Strengthening the capacity of the Government of Somalia, at both Federal and State levels, and in particular the Federal Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development (MoPIED), to deliver on its mandate, with respect to the National Transformation Plan (NTP).
2. Strengthening identification, formulation, implementation and monitoring of European Union funded programmes in Somalia, covering renewable energy, the environment, climate change adaptation and natural resources management, amongst others.

III.         Enhancing partnerships and facilitation of policy dialogue on key topics for EU-Somalia cooperation.

The project is expected to deliver a range of technical support activities structured around these result areas, in relation to both Federal (FGS) and Member State (FMS) institutions, selected non-state actors, and the EUD itself. Deliverables may include multi-stakeholder engagement activities, including community consultations, planning, project and programme design, technical studies and analyses, policy formulation and advisory support, cross-cutting thematic analyses, and monitoring and evaluation.

2.2 General Assignment Objectives

The Banadir Regional Administration (BRA), also known as Mogadishu Municipality, governs Mogadishu, the capital and largest city of Somalia.

The city is divided into 20 districts, comprising Abdiaziz, Bondhere, Daarasalaam, Dayniile, Dharkeynley, Garasbalaley, Gubadleey, Hamar-Jajab, Hamar-Weyne, Heliwaa, Hodan, Howl-Wadag, Kaaran, Kaxda, Shangani, Shibis, Waberi, Wadajir, Warta Nabada and Yaqshid.

Each district has its own administrative headquarters and police station, but public services, especially healthcare and education, are primarily delivered by the private sector.

As Somalia’s largest city, Mogadishu faces significant infrastructure challenges, including rapid population growth, the presence of a large internally displaced persons (IDP) population, many housed in IDP camps, and inadequate public services.

The National Transformation Plan (NTP) consultation workshop – conducted in the city in late February – aimed to ensure that the national transformation strategy, especially infrastructure development, is responsive to the challenges noted above, inclusive marginalised groups, and is aligned with local development priorities.

In furtherance of this objective, the Mogadishu Municipal authorities, and the wider Banadir Regional Administration, had already embarked on a process of developing a five-year Mogadishu “transformation plan” (formally titled the “Mogadishu Transformation Strategy”) to enhance the core functioning and overall effectiveness of local government operations in the city, through improved civil service management and improvement of public infrastructure and capacity, especially through increased involvement of the private sector, via private investment and promotion of public–private partnerships (PPP).

The Mogadishu Transformation Strategy (MTS) is a five-year development blueprint for which Mogadishu Municipality and BRA seek support from the EU, World Bank, UN agencies, and other development partners.

Recognising the need for consistency with the recently approved federal MoPIED National Transformation Plan (NTP), and building on the significant achievements of existing, predecessor initiatives, the BRA Department of Planning, Investment and Economic Development (DoPIED) has embarked on development of the MTS (2025-2029), to guide the BRA authorities’ strategic programmes and policies over the next five years.

As with the NTP, the MTS will focus on four priority sectors or pillars:

–             Governance (including security and the rule of law, decentralisation and democratisation);

–             Sustainable economic development (including private sector-led inclusive economic growth and productive sector development);

–             Social and human development (including education, health, social protection and water);

–             Environment and climate resilience (including environmental protection, climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience).

The new five-year development strategy is expected to be finalised and rolled out by mid-year 2025, however, due to funding and capacity constraints, this timetable is dependent on receipt of support from donors and partners.

When complete, the MTS will be aligned with the Somalia National Transformation Plan (NTP), 2025-2029, as well as with the Centennial Vision 2060 (CV2060) and international Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to ensure the harmonisation of local, national and global development priorities.

2.3 Specific Assignment Objectives

The specific objective of the assignment is to formulate a Pillar 2, Sustainable Economic Development “sector transformation plan” that will be integrated into the new, five-year Mogadishu Transformation Strategy (MTS) covering the period from 2025 to 2030.

The Sustainable Economic Development Pillar “sector transformation plan” will include issues related to private sector-led, inclusive economic growth and productive sector development (much of it to be achieved through the promotion of PPPs), and should outline individual, time-specific development goals for the sector, to be realised through a consultative and participatory process that actively involves all relevant stakeholders.

The BRA authorities have already prepared an MTS Concept Note, defining the methodology through which participatory baseline data collection will be affected in the Municipality’s 20 districts and from its different interest groups and public institutions. The Sustainable Economic Development Sector Non-key Expert (NKE) will work closely with DoPIED technical staff to review this baseline data, using it to formulate a Sustainable Economic Development Sector Transformation Plan, which will, ultimately, be referred for further consideration to a Pillar Working Group, and be subjected to a process of “executive consultation”, to ensure that the sector plan aligns with the other three sector transformation plans (for Governance, Social and Human Development and Environment and Climate Resilience), ultimately contributing to finalisation of the overall Mogadishu Transformation Strategy 2025–2030.

Technical staff from key DoPIED departments will play a crucial role in facilitating the NKEs work, ensuring that relevant documents are accessible to the sectoral Non-key Expert for thorough review.

As indicated above, formulation of the Sustainable Economic Development Sector Transformation Plan will pass through a number of data review and drafting phases, including organisation of four (4) individual, district-level data collection consultation workshops, to be convened and conducted in Bari, Bartamaha, Galbeed and Waliyow-Cadde, Pillar Working Group meetings, an “executive consultation” process and a final validation workshop, where all relevant stakeholders will contribute their ideas to development of the regional strategy, to enhance inclusivity and to promote ownership.

The sectoral Non-key Expert will incorporate feedback gathered during these consultation and validation workshops into the evolving draft plan.

Amongst others issues the Sustainable Economic Development Sector Transformation Plan should:

–             Identify / pinpoint important constraints hindering the improvement of economic conditions and job creation in Mogadishu Municipality / BRA;

–             Articulate desired goals / the future status of the economic reality / conditions, highlighting where the sector should be after five (5) years’ and how it will get there (defining the principal means and actions by which stated objectives will be realised);

–             Define and quantify the short- and medium-term objectives of the sector and elaborate institutional, implementational and M&E arrangements applicable to the sector;

–             Highlight cross-cutting issues and strategies within the sustainable economic development sector; establishing investment needs for programme implementation and specifying what is to be done, why, how, when and by whom within the sector;

–             Contain a monitoring framework that is results-based, management compliant, and fully aligned with the NTP, SDGs and Somalia’s other international obligations.

The finished Sustainable Economic Development Sector Transformation Plan should also contain a comprehensive resource mobilisation strategy, with domestic and foreign resources components, in line with sector investment needs and cognisant of the macro-economic and fiscal constraints in effect in BRA, with emphasis on public / private partnerships for future development of the sector.

3. SCOPE

3.1 General

Working closely with appropriate authorities at Regional Administration level (the DoPIED DG, DoPIED senior management team and relevant Pillar Working Groups), and with TAPF Key Experts (KE1 and KE2) and Non-key Experts (the BRA State Level Coordinator – SLC), and coordinating between the Department of Planning, Investment and Economic Development (DoPIED) and other ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), assist in the design, preparation (through data review), draft formulation and subsequent validation of the Sustainable Economic Development Pillar component of the BRA five-year Mogadishu Transformation Strategy, thus helping to generate a comprehensive, inclusive and fully formed state development / transformation blueprint.

3.2 Target Groups

The work of the TAPF benefits Somali citizens through increasing the effectiveness of EU cooperation with Somalia, including (in this case) support for the development planning process.

The Sustainable Economic Development Transformation Planning NKE will work with and be based in the BRA Department of Planning, Investment and Economic Development (DoPIED) in Mogadishu, but will liaise and coordinate with other relevant regional institutions.

The NKE will also interact with non-state actors, such as civil society organisations and interest groups (women, youth, private sector and the business community), facilitating their participation in policy dialogue activities, e.g. development / transformation strategy consultations, sector-based analysis and validation events.

3.3 Specific Activities

The Expert is expected to undertake and complete the following tasks:

• Under the direct supervision of the office of the DoPIED DG, with support from the TAPF BRA SLC, and in conjunction with the TAPF Team Leader and Key Expert 2, pro-actively assist, contribute to, and where required “drive”, preparation and formulation of the Sustainable Economic Development Pillar component of the five-year Mogadishu Transformation Strategy, 2025-2030, through direct engagement and in coordination with municipal and regional government counterpart MDAs. Specifically:

–             Review the process methodology proposed through which to conduct development planning sectoral activities (in line with the overall Mogadishu Transformation Strategy).

–             Prepare a sector work plan specific to the Sustainable Economic Development Pillar planning process.

–             Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the current economic environment in Mogadishu, covering key sectors such as trade, services, construction, access to finance and technology and the informal economy, and identify systemic barriers and market constraints limiting entrepreneurship, SME development, youth employment, women’s economic participation, innovation and inward investment.

–             Conduct a detailed desk review of existing policies, legal frameworks, programme evaluations and sector-specific performance data and recommend policy reforms and improvements in business infrastructure, regulatory frameworks and investment facilitation mechanisms.

–             Compile and review quantitative and qualitative baseline data and work with public institutions, and other relevant stakeholders, to ensure that data is credible, disaggregated (e.g., by gender, age and location) and that it is actionable.

–             Identify gaps, challenges, opportunities and lessons learned, to inform strategic direction and propose strategic interventions to diversify the economy, strengthen SMEs, create innovation hubs, expand access to finance, and promote the green economy sector.

–             Design and implement inclusive consultation processes with a diverse range of actors, to boost cross-border trade, digital innovation ecosystems, and inclusive private sector growth initiatives.

–             Prepare briefing notes and presentation materials for high-level meetings / workshops.

–             In collaboration with government counterparts and development partners, convene and facilitate pillar working group discussions, ensuring productive dialogue between technical experts, policymakers and key sector stakeholders, and ensure adequate engagement with business enterprises, chambers of commerce, civil society organisations, non-state actors, academic institutions, women’s groups, youth organisations, and community representatives.

–             Ensure that relevant cross-cutting themes (gender, human rights, inclusivity, conflict sensitivity, environment and climate change, youth, women and marginalised groups) and challenges are identified and adequately mainstreamed in the development planning process and that marginalised voices are heard, and their priorities recognised and incorporated.

–             Monitor progress and resolve coordination issues within the sectoral planning process.

–             Develop the initial draft of the pillar transformation plan, outlining strategic objectives, policy priorities, implementation frameworks, and monitoring indicators.

–             Revise the draft based on stakeholder feedback, pillar working group discussions, validation meetings and technical reviews.

–             Produce a final, comprehensive pillar transformation plan that aligns with the national vision, SDGs, and financing frameworks.

–             Provide mentoring and training to sectoral staff and junior professionals during the entirety of the pillar transformation plan formulation process.

–             Support institutional learning and the sustainability of planning practices.

–             Facilitate and ensure alignment with the National Transformation Plan (NTP) and Centennial Vision 2060 (CV2060).

–             Organise and conduct / facilitate a final municipality / regional validation workshop, involving key stakeholders from municipality and district levels, civil society and the private sector.

• Prepare and submit an end-of-mission narrative report summarising activities undertaken, progress made, and lessons learned during commission of the assignment.

4. DELIVERABLES AND REPORTING

The following deliverables will contribute to and result in the successful implementation of the State-level Development Planning technical assistance assignment:

• Preparation of an assignment methodology road map, in the form of an “inception report” summarising the planning process and sector plan development strategy.
• Conducting detailed desk reviews of existing policies, legal frameworks, programme evaluations and sector performance data and, working with public institutions and / or other, relevant stakeholders, ensuring data is credible, disaggregated (e.g., by gender, age and location) and that it is actionable.
• Preparing briefing notes and presentation materials for high-level meetings / workshops.
• Convening and facilitating pillar working group discussions and engaging with business enterprises, civil society organisations, non-state actors, academic institutions, women’s groups, youth organisations, and community representatives, thus ensuring productive dialogue between technical experts, policymakers, and key stakeholders.
• Provision of workshop facilitation or co-facilitation services, in relation to targeted stakeholder consultations and transformation plan validation events.
• Developing and compiling an initial draft of the pillar transformation plan, outlining strategic objectives, policy priorities, implementation frameworks and monitoring indicators.
• Organising, conducting and facilitating a final “plan validation workshop”, involving key stakeholders from municipality and district levels, civil society and the private sector.
• Revising initial drafts based on stakeholder feedback, working group discussions, and technical reviews.
• Producing a final, comprehensive pillar transformation plan that aligns with the national vision, SDGs, and financing frameworks.
• Preparing and submitting an end-of-mission narrative report.
• Timely handover of Development / Transformation Plans and other relevant materials for uploading to the TAPF internal SharePoint platform and timely handover of financial and administrative records to administrative support staff, in line with DAI and EUD regulations.

5. SUPERVISION

The Pillar 2 State-level Development Planning NKE will be answerable to the Director General (DG) of the BRA Department of Planning, Investment and Economic Development (DoPIED), working in collaboration with the TAPF State Level Coordinator (SLC), and will be supervised by the TAPF Team Leader, in close collaboration with the TAPF KE2 / Partnership Advisor.

Time sheets will be approved by the TAPF Team Leader and the EU Delegation (EUD).

The working language of the assignment and contract will be English, and all communication and reports will be submitted in English.

6. LOGISTICS

The assignment will be implemented from the DoPIED office in Mogadishu, BRA.

Travel to selected districts within Mogadishu will be required, to conduct consultations and other fact-finding activities, subject to relevant project and EU rules and regulations, including security protocols and the outcome of contemporary security assessments.

The TAPF Office Manager, based in Mogadishu, and the DAI Project Manager, based in Brussels, will support the State-level Development Planning NKE with operational and administrative issues, as required.

7. EXPERT QUALIFICATIONS / SELECTION CRITERIA

The sustainable Economic Development Pillar State Planning NKE should possess:

• A university degree, preferably a Master’s, in one of the following fields: Business Administration, Economics, Public Policy, Urban Planning, Project Management, International Development, Statistics, Applied Research, Political Science, or a related field.
• 12 or more years of practical work experience in a senior advisory capacity with an international development organisation, private sector company, non-governmental organisation or government institution, including at least three (3) previous assignments as a development planner, preparing regional, organisational or company-level strategic plans.
• Previous work experience as a TA or CTA (technical assistant / chief technical advisor), embedded within a host government department, leading development programmes and / or drafting or implementing policies, strategies and operational plans, inclusive mentoring and capacity development experience.
• Previous experience (in at least three (3) work assignments) of workshop organisation and facilitation, inclusive in-depth knowledge of and familiarity with participatory rural appraisal (PRA), focus group discussion and other interactive data collection methodologies, preparation of PowerPoint presentations and handouts, and moderating workshop plenaries.
• Clear and demonstrable understanding and in-depth knowledge of Results Based Management (RBM), Participatory Planning and Monitoring (PPM) or other management techniques.
• Strong communication, negotiation and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent written and spoken / verbal communication skills, in both English and Somali.
• Strong organisational and analytical skills.
• Extensive knowledge of the local (Somali) development context.
• Specialist technical knowledge of one or more sectors comprising the foundation pillars in the current development planning framework. These are:

Compulsory (in this case):

–             Sustainable economic transformation: macro-economic stability, private- sector-led, inclusive economic growth and productive sector development.

Optional:

–             Governance transformation: rule of law and security, public sector reforms, and inclusive governance;

–             Social and human capital transformation: education, health and nutrition, social protection, water and inter-sectoral themes;

–             Environment and climate resilience: environmental protection, renewable energy, disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation and mitigation, and resilience.

• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, managing multiple priorities effectively.

Appendix 1: Overarching Project Terms of Reference

EU – Somalia Technical Assistance and Partnership Facility [NDICI Africa/2023/451-029]