Morocco Project Mapping Consultant

The specific objectives of the Assignment will be as follows:
1) Identify a shortlist of private sector (and selected public sector) opportunities with companies operating in the following transport sub-sectors:
Ports
o Opportunities in terminal operations at ports and harbors, including stevedoring
o Storage (oil, gas, grain, other)
Logistic companies
o Freight forwarders
o Logistic centres / warehouses
o Intermodal transporters
o Trucking and bus leasing companies
o Companies active in logistics in the railway sector
Postal services
o State-owned and private organisations operating in the postal services sector
Airports
o Auxiliary services such as Maintenance Repair and Overhaul centres among others
o Fuel storage and other airport infrastructure such as hangars
o Cargo sites and Air freight transporters
The list is to include either local firms and operators or foreign firms active on the local markets with an investment potential for the near term period of 2015-2019. The list should identify proposed type of financing (e.g senior loan, bond issue, mezzanine debt, capital increase, IPO), currency and estimated investment size.
2) Advise on key strategies to improve pipeline development and market strategy in Morocco with the private sector transport and logistic operators in the country.
The specific tasks required of the Consultant shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
- Undertake a review of the principal policy documents of EBRD to understand the lending policy and requirements of the Bank (EBRD Procurement Policies and Rules, EBRD Environmental Policy, EBRD integrity compliance requirements, EBRD Transition Impact Mandate/Indicators, EBRD Transport Sector Strategy, EBRD Policy on financing concessions);
-Conduct an independent research to brief the EBRD Transport Team on the status and key factors affecting the development of private sector opportunities in the transport sector in Morocco and indicate the areas/clients/sub-sectors where these could translate into lending opportunities under the EBRD mandate for transport. Apart from the review of commercial opportunities, particular attention is to be paid to identifying opportunities related to sustainable transport, energy efficiency and/or potential gender action initiatives;
-Undertake an independent marketing review of the key private local and foreign counterparts active in the country in the transport activities and will review the number and size of independent private transport operators in each of the sub-sectors with a view to assessing their suitability as potential EBRD clients;
- On the basis of its knowledge of transport sector in Morocco, prepare a target list of investment opportunities for the EBRD Transport Team in each of the identified sub-sectors. The target list is to include a brief evaluation of the potential lending target, indicative scope of investment and estimated value of possible EBRD lending;
- If deemed necessary, provide advice to TT bankers on alternative project structuring methods best suited for the sector which could be considered, taking into account the parameters of the EBRD lending policies.
Status of Selection Process: Interested firms are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest.
Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start in January 2014 and has an estimated overall duration of 9 weeks.
Maximum Cost Estimate available for the Assignment: EUR 60,000; exclusive of VAT.
The Consultant must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the Bank's special status as an IFI and state this to the Bank in their response to the Invitation for Expressions of Interest. To the extent that a Consultant incurs input VAT on goods and services purchased in connection with the provision of services (e.g. VAT on airline ticket) which is not otherwise recoverable by the consultant from the local tax authority, the gross cost to the consultant of such expenses shall be treated as a reimbursable expense.
Funding Source: EBRD's own resources.
Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions.
Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be a multi-disciplinary firm or a group of firms which can demonstrate proven experience in delivering assignments involving the tasks similar to those listed in paragraph Assignment Description above as well as extensive knowledge of and contacts in relevant parts of the transport sector in Morocco. The Consultant will be experienced in interacting with key transport sector operators and service providers in Morocco for which the Consultant should have a proven and extensive client contact network, with a focus on privately owned players.
The Consultant is expected to provide the team of experts with the skills required to successfully complete the tasks listed in paragraph Assignment Description above, including a Team Leader with extensive experience in managing assignments in transport sector, preferably in Morocco. The experts shall be fluent in English. It is recommended that a part of the consultancy input is carried out by local experts. The Consultant's team shall contain local experts who are fluent in Arabic and French.
Submission Requirements: Interested firms are hereby invited to submit Expressions of Interest. In order to determine the capability and experience of consulting firms seeking to be shortlisted, the information submitted shall include the following (maximum 15 pages excluding CVs):
- Company/group of firms' profile, organisation and staffing;
- Details of previous project experience or similar assignments particularly undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contract value, contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided (if different from duration), main activities, objectives;
- CVs of key experts who could carry out the Assignment detailing qualifications, experience in similar assignments, including information on contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided, assignment budget, main activities, objectives;
- Completed Consultant Declaration Form and Contact Sheet, the template for which is available from the following web-link:
o http://www.ebrd.com/pages/workingwithus/procurement/notices/csu/contact_sheet.doc
Failure to provide the duly completed and signed Consultant Declaration Form may result in the applicant being disqualified from the selection process.
Expressions of Interest must be submitted in English, electronically through e-Selection, not later than 12 January 2015 at 23:59 hrs (London time). DO NOT send Expressions of Interest to the EBRD's contact person.
The complete Expression of Interest (including cover letter, CV, Consultant Declaration and Contact Sheet) must be submitted in one file (pdf or Word). The EBRD reserves the right to reject the Expressions of Interest of firms submitting more than one file. Only if the permissible size is exceeded, the applicant may split the Expression of Interest into further files.
EBRD contact person: Marina Matushina
Advisor
Technical Cooperation
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
1 Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
United Kingdom
Email: MatushiM@ebrd.com
Telephone: + 44 207 338 6577

Notes:
Selection and contracting will normally be made from responses to this notification.
The following evaluation criteria will be used for the evaluation of Expressions of Interest:
- Firm's previous experience in undertaking assignments involving tasks similar to those of this Assignment (25%);
- Firm's experience and network in the transport sector of Morocco (50%);
- Composition of the proposed team and individual experts' experience relevant to their assigned roles (25%).