Consultancy for Socio-Economic Questionnaire Development in West and Central Africa

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (CONSULTING SERVICES – INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT) Name of Project: Harmonizing and Improving Statistics in West and Central Africa - Series of Projects 1 (HISWACA - SOP 1) Grant No : P178497 Assignment Title: Individual Consultant (IC) to perform the Consultancy services to develop a questionnaire for collecting socio-economic information from administrative sources. Reference No . ET-AUC-478515-CS-INDV.

• Background

The African Union Commission (AUC) has received financing from the World Bank toward the cost of Harmonizing and Improving Statistics in West and Central Africa - Series of Projects 1 (HISWACA - SOP 1) and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services. The consulting services (“the Services”) include Selection of an Individual Consultant (IC) to perform the Consultancy services to develop a questionnaire for collecting socio-economic information from administrative sources. The second Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA 2) was launched as a continental framework to respond to persistent challenges in the production, coordination, and use of statistics across Africa. The strategy seeks to strengthen the performance of the African Statistical System (ASS) by ensuring the availability of reliable, harmonized, and policy-relevant data for tracking development agendas such as Agenda 2063, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Within the framework of SHaSA 2, the African Union Institute of Statistics (STATAFRIC) plays a central role in coordinating statistical harmonization processes across the continent covering data from surveys, censuses and administrative sources. To support this effort, STATAFRIC is undertaking initiatives to improve not only the availability and quality of socio-economic information from administrative sources but also the systematic collection and compilation of statistics derived from these sources, which remain largely underexploited in many countries. In recent years, the importance of administrative data in supporting evidence-based decision-making has grown significantly across Africa. However, many countries continue to face structural challenges, including fragmented data systems, limited interoperability between institutions, and the absence of standardized frameworks for data sharing and use. Efforts have been made to address these issues and to unlock the full potential of administrative data to support the implementation and monitoring of development agendas such as Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030. Initiatives like unique identification systems, improved legal frameworks, and increased collaboration between National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and data-producing institutions have shown promising results. In this context, there is a need to not only understand what socio-economic information is available in the administrative systems but also to systematically extract, compile, and organize these statistics for use in official production. To support this process, the African Union, through STATAFRIC, is seeking to recruit an Individual Consultant to develop a comprehensive questionnaire to collect socio-economic statistics from administrative sources, while also assessing their availability, quality, and structure.

• Objectives of the assignment

The main objective of this consultancy is to develop a standardized questionnaire that will enable National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and other relevant institutions to collect socio-economic statistics from administrative sources while simultaneously assessing the availability, accessibility, and quality of these data. Specifically, the assignment aims to:

• Develop a structured questionnaire covering key socio-economic domains (e.g., education, health, employment, income, housing, social protection, etc.), to capture actual statistics and indicators available from administrative systems.
• Facilitate the identification of existing administrative data sources, their custodians, and the types of data.
• Support harmonization and integration of administrative data into national statistical systems.

This questionnaire will serve as a data collection instrument and as a diagnostic tool for STATAFRIC and African Union Member States to strengthen the use of administrative data in producing official statistics and monitoring development outcomes.

• Duration and Timeline

The Individual Consultant (IC) is expected to produce a final document within 60 days from the date of signing the consultancy services contract.

• Reporting and supervision.

The Individual Consultant (IC) will work remotely with STATAFRIC staff and will provide regular updates according to the agreed schedule. The contract is proposed under the following terms and conditions:

• The duration of this contract is two months .
• The individual consultant must send an updated C.V. and a methodological note on the understanding of the entire assignment and tasks.
• Timeframe.

Activity Deliverables/ Outputs Anticipated Duration (Days)

• Define the consultant’s approach in undertaking the consultancy.

Methodological report outlines the consultant’s approach to undertaking this consultancy. This should be after the submission of an inception report. 10 days

• Development of questionnaire for socio-economic information from administrative sources.

Assessment report and overview of the questionnaire 10 days Draft of the questionnaire. 20 days Validation of the draft questionnaire by stakeholders. 10 days In-person meeting with STATAFRIC to present the finalized questionnaire. 05 days Final questionnaire and user guide. 05 days

• Required Qualifications and Experience

The ideal Individual Consultant (IC) should have meet the following minimum requirements:

• At least a master’s degree in statistics, economics, public administration, data science, social sciences, or a related field.
• At least 15 years of relevant professional experience in statistical development, data collection, or data management, preferably within public institutions or international organizations.
• Proven experience in the design of data collection tools, particularly questionnaires for administrative or socio-economic data.
• Good understanding of administrative data systems and their integration into national statistical systems.
• Experience working with or advising National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and/or government ministries is highly desirable.
• Strong analytical and conceptual skills.
• Excellent communication and facilitation abilities, particularly in multi-stakeholder environments.
• Ability to deliver quality outputs within tight deadlines.
• Excellent writing skills in English or French; working knowledge of the other AU languages is an added advantage.
• Familiarity with AU data frameworks and Agenda 2063 monitoring is an added advantage.
• Evaluation Criteria

The Candidate shall be evaluated based on the following criteria: Evaluation Criteria

• General experience: 10%

Use the general experience indicated in the ToR

• Specific experience: 40%

Use the specific experience indicated in the ToR

• Qualifications: 25 %

Use the qualification indicated in the ToR

• Methodological note: 15 %

Understanding the entire assignment and tasks.

• Language: 10 %

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment are attached to this request for expressions of interest. The African Union Commission now invites eligible individuals (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Individual Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the aforementioned Consultancy Services. The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Section III, paragraphs, 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” July 2016, revised November 2020 (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Individual Consultant selection method set out in the Procurement Regulations. Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours i.e. 0900 to 1700 hours . Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form following the above shortlisting criteria to the address below (in person, or by mail) before 26th February 2026 at 15:00 Hours Local Time, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Only submitted Expression of Interests (EoIs) mentioning the reference number “ ET-AUC-478515-CS-INDV “ in the subject field of the e-mail, will be considered. African Union Commission, Attn: Head, Supply Chain Management Division - Operations Support Services Directorate Building C, 3rd Floor, P.O Box 3243, Roosevelt Street Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel: +251 (0) 11 551 7700 – Ext 4305 Fax: +251 (0) 11 551 0442; +251 11-551-0430 E-mails: tender@africanunion.org Terms of Reference Individual Consultant (IC) to perform the Consultancy Services to develop a questionnaire for collecting socio-economic information from administrative sources

• Background

The second Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA 2) was launched as a continental framework to respond to persistent challenges in the production, coordination, and use of statistics across Africa. The strategy seeks to strengthen the performance of the African Statistical System (ASS) by ensuring the availability of reliable, harmonized, and policy-relevant data for tracking development agendas such as Agenda 2063, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Within the framework of SHaSA 2, the African Union Institute of Statistics (STATAFRIC) plays a central role in coordinating statistical harmonization processes across the continent covering data from surveys, censuses and administrative sources. To support this effort, STATAFRIC is undertaking initiatives to improve not only the availability and quality of socio-economic information from administrative sources but also the systematic collection and compilation of statistics derived from these sources, which remain largely underexploited in many countries. In recent years, the importance of administrative data in supporting evidence-based decision-making has grown significantly across Africa. However, many countries continue to face structural challenges, including fragmented data systems, limited interoperability between institutions, and the absence of standardized frameworks for data sharing and use. Efforts have been made to address these issues and to unlock the full potential of administrative data to support the implementation and monitoring of development agendas such as Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030. Initiatives like unique identification systems, improved legal frameworks, and increased collaboration between National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and data-producing institutions have shown promising results. In this context, there is a need to not only understand what socio-economic information is available in the administrative systems but also to systematically extract, compile, and organize these statistics for use in official production. To support this process, the African Union, through STATAFRIC, is seeking to recruit an Individual Consultant to develop a comprehensive questionnaire to collect socio-economic statistics from administrative sources, while also assessing their availability, quality, and structure.

• Objectives of the assignment

The main objective of this consultancy is to develop a standardized questionnaire that will enable National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and other relevant institutions to collect socio-economic statistics from administrative sources while simultaneously assessing the availability, accessibility, and quality of these data. Specifically, the assignment aims to:

• Develop a structured questionnaire covering key socio-economic domains (e.g., education, health, employment, income, housing, social protection, etc.), to capture actual statistics and indicators available from administrative systems.
• Facilitate the identification of existing administrative data sources, their custodians, and the types of data.
• Support harmonization and integration of administrative data into national statistical systems.

This questionnaire will serve as a data collection instrument and as a diagnostic tool for STATAFRIC and African Union Member States to strengthen the use of administrative data in producing official statistics and monitoring development outcomes.

• Scope of work

Under the supervision of STATAFRIC and in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, the Individual Consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Conduct a desk review of international, continental and other best practices related to the collection of socio-economic statistics from administrative sources;
• Design a structured questionnaire aimed at collecting socio-economic statistics from administrative sources, including metadata dimensions (e.g. , coverage, frequency, accessibility, quality);
• Ensure that the questionnaire includes sections for actual statistical figures (where available) in addition to metadata assessment;
• Consult relevant stakeholders (e.g., NSOs, ministries, agencies) to validate the questionnaire structure and content;
• Prepare a user guide/manual that explains how to implement the questionnaire, interpret responses, and use the results both for statistical compilation and for data governance or integration efforts;
• Produce a final report summarizing the methodology used, the key findings from consultations, and recommendations.
• Scope of work :
• Review of relevant documents :
• Conduct a desk review of the best international and regional practices related to collection of socio-economic statistics from administrative sources;
• Review of the existing socio-economic statistics systems available in the NSS.
• Stakeholders’ Engagement :
• Conduct consultations with relevant stakeholders (e.g. NSOs, ministries, development partners, international organizations) to identify their needs;
• Identify key administrative sources of socio-economic data and available data collection tools.
• Develop the draft questionnaire :
• Define concepts, classifications used in socio-economic data.
• To identify and collect socio-economic data available from administrative sources, including metadata dimensions (e.g., coverage, frequency, accessibility, quality);
• Prepare a short user guide/manual that explains how to implement the questionnaire, interpret responses, and use the results to inform data governance or integration efforts.
• Validation and Finalization of the Questionnaire :
• Present the questionnaire to stakeholders for review and feedback;
• Revise and finalize the questionnaire based on stakeholder input;
• In-person presentation of the updated questionnaire to STATAFRIC and other stakeholders.
• Deliverables :
• Methodological report : A detailed report outlining the methodology to be used to undertake this consultancy. This should be after submission of an inception report with a work plan, deliverables and timelines.
• Assessment report : Highlighting findings from assessments and review of the practices in collecting socio-economic statistics from administrative sources.
• Draft questionnaire : Draft of the questionnaire for collecting socio-economic data from administrative sources.
• Stakeholders’ validation report .
• Final questionnaire with a user guide/manual , ready for adoption by relevant stakeholders.
• Duration and Timeline

The Individual Consultant (IC) is expected to produce a final document within 60 days from the date of signing the consultancy services contract.

• Reporting and supervision.

The Individual Consultant (IC) will work remotely under the supervision of STATAFRIC staff and will provide regular updates according to the agreed schedule. The contract is proposed under the following terms and conditions:

• The duration of this contract is two months .
• The individual consultant must send an updated C.V. and a methodological note on the understanding of the entire assignment and tasks.
• Timeframe.

Activity Deliverables/ Outputs Anticipated Duration (Days)

• Define the consultant’s approach in undertaking the consultancy.

Methodological report outlines the consultant’s approach to undertaking this consultancy. This should be after the submission of an inception report. 10 days

• Development of questionnaire for socio-economic information from administrative sources.

Assessment report and overview of the questionnaire. 10 days Draft of the questionnaire. 20 days Validation of the draft questionnaire by stakeholders. 10 days In-person meeting with STATAFRIC to present the finalized questionnaire. 05 days Final questionnaire and user guide. 05 days

• Required Qualifications and Experience

The ideal Individual Consultant (IC) should have meet the following minimum requirements:

• At least a master’s degree in statistics, economics, public administration, data science, social sciences, or a related field.
• At least 15 years of relevant professional experience in statistical development, data collection, or data management, preferably within public institutions or international organizations.
• Proven experience in the design of data collection tools, particularly questionnaires for administrative or socio-economic data.
• Good understanding of administrative data systems and their integration into national statistical systems.
• Experience working with or advising National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and/or government ministries is highly desirable.
• Strong analytical and conceptual skills.
• Excellent communication and facilitation abilities, particularly in multi-stakeholder environments.
• Ability to deliver quality outputs within tight deadlines.
• Excellent writing skills in English or French; working knowledge of the other AU languages is an added advantage.
• Familiarity with AU data frameworks and Agenda 2063 monitoring is an added advantage.
• Evaluation Criteria

The Candidate shall be evaluated based on the following criteria: Evaluation Criteria

• General experience: 10%

Use the general experience indicated in the ToR.

• Specific experience: 40%

Use the specific experience indicated in the ToR.

• Qualifications: 25 %

Use the qualification indicated in the ToR.

• Methodological note: 15 %

Understanding the entire assignment and tasks.

• Language: 10 %
• Payment Terms and Milestones

Payments will be made in installments based on the delivery of the following milestones: No Activities and deliverables Remuneration Percentage - Methodological report outlines the consultant’s approach to undertaking this consultancy. This should be after the submission of an inception report. 10% - Assessment report and overview of the questionnaire. 10% - Draft questionnaire . 40% - Stakeholder validation report . 10% - In-person meeting with STATAFRIC to present the finalized questionnaire 10% - Final questionnaire and user guide. 20% Agency: Africa Union Commission Procurement method: Individual Consultant Selection Notice type: Request for Expression of Interest Status: Published Value: 26600.0 USD