Posted on :
15 Oct, 2019
15 Oct, 2019
United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to inclusive finance and investment capital. Established by the General Assembly in 1966 and with headquarters in New York, UNCDF is an autonomous UN organization affiliated with UNDP.
Job Description
Job Title: Digital Payments Specialist
Based in UNCDF, the Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) is a partnership of 70 governments, companies and international organizations that accelerates the transition from cash to digital payments in order to reduce poverty and drive inclusive growth by:
Billions of dollars in cash payments and transfers are made daily in emerging and developing economies, including payment of salaries, social welfare, and relief, payments to suppliers, remittances, etc. The problems with these cash payments include a lack of transparency, accountability, and security, as well as inefficiency. Individuals who receive cash payments are often part of the 1.7 billion excluded from the formal financial sector.? This means they are excluded from access to a range of appropriate and affordable financial services to help them save safely take advantage of economic opportunities and reduce their vulnerability to risk.
Shifting these payments from cash to digital has the potential to improve the lives of low-income people, particularly women while giving governments, the development community and the private sector a more transparent, time and cost-efficient, and often-safer means of disbursing payments.
The Better Than Cash Alliance Team’s Core Values are the following:?
For more information on BTCA, please visit the website: http://www.betterthancash.org/
Ministry of Finance
The Government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Finance (MoF), is determined to harness the benefits of the shift from cash to digital payments by developing an inclusive digital payments ecosystem where everyone can make and receive payments digitally. To achieve its vision, the Government is taking the lead by shifting government cash payments to digital, in order to bolster the effectiveness of fiscal operations, improve the security of government transactions and eliminate leakage through a stronger audit trail. To fully understand the state of digital payments in the country, and develop informed strategies to drive scale, the Ministry of Finance, in partnership with the UN-based Better Than Cash Alliance, recently launched Ghana’s Digital Payments Diagnostic Study, conducted in 2017. The study measured the baseline state of the shift from cash to digital payments using the best available data and assessed the trajectory of the shift in a way that helps inform the Government’s decisions and priorities to bring financial inclusion to the unbanked. Based on the outcome of the diagnostic study, the MoF, with the support of the Better Than Cash Alliance developed a Ghana Cashlite Roadmap for its next phase of accelerating digital payments. The Ministry of Finance is now desirous of implementing the Cashlite Roadmap and has requested for the Alliance’s support in setting up a Digital Payments Coordination Unit that will coordinate the implementation of the Roadmap.
B. Project Description: Implementation of the Cashlite Roadmap.
The Ghana Cashlite Roadmap, developed by the government of Ghana with support from the Alliance, is getting into its implementation stage. The Roadmap identifies key initiatives with potential for high impact in digitizing payments and accelerating Ghana towards its cash lite goal. The success of the Roadmap is anchored on effective coordination of all the activities, development of the right tracking tools, and employing a robust monitoring and evaluation system that provides timely, and relevant feedback. The Ministry of Finance, through the Financial Sector Development Directorate, is mandated to coordinate the implementation of the roadmap, with the Vice President’s office as the champion providing the much-needed high-level political support. The Vice President’s office is currently championing a digital economy agenda, and digital finance and payments are considered as a huge catalyst in building a solid digital economy. Already Ghana has been experiencing tremendous growth in digital payments, thanks to the rapid growth of mobile money over the past three years. The Roadmap provides the next steps needed to sustain this momentum while building a solid payments ecosystem that will support the overall digital economy growth. The Ministry of Finance, in liaison with the Vice President’s Office, has requested the Better Than Cash Alliance’s support in providing a resource to support the effective implementation of the first phase of the Roadmap.
Duties and Responsibilities
C. Scope of Work
The Better Than Cash Alliance is looking to engage the services of a Digital Payments Specialist to lead the Digital Payments Coordination Unit (DPCU) entity, to be hosted at the Vice President’s office. The consultant will work closely with the VP’s Digital Roadmap team, the Financial Sector Division of the Ministry of Finance and with the Bank of Ghana (collectively referenced as ‘key stakeholders’) to effectively support the implementation of the Cashlite Roadmap.
As the Head of the Digital Payments Coordination Unit the consultant will be expected to perform the following roles:
Deliverables
2. Working in close collaboration with the FSD, the VPs’ Digital Economy team, BOG and other key stakeholders, lead the DPCU in the coordination of the overall implementation process for the Roadmap, with an initial focus on delivering phase 1 of the Cashlite Roadmap
Deliverables:
3. Based on the approved implementation framework, in consultation with the VP’s office, FSD, BOG, and with support from the Alliance, raise funds to support the implementation of the Roadmap
Deliverables:
4. Working with the FSD senior management, lead the DPCU in identifying knowledge gaps and coordinating possible capacity building initiatives to address the gaps
Deliverables
5. Working with the Alliance, FSD, the VPs’ office, BOG and together with the wider DPCU team, support the launch of the Cashlite Roadmap.
Deliverables:
D. Expected Outputs and Deliverables
Deliverables
Payment terms in % of total contract price 20%
Review & approvals Required Prior to the authorization of payment – Approved by the Alliance’s Africa Regional Lead
2. Target Completion Q4 2019
Deliverables
·Stakeholder map and minutes from the socialization engagements
·High-level powerpoint presentation on the Implementation of the Cashlite Roadmap to be presented during the launch
·Successful launch of the Cashlite Roadmap
Payment terms in % of total contract price 20%
Review & approvals Required Prior to the authorization of payment – Approved by the Alliance’s Africa Regional Lead
3. Target Completion Q1 2020
Deliverables
Payment terms in % of total contract price 20%
Review & approvals Required Prior to the authorization of payment – Approved by the Alliance’s Africa Regional Lead
4. Target Completion Q1 – Q2 2020
Deliverables
Payment terms in % of total contract price 20%
Review & approvals Required Prior to the authorization of payment – Approved by the Alliance’s Africa Regional Lead
5. Target Completion Q2 – Q4 2020
Deliverables
Payment terms in % of total contract price 20%
Review & approvals Required Prior to the authorization of payment – Approved by the Alliance’s Africa Regional Lead
E. Institutional Arrangement
The consultant will be hired by UNCDF Better Than Cash Alliance and will be based on the Vice President’s office, working closely with the Finance Sector Division of Ministry of Finance and Bank of Ghana. The consultant will be supervised by the Alliance’s Africa Regional Lead in close consultation with the Vice President’s office,
A project steering Committee will convene regularly (monthly or more if needed) to review project progress, address any issues, and provide feedback and clearance on deliverables or when necessary. The project steering committee will be constituted of members from the Vice President’s Office, Finance Sector Division of Ministry of Finance and the Better Than Cash Alliance.
F. Duration of the Work
The assignment has a duration of one year, however, the performance control/ monitoring mechanism will be applied from the start date.
G. Duty Station
a) The duty station/location for the consultant within the contract duration is Accra in Ghana.
Competencies
Core Competencies:
Functional Competencies:
Professional
Technical:
Required Skills and Experience
H. Qualifications of the Successful Individual Expert
Education:
Experience:
Languages:
Application process
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. (Note: the system does not allow multiple uploads of documents. Applicants must make sure to upload all documents in one PDF file).
All applications must contain the following information:
The following documents are requested:
If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNCDF under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNCDF.?
Due to limitations in the portal for the submission of offers, which does not allow uploading of multiple documents in the system, all of the above documents must be submitted as a single .pdf file.? Failure to submit a complete set of documents may result in rejection of the application.
Evaluation criteria
Applications will be rated on both technical and financial submissions. The following selection method will be used: Highest rated proposal using the combined scoring method, which assigns the weight distribution between the technical and financial proposals. The overall combined score will be 100 points, where weight distribution shall be 70% technical (30% desk review + 40% interview) and 30% financial.
Step I: Screening / Longlisting Criteria
Applications will be screened and only applicants meeting the following minimum criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:
Step II: Shortlisting by Desk Review (100 points)
The Better Than Cash Alliance will conduct a review of a profile (technical evaluation) that matches applicants’ experience and expertise to the key tasks outlined in the consultancy. These are detailed under each of the following Key work areas noted above:
A minimum of four (4) years of working experience in the Ghana payments ecosystem sector.
Only the top candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points in the review of the profile will be considered for Technical Interviews. ?Technical interviews will explore the same key work areas, in greater depth, with the same weighting.
Step III: Interview
A competency-based interview shall be conducted with the to top candidates who score the highest in Step II (minimum of 70 points). Candidates will be tested on the following:
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% on the total of Step II + Step III will be considered as technically qualified and will be reviewed further for financial evaluation.
Step IV: Financial Evaluation:
The following formula will be used to evaluate the financial proposal:
Lowest priced proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated x 30%.
Award Criteria
The contract shall be awarded to the applicant whose offer has been evaluated and determined
Both individual consultants and individuals employed by a company or institution are welcome to apply.?
Any individual employed by a company or institution who would like to submit an offer in response to a Procurement Notice for IC must do so in their individual capacity (providing a CV so that their qualifications may be judged accordingly). Women candidates or women-owned businesses are strongly encouraged to apply.
UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence