• 1. Publication reference:

  EuropeAid/125741/C/SER/ACP

• 2. Procedure:

  International restricted tender.

• 3. Programme:

  EDF (9 ACP RPR 156).

• 4. Financing:

  Financing Agreement No 9885/REG between the European Commission and the ACP States: EU–Africa Infrastructure Partnership — preparatory activities and studies (RPR 007/07).

• 5. Contracting authority:

  The African Union Commission, on behalf of the ACP Group of States.

Contract specification

• 6. Nature of contract:

  Fee-based.

• 7. Contract description:

  The overall objective of the project is to help the African Union Commission in formulating, assessing, designing and monitoring regional and continental infrastructure policies and programmes within the context of the EU–Africa partnership on infrastructure, in response to the infrastructure challenges Africa is facing.

  The purpose of this contract will be to build the capacity of the African Union Commission and related institutions and policy makers in the infrastructure sector, in decision making and prioritising the types of infrastructure interventions likely to have the greatest development impact, within the context of the EU–Africa Infrastructure Partnership, promoting regional integration and interconnectivity. As part of his tasks, the consultant will also ensure Secretariat services to the Steering Committee of the EU–Africa Infrastructure Partnership.

  The consultant, through the provision of relevant technical and administrative expertise, will ensure that necessary information and studies are being formulated, organised and properly executed, providing the necessary elements to the AU and the EU decision-makers for informed decisions.

  The areas for preparatory activities are transport (road, rail, air and water transport), energy, and information and communication technologies (ICT).

• 8. Numbers and titles of lots:

  Not applicable.

• 9. Maximum budget:

  EUR 650 000.

• 10. Scope for additional services:

  Not applicable.

Conditions of participation

• 11. Eligibility:

  Participation in tendering is open on equal terms to natural and legal persons (participating either individually or in a grouping (consortium) of tenderers) from ACP States and Member States of the European Union contributing to the European Development Fund and international organisations as authorised by the instrument applicable to the programme under which the contract is financed (see also item 30 below).

• 12. Candidature:

  All eligible natural and legal persons (as per item 11 above) or groupings of such persons (consortia) may apply.

  A consortium may be a permanent, legally-established grouping or a grouping which has been constituted informally for a specific tender procedure. All members of a consortium (i.e., the leader and all other partners) are jointly and severally liable to the contracting authority.

  The participation of an ineligible natural or legal person (as per item 11) will result in the automatic exclusion of that person. In particular, if that ineligible person belongs to a consortium, the whole consortium will be excluded.

• 13. Number of applications:

  No more than 1 application can be submitted by a natural or legal person (including legal persons within the same legal group), whatever the form of participation (as an individual legal entity or as leader or partner of a consortium submitting an application). In the event that a natural or legal person (including legal persons within the same legal group) submits more than 1 application, all applications in which that person (and legal persons within the same legal group) has participated will be excluded.

• 14. Shortlist alliances prohibited:

  Any tenders received from tenderers comprising firms other than those mentioned in the shortlisted application forms will be excluded from this restricted tender procedure. Shortlisted candidates may not form alliances or subcontract to each other for the contract in question.

• 15. Grounds for exclusion:

  As part of the application form, candidates must submit a statement to the effect that they are not in any of the exclusion situations listed in Section 2.3.3 of the 'Practical Guide to contract procedures financed from the 9th EDF' (available from following Internet address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/index_en.htm).

• 16. Subcontracting:

  Subcontracting will not be allowed.

• 17. Number of candidates to be shortlisted:

  On the basis of the applications received, at least 4 and at most 8 candidates will be invited to submit detailed tenders for this contract.

Provisional timetable

• 18. Provisional date of invitation to tender:

  15.12.2008.

• 19. Provisional commencement date of the contract:

  1.3.2009.

• 20. Initial period of execution and possible extension of the contract:

  24 months.

Selection and award criteria

• 21. Selection criteria:

  The following selection criteria will be applied to candidates. In the case of applications submitted by a consortium, these selection criteria will be applied to the consortium as a whole:

  1) Economic and financial standing of candidate (based on item 3 of the application form):

  The objective of this criterion is to examine whether or not the candidate (i.e., the consortium as a whole, in the case of an application from a consortium) is economically stable enough to perform the task; has financial stability to handle the proposed contract; and will not economically depend on the contracting authority in the event that the contract is awarded to it. In particular, the examination will focus on the following:

  Reference criteria:

  (a) the average annual turnover of the candidate in the last 3 years must exceed EUR 500 000; and

  (b) the averages of cash and cash equivalents at the beginning and end of year are positive. In the case of a consortium each constituent member of the consortium should meet this criterion.

  2) Professional capacity of candidate (based on items 4 and 5 of the application form):

  The objective of this criterion is to examine whether or not the candidate (i.e. the consortium as a whole, in the case of an application from a consortium) has the ongoing staff resources and expertise to be able to handle the proposed contract, and real expertise in fields related to the contract (transport, energy, ICT) and a demonstrated capacity to provide the backstopping on specific technical and administrative matters.

  Reference criteria:

  (a) at least 10 staff currently work for the applicant in fields related to this contract;

  (b) at least 20 % of all staff working for the candidate this year in fields related to this contract are permanent.

  3) Technical capacity of candidate (based on items 5 and 6 of the application form):

  The objective of this criterion is to examine whether or not the candidate (i.e., the consortium as a whole, in the case of an application from a consortium) has expertise and experience to be able to handle the proposed contract.

  Reference criteria:

  Candidates should fulfil at least 1, but preferably all of the following criteria:

  (a) in the past 6 years, the candidate has worked successfully on at least 1 project with a budget of at least EUR 1 000 000 in the field of transport (including road, rail, air, and water transport), dealing with the identification of projects, the formulation and management of studies, the drafting and management of tender dossiers and procedures, and the assistance to the management and administration of the implementation of such projects;

  (b) in the past 6 years, the candidate has worked successfully on at least 1 project with a budget of at least EUR 250 000 in the field of energy, dealing with the identification of projects, the formulation and management of studies, the drafting and management of tender dossiers and procedures, and the assistance to the management and administration of the implementation of such projects;

  (c) in the past 6 years, the candidate has worked successfully on at least 1 project with a budget of at least EUR 150 000 in the field of information and communication technologies (ICTs), dealing with the identification of projects, the formulation and management of studies, the drafting and management of tender dossiers and procedures, and the assistance to the management and administration of the implementation of such projects.

  If more than 8 eligible candidates meet the above selection criteria, the relative strengths and weaknesses of the applications of these candidates will be re-examined to identify the 8 best applications for the tender procedure. Preference will be given to candidates:

  (a) who fulfil 2 of the above criteria;

  (b) who fulfil all of the above criteria;

  (c) demonstrating the greatest experience in the past 6 years with the management of programmes/projects of similar nature in the fields of transport, energy, and ICTs, in the geographical area concerned (Africa);

  (d) demonstrating the greatest experience in the past 6 years with the management of EDF-financed programmes/projects of similar nature in the fields of transport, energy, and ICTs, in sub-Saharan Africa;

  (e) demonstrating the greatest experience in working with regional and/or continental institutions in ACP countries.

• 22. Award criteria:

  As specified in the tender dossier annexed to the letter of invitation to tender which will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

Application

• 23. Deadline for receipt of applications:

  22.10.2008 (14:30), local time (Addis Ababa).

  Any application received after this deadline will not be considered.

• 24. Application format and details to be provided:

  Applications must be submitted using the standard application form (available from the following Internet address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/index_en.htm), whose format and instructions must be strictly observed.

  Any application which does not observe these provisions will be automatically eliminated. Any additional documentation (brochure, letter, etc.) sent with an application will not be taken into consideration.

• 25. How applications may be submitted:

  Applications must be submitted in English or French exclusively to the contracting authority:

  — either by recorded delivery (official postal service) to:

  African Union Commission , PO Box 3243 , Addis Ababa , Ethiopia,

  — or hand-delivered (including courier services) directly to the contracting authority in return for a signed and dated receipt to:

  African Union Commission, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Tel. (251-1) 552 58 48/551 26 22. Fax (251-1) 552 58 55/551 02 90.

  The contract title and the publication reference (see item 1 above) must be clearly marked on the envelope containing the application and must always be mentioned in all subsequent correspondence with the contracting authority.

  Applications submitted by any other means will not be considered.

• 26. Alteration or withdrawal of applications:

  Candidates may alter or withdraw their applications by written notification prior to the deadline for submission of tenders. No application may be altered after this deadline.

  Any such notification of alteration or withdrawal shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with clause 25. The outer envelope (and the relevant inner envelope) must be marked Alteration' or 'Withdrawal' as appropriate.

• 27. Operational language:

  All written communications for this tender procedure and contract must be in English or French.

• 28. Additional information:

  Not applicable.

• 29. Date of publication of contract forecast:

  26.6.2007.

• 30. Legal basis:

  ACP–EC Partnership Agreement signed at Cotonou on 23.6.2000.

  Decision No 2/2002 of the ACP–EC Council of Ministers published in OJ L 320 of 23.11.2002.