Request For Proposal: ACBF /RFP/003/26/EPIC-UBORA
Terms of Reference
1. Contexte
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) is Africa’s premier institution for capacity development. Established in 1991, ACBF builds human and institutional capacity for good governance, effective public sector management, and inclusive and sustainable development across Africa. Over the past three decades, ACBF has supported governments, regional institutions, civil society, and the private sector in more than 45 African countries.
ACBF’s Strategic Plan 2023–2027 repositions the Foundation to deliver results-driven, scalable, and sustainable capacity development solutions. The Strategy places strong emphasis on leveraging strategic partnerships to achieve impact at scale; mobilizing diverse and innovative financing; to enhance ACBF’s institutional effectiveness, sustainability, and knowledge leadership.
Within this strategic framework, Ubora Academy serves as ACBF’s flagship learning and capacity development platform, responsible for translating ACBF’s strategic priorities into high-quality, demand-driven, and scalable learning programmes for African public servants and leaders.
As the training arm of the ACBF, the Ubora Academy contributes directly to achieving ACBF’s Strategic Objectives by strengthening leadership, governance, and public-sector effectiveness across the continent.
2. Justification
The ACBF Strategy 2023–2027 recognizes that achieving sustainable development impact requires moving beyond fragmented, project-based interventions toward institutional platforms that are financially sustainable, partnership-driven, and capable of delivering impact at scale.
Africa continues to invest billions of dollars annually in development projects, yet many projects experience delays, procurement bottlenecks, weak contract management, and poor coordination. Through Ubora Academy, ACBF has developed the Enhancing Project Implementation Capacity (EPIC) project to strengthen project delivery competencies across Africa.
Le (EPIC) Program is designed to address Africa’s persistent challenges in executing government and donor-funded projects. Despite substantial financial flaws, inefficiencies in procurement, weak institutional systems, fragmented implementation structures, and insufficient technical capacity undermine the continent’s ability to translate investment into tangible development outcomes. EPIC provides a structured approach to strengthen the effectiveness of project delivery ecosystems, enabling African governments and public agencies to achieve greater efficiency, transparency, and developmental impact.
The rationale for the EPIC Program rests on a recognition that conventional capacity development approaches isolated training courses, individual skills workshops, and policy-heavy seminars have not resolved Africa’s project implementation crisis. The continent requires a fundamentally different model: one that targets the entire project execution system, embeds learning in real delivery contexts, and drives measurable improvements in implementation performance.
The ACBF plans to conduct the Capacity Needs Assessment for the EPIC project, with funding from the ABF/GIZ partnership. This exercise responds to the shared commitment of ACBF and GIZ to strengthen the capacity of African institutions and project implementation actors to deliver development interventions more efficiently, effectively and sustainably.
ACBF is now seeking a consultant to conduct the Needs Assessment.
3. Objectives of the Assignment
The overall objective of this assignment is to conduct the capacity needs assessment of African countries’ development projects and programs for the effective delivery of the EPIC project.
4. Scope of Work
The Consultant will undertake the following tasks:
- A Desk review
- Research and Data collection on Project Implementation capacity in selected Ministries.
- Stakeholder mapping
- Project implementation capacity landscape and potential partnerships, including accreditation strategy
- Country Needs Assessment.
- Online surveys, questionnaires and interviews for representatives from Ministries and related stakeholders.
- Capacity improvement Plan as the EPIC interventions strategy
- Course structures including mode of delivery, duration and target audience.
- Recommendation for the effective implementation of the program.
5. Methodology
The Consultant will adopt a consultative and iterative approach, including but not limited to the following:
- Desk review of project management capacity with selected ministries, including their project management ecosystem.
- Benchmarking on similar interventions in Africa and globally.
- Stakeholder mapping and potential partnerships, including accreditation models.
- Online surveys, interviews, and questionnaires for representation of selected Ministries and related project management stakeholders.
- Development of a capacity improvement plan which serves as EPIC intervention Strategy.
6. Expected Outputs and Deliverables
The Consultant will deliver:
- Kickoff meeting: Report outlining approach, methodology, and work plan.
- Stakeholder mapping and potential partnerships report, including accreditation strategy
- Capacity needs assessment report
- Capacity improvement plan as EPIC intervention Strategy
- Final report
7. Assignment Duration and Schedule
The assignment will be undertaken over 28 days within a period of 1.5 months, as given below.
| Description | Timelines/days |
| Desk review | 1 |
| Stakeholders mapping and accreditation strategy | 3 |
| Needs Assessment | 19 |
| Capacity Improvement plan and Final report | 5 |
| Total number of days | 28 days |
8. Qualifications and Experience
The required qualifications, competencies and experience for this role include:
- A minimum of a master’s degree in Project management Economics, Development Studies, Public Policy, or related fields.
- At least 10–15 years of professional experience in planning and national project management.
- Proven experience in development project management and capacity building.
- Demonstrated strong experience in conducting capacity needs/gaps assessments.
- Strong understanding of capacity development, public sector governance, and public financial management.
- Excellent proposal writing, stakeholder engagement, analytical writing, and communication skills.
- Experience working with pan-African or regional institutions will be a strong advantage.
9. Consultant’s Input and Reporting Requirements
The selected Consultant will work closely with staff of ACBF and will report to the Director of Ubora Academy, or its designated person.
10. Evaluation of the proposals
The selection method for this assignment is individual consultant selection. The technical evaluation committee shall evaluate the CVs and experience based on their responsiveness to the Terms of Reference, with a minimum technical score required being 70 Points specified below. A technical proposal shall be rejected at this stage if it does not respond to important aspects of the Terms of Reference or if it fails to achieve the minimum technical score indicated.
At financial evaluation, the most competitive financial proposal will be selected. The consultant should detail how their payments are structured and any related terms thereof in relation to the key deliverables.
| Critères | Points maximum (100) | |
| 1 | A minimum of a master’s degree in Project management Economics, Development Studies, Public Policy, or related fields. | 10 |
| 2 | At least 10–15 years of professional experience in planning and national project management | 20 |
| 3 | Proven experience in development project management and capacity building. | 15 |
| 4 | Demonstrated strong experience in conducting capacity needs/gaps assessment | 15 |
| 5 | Strong understanding of capacity development, public sector governance, and public financial management | 15 |
| 6 | Excellent proposal writing, stakeholder engagement, analytical writing, and communication skills. | 15 |
| 7 | Experience working with pan-African or regional institutions in French and in English will be a strong advantage. | 10 |
| Total | 100 |
11. Location and Working Arrangements
This assignment is both a field and home-based consultancy. The Consultant will be given access to ACBF relevant information such as project information and reports as well as online research resources. The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/ his/their own workstation (i.e., laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and access to reliable internet connection. In case of travel to member countries, ACBF will be responsible for all related costs.
12. Language
All reports and documents must be presented in English and in Roboto 12 format with ACBF Logo.
14. Application Process
The Consultancy firm should submit the following:
- The Consultant’s CV and cover letters including three references with full contact details.
- A technical proposal detailing the proposed approach and methodology for the assignment.
- A financial proposal detailing the consultancy fee and other related costs encrypted with a password (The financial proposal with a password protected should have a budget breakdown as per the deliverables depicted in table 1 above). Please note that this assignment is being implemented within a restricted budget; therefore, Consultants are strongly encouraged to submit efficient, realistic, and competitive financial proposals to enhance their chances of success.
- Three examples of similar assignments undertaken in the past 5 years. The name and contact information of three referees for contact regarding relevant experience of the consultancy firm is required.
13. Submission Process
The individual consultant is being requested to submit their technical & Financial proposals with the subject clearly marked, “Consultancy Services to Conduct Needs Assessment for Enhancement of Project Implementation Capacity (EPIC)” to the email address: submission@theacbf.org au plus tard à 17h00 (heure locale de Harare), on 2nd October 2026.