Summary of the Assignment:

Nature of assignmentShort term
Location Will vary depending on the respondents
Timeframe 21 Working days
ReportingTo Executive Director/CEO
I ABOUT EAST AFRICAN BUSINESS COUNCIL

The East African Business Council (EABC) is the umbrella body of the Private Sector in the East African Community (EAC). It brings together national private sector umbrella bodies, manufacturers, employers, bankers, insurance and transporters associations, chambers of commerce, corporates, and medium and small enterprises from the entire East African region.

EABC’s mandate is to represent and promote the interests of the EAC business community, provide value-added services that enhance trade and competitiveness, and to participate actively and positively influence legal and regulatory formulation to improve the business environment. EABC works with the major stakeholders such as the EAC Secretariat, Organs, Institutions and National Governments and provides input in policy discussion while advocating for the implementation of resolutions at the national level aimed at increasing intra-regional trade. For effective implementation of the Regional PPD programme, EABC was selected by TMEA as the lead implementing partner for the Private Sector Organizations.

II                 BACKGROUND TO THE EABC TRADEMARK EAST AFRICA PROJECT 

TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) is an aid-for-trade organization that was established in 2010 to grow prosperity in East Africa through increased trade. TMEA is in presence in nine African countries which are: Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia and Somaliland. TMEA operates on a not-for-profit basis and is funded by the development agencies of the following countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, UK, and USA. TMEA works closely with East African Community (EAC) institutions, national governments, national government institutions and bodies, the private sector and civil society organizations to achieve its core objective of developing a sustainable and inclusive trade environment to improve the total welfare of communities and households in Eastern Africa.  

 TMEA seeks to improve trade competitiveness by reducing barriers to trade and enhancing business competitiveness. Specifically, TMEA aims at increasing trade and unlocking economic potential through: 

  • Improving efficiency and capacity of transport infrastructure;   
  • Improving trading standards and reducing Non-Tariff Barriers; 
  • Improving the effectiveness and transparency of trade processes and systems; 
  • Improving trade regulatory environment;  
  • Effective public-private dialogue for trade   
  • Increasing efficiency in private sector logistics service provision  
  • Improving the export capacity of East African businesses  ▪ Greater inclusion of women in trade     

The East African Business Council (EABC) is implementing the TMEA project titled Public‐

Private Sector Dialogue (PPD) for Trade and Investment in Eastern Africa”. This regional project targets mainstreaming advocacy throughout TMEA’s project clusters which are transport & logistics; customs & tax; standards & Sanitary Phyto Sanitary (SPS) Measures; African Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) & Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) and Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs). The programme’s core objective is to enhance private sector organisations’ (PSO) capacity to proactively and positively influence decision‐making, to accelerate dispute resolution, to sustain political buy‐in, to increase commitment and to reduce overall programme risks in TMEA’s project clusters. This will increase trade and investment in the EAC. The Regional Programme will contribute to core TMEA corporate results outlined below:

  1. Reduce transport (road, rail, and air) cost and time along transport corridors by 10% and increase efficiency in private sector logistics services provision
  2. Enhance Customs and other trade‐related agencies efficiency (25% reduction in time to process trade documentation) through integrated trade management systems and greater inter‐agency collaboration.
  3. Reduced tariffs, taxes, and levies by 5‐8% overall (including sub‐national) reduce exemption regimes, CET, and increase import/export tax incentives
  4. Enhanced efficiency of Bureaux of Standards, reduce related costs and time by 10%, reduce counterfeit and sub-standard goods by 20% through enhanced interagency collaboration and improve private sector compliance.
  5. Resolve 30% of all reported NTBs along TMEA project clusters within a year.
  6. Catalyzing a 10% increase in exports annually, 93,000 direct jobs and $425m additional investment after seven years in targeted sectors in the EAC under the Compact and TLCs through increased investment incentives.

III.         RATIONALE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Disruptions in transports and logistics have caused a halt in the movement of people and goods. The global aviation industry worldwide is sagging under the weight of the current coronavirus pandemic, and Africa is no exception. With strong links to China, both for tourism and trade, African airlines are somewhat more exposed to the current disruption than anywhere else. According to IATA, Africa has lost approximately 0.4% of its Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPK), with the effect being felt within the most affected nations. 

By the end of February, 2020 it was approximated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that African Airlines would register a loss of approximately $29bn with potential revenue losses of about $113bn worldwide due to COVID-19. Overall, intercontinental flights are still the bread and butter of Africa’s aviation industry, making up 51% of their business. On average, the revenue of airlines in Africa derive 5% from Chinese flights and another 7% from flights to the Asia-Pacific region. As such, airlines are highly exposed to both the cancellation of these routes and the drop in demand. In East Africa, Kenya Airways, RwandAir, Air Tanzania and Uganda Airlines have also placed a temporary halt on passenger flights.

In light of the above, the transport and logistics sector, which is driven by facilitating cargo movement to or from different geographical locations, supports key economic sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, aid and relief, construction, education amongst others. However, the interventions to stop the spread of the COVID-19 have created some hurdles in the movement of cargo, service suppliers and people across EAC borders.

One of the key priorities of the East African Community (EAC) is in the improvement of regional transport for goods, and the movement of service suppliers and citizens. Progress is most visible in cooperation to reduce non-tariff barriers (NTBs) on the Northern and Central Corridors, the construction of Standard Gauge Railways (SGR) and port efficiency improvements. The transport and logistics sector is amongst the sectors that have been adversely impacted by  COVID-19. 

The East African Business Council (EABC) is concerned with the disruptions in the global transport and logistics and the rising cost of transport that have tremendously led to the increased cost of doing business. To enhance Public – Private Dialogue on transport and logistics, EABC with support from TradeMark East Africa, intends to undertake an assessment of COVID-19 pandemic on transport & logistics in the East African Community & post recovery recommendations for the sector.

IV.      SCOPE OF THE WORK

The consultant (s) duties are:

  • Assess the impact of COVID-19 on the Transport and Logistics sector (Air, Road, Rail and Maritime) in light of the Covid-19 pandemic taking into consideration the effect on other support services such as clearing and forwarding, warehousing facilities.
  • Identify the level of effect (both qualitative and quantitative) to the sector players while moving cargo across the EAC land borders amidst COVID-19 Pandemic,
  • Analyse  Partner States’ response to COVID-19 through different stimulus packages and other measures taken in the 2020/2021 Budgets
  • Develop Post COVID-19 Recovery recommendations for stakeholders in the Transport & Logistics Sector.
  • Identify related policy pronouncements related to containment measures that are hindering the efficient flow of cargo across borders and propose recommendations to address such bottlenecks
V  EXPECTED OUTPUTS:
  • Clearly defined impact of Covid-19 on the EAC Transport & Logistics Industry in terms of movement of goods and people within and from outside the region.
  • Mapping out of affected stakeholders from SMEs to big players across the EAC
  • Measures adopted by the Partner States to create an enabling environment for stakeholders; including inter alia policy and financial measures
  • Clear depiction of the impact on the sub-sectors including road, rail, maritime and air.
  • Recommendations on recovery for the industry in both for the region & each Partner State; for the Private Sector, Governmental & Non-Governmental authorities.

VI.         DELIVERABLES AND TIMEFRAME

The key deliverables include:

  1. Inception report which among other things will contain the detailed work plan for carrying out the scope of work, proposed methodology and research design survey instruments.
  2. Draft Report which includes the preliminary impact assessment of the impact of Covid-19 on Transport & Logistics in the EAC, draft findings and draft proposed post-COVID-19 recovery for the sector.
  3. Final Report that includes the final findings of the impact assessment of the impact of Covid-19 on Transport & Logistics in the EAC after feedback from the EABC Secretariat & other key stakeholders.
  4. Organize a validation meeting to the EABC Board of Directors and Secretariat.
  5. Policy Brief that contains a summary of the findings of the impact assessment and proposed recovery for the EAC Transport & Logistics sector.

VII.        QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

A suitable candidate should hold the following qualifications and key competencies:

  1. Academic Qualification and Professional Experience: A Master’s degree or postgraduate qualification in any of the following fields: Transport Economics, Economics, Business Analytics, International Trade, or any other relevant field is required.
  • Work Experience: A minimum of ten (10) years’ demonstrated experience in advocacy & research for regional trade-related issues. Knowledge of EAC integration, International Trade & EAC Transport & Logistics Industry is a must.
  • Proven track-record in related assignments.
  • Languages: Fluency in oral and written English is required as it is the main EAC working language. Good working knowledge of French and Kiswahili will be an advantage.
  • Additional Skills: Excellent computer skills (Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel), Email, analytical tools for data analysis, experience in working with online databases, and data retrieval) are required.
  • Nationality: The position is only open to Nationals of any of the EAC Partner States, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and South Sudan.

IX.        THE APPLICATION PROCESS

The technical and financial proposal must be submitted separately addressed to;

The Executive Director / CEO

East African Business Council (EABC) 

Ninth Floor, Mafao House, Old Moshi Road 

P. O. Box 2617

Arusha, Tanzania.

Email: director@eabc-online.com with a copy to procurement@eabc-online.com  clearly marked “CONSULTANCY TO UNDERTAKE AN IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS IN THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY”. The proposal should include current curriculum vitae, proposed methodology, work plan and a separate financial proposal.

The financial proposal should be protected with a password.

Applications close on (18th September 2020) at (5.00 p.m.)

EABC is an equal opportunity employer thus recruitment is on merit and with no regard to one’s age, colour, gender, marital status, disability or impairment, race or creed. Canvassing shall lead to automatic disqualification.

Environmental aspects will be taken into consideration.

Published On: September 3rd, 2020 / Categories: Tenders /

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