Selection of a Consultant (Firm) to Conduct a Feasibility Study for the Development of the Amilcar Cabral Submarine Cable Project

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Date : 12 Nov 2021 - 03 Dec 2021
Venue : ECOWAS Commission,
Town : ABUJA
Country : Nigeria

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
(Consulting services – Consultancy Firm selection)
Selection of a Consultant (Firm) to Conduct a Feasibility Study for the Development of the Amilcar
Cabral Submarine Cable Project
Reference No. QCBS/PPDU-AECID/PROC/01/21

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Expression of Interest – Amilcar Cabral

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Article 33 of the ECOWAS Treaty entreats Member States to “develop, modernize, coordinate and standardize
their National Telecommunication Networks in order to provide reliable interconnection amongst Member States,
and coordinate their efforts with a view to mobilizing national and international financial resources through
participation of the private sector in the provision of Telecommunication/ICT services”. In line with the above
mandate, the ECOWAS Commission has been implementing a broadband infrastructure development programme,
which aims at promoting the development of a reliable and modern regional telecoms broadband infrastructure,
alternate broadband infrastructures and submarine cables.

As a result of reforms and accompanying investments in broadband infrastructure within the region, a total of six
(6) submarine cables have been deployed along the West African coast, with 26 landing points in twelve (12)
Member States, connecting the region to the rest of the world. Despite this progress, a number of countries remain
with access to only one submarine cable.

To address this issue of lack of redundancy and the vulnerable position of the countries in this position, the Amilcar
Cabral submarine Cable project was conceived to connect Cabo Verde to its closest neighbours on the mainland
West Africa and thereby provide a connection to various other international submarine cables.
A pre-feasibility study conducted for the project concluded that the project is economically and commercially
viable under some scenarios studies and recommends the public private partnership approach for its
implementation.

The objectives of the Amilcar Cabral submarine cable project are to:
• Provide much needed and guaranteed redundancy in international connectivity for The Gambia, GuineaBissau, Guinea, Sierra-Leone and Liberia.
• Contribute to the digital development of the region by supplementing international connectivity
infrastructure to support digital networks, services and applications which can facilitate socio-economic
development;
• Improve the level of integration of Cabo Verde with the rest of the West Africa region at the network
infrastructure level so as to improve the viability and success of regional projects such as the
implementation of Regional Roaming;
• Increase the international capacity available in the ECOWAS region to support the growth of internet and
related applications.
In order to address the above, the ECOWAS Commission is seeking to engage a Consultancy firm to conduct
detailed studies for the further preparation of the Amilcar Cabral Submarine Cable project.
The Consultancy services (“the Services”) shall include but not necessarily limited to the duties and responsibilities
outlined below:
• Review the technical requirements for the Amilcar Cabral Submarine Cable system with the aim of coming
up with a detailed conceptual design considering various scenarios.
• To perform an environmental scanning of the catchment area of the project and provide a preliminary
Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the project.
• Perform the requisite economic, financial, regulatory and institutional analysis for the development of a
sound business plan and financial model, as well as propose suitable institutional arrangement for the
execution of the project.
• Draft the necessary documents for the tendering of the project based on the recommended deployment
model.

The ECOWAS Commission now invites eligible Consulting firms 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 as follow:

Experience
• The Consultancy firm must have vast experience in carrying out technical, economic and financial studies
in ICT infrastructure projects in the ECOWAS region
• The Consultancy firm must have experience in the preparation and/or implementation of at least one
Infrastructure PPP project and in project structuring.
• The Consultancy firm must have demonstrated experience in the execution of at least one similar
assignment (the preparation of detailed technical specifications and economic/financial analysis for the
implementation of an international undersea cable).
• The Consultancy firm is expected to present an experienced multidisciplinary team comprising at least the
following:
o Team leader
o Telecommunications Engineer
o Economic/Financial expert
o PPP expert
o Environmental Specialist; and
o Legal and institutional expert with experience in telecommunications and international law.
▪ The professionals who make up this team must have at least a Master’s degree in their specific disciplines and
possess at least 10 years work experience except the Team leader who must have at least 15 years work
experience.

Language
▪ The consultant shall demonstrate its ability to work in any of the three ECOWAS Official languages (English,
French and Portuguese).
Duration
▪ The duration of the contract shall be for a period of 8.5 calendar months.
NB: In addressing the above listed criteria, Consultancy firms must provide tangible evidence and detailed
references for all claims made in terms of experience and capabilities, similar assignments, availability of
appropriate skills among staff etc. Each reference provided should be summarized on a project sheet and will
be considered and accepted only if the candidate attaches supporting documents indicating the contact
information of the contracting authorities so as to facilitate verification of the information provided, covering
contracts OR copies of attestation(s) of good performance of each contract presented, as issued and signed by
the Client.

Interested Consultancy firms may apply as a consortium or partnership to ensure and/or boost their
consolidated capacities to execute the assignment.

The attention of interested Individual consultants is particularly drawn to Article 118 of the ECOWAS Revised
Procurement Code (“Infringements by Candidates, Bidders and Awardees”), providing information on corrupt
or fraudulent practices in competing for or executing a contract. In addition, please refer to the following specific
information on conflict of interest related to this assignment as per “Article 119 of the ECOWAS Revised
Procurement Code.

The Consultants will be selected in accordance to the Quality and Cost-based Selection (QCBS) method set out in
the ECOWAS Revised Procurement Code and a shortlist of five to eight (5-8) firms, which present the best
profiles with all claims dully substantiated, shall be drawn up for further consideration after the expression of
interest.

Interested consultants may obtain further information at the email addresses below during office hours: Monday to
Friday from 9.00 am GMT+1 to 5.00 pm GMT+1.
Email: sbangoura@ecowas.int; procurement@ecowas.int;with copy to: mzongo@ecowas.int ; kfye@ecowas.int;
sabdou@araa.org ppdu@ecowas.int,

Expressions of Interest (1 original and 3 copies) must be delivered in sealed envelopes and clearly marked
“Selection of a Consultant (Firm) to Conduct a Feasibility Study for the Development of the Amilcar Cabral
Submarine Cable Project”, Do not open except in the presence of the Evaluation Committee” to the address
below latest by Friday December 3, 2021 at 11.00 am (GMT + 1).

The ECOWAS Tender Box is located in the Directorate of General Administration, Procurement Division, 1st
Floor ECOWAS Commission, 101 Yakubu Gowon Crescent, Asokoro District, P. M. B. 401 Abuja Nigeria.
Please note that electronic submissions are not accepted and will not be evaluated.
This EOI is also published on the ECOWAS website http://old22.ecowas.int/doing-business-in-ecowas/ecowasprocurement and the ECOWAS PPDU website www.ppdu.org

Commissioner, General Administration & ConferencE