1. Background

The goal of The African-Finnish Partnerships on Taxation Capacity in Africa (AFP-TCA) Programme (2023-2025) is to strengthen the taxation capacity of African governments and pan-African organizations to increase Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM) through informed policymaking. The programme is funded by the Government of Finland and HAUS Finnish Institute of Public Management is responsible for the overall progamme management.

The AFP-TCA programme has three outcomes, which are:

1. Enhanced understanding on best practices of taxation policy and its implementation for improved domestic resource mobilization (DRM)
2. Knowledge on taxation in the African context is increased through improved African research capacities on taxation
3. ACBF has increased organizational capacity and tools for capacity building in tax related issues, especially through leadership, digital learning solutions and an improved external communication and advocacy processes

The rationale for launching the AFP-TCA programme stems from Finland’s Taxation for Development Action Programme. The Programme aims at supporting domestic resource mobilisation and thus contributes to the Action Programme’s two of the three main pillars: “to strengthen the taxation capacity of developing countries” and “to strengthen the position of developing countries in the global tax policy and ensure that the perspectives of developing countries will be better taken into consideration in the international tax policy”. This goal is the rationale for supporting taxation policy design by increasing research, training, and education on taxation.

The overall management of the Programme is assigned to HAUS, which also supports, through long-term and short-term technical assistance (TA), the capacity strengthening of African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). HAUS, with ACBF, also coordinates activities for dissemination of Programme results and best practices. While HAUS is responsible for Outcomes 1 and 3, VATT Institute for Economic research is responsible for Outcome 2 and contributes to taxation research and enhancing research capabilities with chosen partners in Africa.

African Capacity Building Foundation

The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF or the Foundation) is Africa’s premier institution for capacity building. Established in February 1991, ACBF builds human and institutional capacity for good governance and economic development in Africa. The Foundation has empowered governments, parliaments, civil society, private sector, and higher education institutions in more than 45 countries and six regional economic communities over the past three decades. It supports capacity development through training, technical assistance, and knowledge generation by implementing projects and programmes in these areas across the continent.

Since its inception, ACBF has made a major contribution to the strengthening of government and policy capabilities of African countries. In this vein, ACBF is implementing several projects and programs, including African-Finnish Partnerships on Taxation Capacity in Africa (AFP-TCA) in partnership with HAUS Finnish Institute of Public Management, and the Enhancing Leadership and Governance in Public Financial Management (ELG-PFM) program in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to achieve it strategic goal “ Improve the economic and social governance” in Africa..

ACBF is dedicated to enhancing professional skills and promoting excellence in Africa’s public sector and recognizes the critical role of good governance, transparency, and effective leadership in driving positive change and innovation within government organizations across the continent.

In November 2024, ACBF, with support from AFP-TCA programme, launched UBORA Academy, a platform, which is set to redefine capacity building across the continent, ensuring that Africa’s professionals in the public and private sector are knowledgeable and inspired to lead with excellence. As a key part of the AFP-TCA programme, digital training content will be developed and provided through ACBF’s UBORA Academy.

The key output underpinning this outcome is:

• ACBF has improved organizational capacity to operate high quality digital learning processes and piloting taxation and leadership related training content through digital learning solutions.

2. About the assignment

The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), in partnership with the HAUS Finnish Institute of Public Management, is working under the Economic and Social Governance key impact area of ACBF’s Strategic Plan 2023-2027 to achieve the following strategic objectives:

1. Enhancing Evidence-Based Policy Formulation: Strengthening the capacity of government institutions to formulate data-driven policies for informed decision-making in economic and social governance.
2. Increasing Domestic Resource Mobilization: Enhancing state actors’ capacity for efficient revenue collection, critical for funding public services and fostering financial independence in member states.
3. Improving Public Finance Management (PFM) performance: Developing leadership skills, accountability mechanisms, and management capabilities within public finance institutions to promote transparency and accountability in resource use.
4. Strengthening leadership and accountability in public institutions to reduce corruption and ensure effective use of public funds for socio-economic development.

These broader objectives are pursued through implementing programs such as the African Finnish Partnerships on Taxation Capacity in Africa (AFP-TCA), focusing on enhancing domestic resource mobilization.

HAUS, in close cooperation with the ACBF, is hereby looking for qualified Consultant(s) to develop the curricula for Good Governance and Transparency in Taxation -course targeted at civil servants, CSOs and professionals working in the field of taxation. The Consultant(s) will work with the core team from HAUS and ACBF digital learning personnel.

3. Objective of the assignment

The overall objective of this assignment is to develop outline and plans for a comprehensive and culturally relevant digital training programme that equips public sector and other professionals in Africa with essential knowledge on good governance and transparency with focus on officials working on taxation and tax related issues. The course should focus on relevant, and real-world scenarios applied to the African context.

The specific objectives are to:

• Identify and understand the specific good governance and transparency challenges within Africa’s public sector with focus on tax/taxation sector.
• Identify and understand current global trends and paradigms.
• Develop a digital training programme of 5 modules that addresses key issues in the field of taxation in connection to domestic resource mobilization, good governance, and transparency.
• Design course outline and content that is practical, interactive, and applicable to diverse African contexts.

For the whole training programme, the following elements should be identified:

• Root causes of the challenge, i.e. why the training is needed (also identifying the target group, knowledge and skill gaps, challenges of the context, etc.);
• Learning objectives;
• Learner insight and understanding;
• Structure of the digital training programme;
• Delivery method;
• Content outline and learning elements;
• Pre-existing materials

Each of the modules should have the following elements identified:

• Outline and structure of the content based on desk work, interviews, and workshops;
• Content and script outline to be used in each of the modules;
• Identified partner institution(s) for collaboration;
• Learning objectives of the modules;
• Additional material to support the learning (existing material such as policy papers, briefs, articles, videos).

It is envisioned that after the consultancy, the more specific content production of each of the modules is sub-contracted from the identified partners.

4. Scope and methodology

The Consultant(s) will frame the domestic resource mobilization, good governance and transparency issues and approaches that reflect the continental context, including:

• Reviewing the “Key Challenges in African Taxation Policies” desk study prepared within the AFP-TCA programme and other relevant documentation.
• Reviewing the capacity improvement plans prepared within the ACBF ELG-PFM programme on leadership and governance in the public sector.
• Reviewing any other paper related to good governance and transparency issues on taxation in Africa
• Developing a detailed course outline with module descriptions, learning objectives, and instructional methods.
• Creating engaging and culturally relevant learning materials, including case studies, role plays, and interactive exercises.
• Incorporating feedback from stakeholders to ensure relevance and effectiveness.
• Ensure alignment with international best practices while integrating local perspectives and examples.

The curriculum development process will involve:

• Desk review (review of relevant literature, program documents, policies, and guidelines).
• Utilizing a participatory approach, engaging stakeholders from various African countries and public sector entities using virtual and in-person consultations (interviews, workshops).
• Virtual consultations are set to start in November and the first in-person consultation during the first week of December in Kigali.

To guide the process, the HAUS/ACBF team under the coordination of the Chief Partnership Adviser (HAUS) and the ACBF eLearning Specialist will facilitate the activities of the Consultant(s). The main counterpart for curricula development is the ACBF eLearning Specialist. The HAUS/ACBF team will identify and facilitate meetings with key individuals and institutions that need to be engaged during the assignment.

6. Deliverables/Expected Outputs

The Consultant(s) is/are expected to produce the following deliverables:

• Inception Report that highlights the Consultant(s) understanding of the assignment, proposed methodology, and detailed work plan.
• Draft course curriculum with module outline, learning objectives, and recommended resources. This should also include engaging instructional materials, including presentations, handouts, and multimedia content.
• Final course curriculum with module outline, learning objectives, and recommended resources.
• 5 Modules in PowerPoint presentation
• Evaluation framework for assessing participants learning and course impact.
• Risk analysis and mitigation plan.

7. Qualifications and Assessment Criteria

The required qualification, competencies and experience for this consultancy include:

• Minimum of master’s degree or higher in relevant fields such as Education, Public Finance, Public Administration, Public Policy, Political Science.
• Proficiency in technical writing skills, with the ability to synthesize research and policy reports for diverse audiences.
• In-depth knowledge of good governance and transparency, especially in the field of taxation.
• Experience in and knowledge of digital capacity building.
• Experience in working with public officials within the African continent.

The proposals will be evaluated on:

• Responsiveness to the Terms of Reference and applying the evaluation criteria.
• Point system specified below:

	Criteria	Max Points (100)
1	Minimum of master’s degree or higher in relevant fields such as Education, Public Finance, Public Administration, Public Policy, Political Science.	10
2	Minimum 10 years of professional experience in conducting similar assignments.	20
3	Proficiency in technical writing skills, with the ability to synthesize research and policy reports for diverse audiences.	15
4	Knowledge of good governance and transparency, especially in the field of taxation.	15
5	Experience in and knowledge of digital capacity building.	15
6	Experience in working with public officials within the African continent.	10
7	Daily rate and other expenses	15
8	Quality of the proposal	20
	Total	120

 

8. Budget

The maximum budget for the consultancy is EUR 13 500 (excluding VAT).  Some travel in the region is expected (Nairobi, Kigali) and will be compensated for separately. The application needs to include the consultant’s daily rates, and estimation of other costs.

9. Schedule

Work starts as soon as possible. Please indicate the possible starting date in the application.  The draft course curriculum must be submitted no later than 20 December 2024, and the final course curriculum no later than 31 December 2024. 

Any deviation from the suggested schedule must be discussed with the contractor and approved in written form.

10. Submission details

To apply for this consultancy, please send your proposal, cover letter, and CV in English by Tuesday 26^th of November 2024 at 12:00 PM (EET/UTC+2) to konsta.heikkila@haus.fi (and cc: lotta.fors@haus.fi). Any questions relating to the consultancy can be addressed to Mr. Konsta Heikkilä (konsta.heikkila@haus.fi).

Note:

Proposals and CVs will be shared among the selection panel.

The selected consultant will be expected to adhere to the project timeline and deliverables outlined in the terms of reference. Any deviations or challenges should be communicated promptly to the project management team.