Expression of Interest For Design The West Africa Access To Electricity/Wacel Data Platform - Phase Ii

Expression of Interest for Design the West Africa Access to Electricity/WACEL Data Platform - Phase II Access to electricity is a fundamental human right essential for development. Currently, 600 million Africans lack electricity, impacting healthcare, education, productivity, and job creation. The World Bank Group (WBG) and African Development Bank (AfDB) have joined forces in an ambitious initiative aimed at providing electricity access to at least 300 million people in Africa by 2030. The WBG plans to connect 250 million individuals, while the African Development Bank Group aims to support an additional 50 million people. For effective planning, policy making, prioritization, reporting and investment across the West Africa region to achieve the above-mentioned goal, there is a crucial need for access to reliable electricity data. Despite numerous efforts already made to support the electrification of the region, collating existing spatial and non-spatial datasets on the electrification status and available infrastructure across the continent remains challenging. Various deliverables, such as SDG[1], MTF[2], GEP[3], and initiatives utilizing night-time light imagery and leveraging geospatial least cost electrification planning solutions, have contributed significantly to this endeavor but the outputs are still scattered, acting as a barrier for easy use by energy teams. Often teams are challenged to access the latest available dataset in a country, hindering decision-making processes. To address this challenge, there is a need to establish a comprehensive, up to date spatial data platform that consolidates existing datasets into a unified and accessible format. A current platform WACEL platform - consolidates existing electricity data for Côte dIvoire, Senegal and Niger. This platform displays data from various sources such as the IEA[4], RISE[5] and SDG7, and features a landing page that highlights various indicators computed at the country level, such as the electricity access rate and evolution, electricity generation capacity, renewable energy consumption, etc. It also features specific country pages that integrate visualizations and insights into specific country-level electricity access(public) and geoportals for energy and energy-related geospatial datasets, which is not open to the public but can be accessed only by registered users(private). As part of the next phase of the project, a comprehensive platform, inspired by the pilot, will be developed to include all the countries of interest, while ensuring robustness, performance, and usability. In this context, the WBG aims to hire a Consulting firm to design a comprehensive, up to date energy data platform that consolidates existing electricity data across the region. A pilot phase to develop an initial version of the platform has been completed I) OBJECTIVES The objective of this assignment is to expand the current concept and develop a user-friendly, robust and complete regional energy spatial data platform, that can seamlessly integrate information from all countries of interest. The platform will support effective energy planning, promote collaboration, and foster innovation in energy analytics. It will allow for continuous data updates and serve as a comprehensive tool for data management, policy planning, and capacity building. The platform needs to meet WB data quality and security standards, support stakeholder engagement, and include training provisions to empower users. Ultimately, the aim is to create a user-friendly platform that contributes to designing projects to improve electricity access and to informing decision-making in the region. Main responsibilities: · Deliver a High-Quality Spatial Data Platform: Design and implement a user-friendly, reliable, and scalable spatial data platform that meets the specific needs from across West Africa stakeholders involved in electricity access initiatives. · Collect, Ensure Data Accuracy and Integrity: Collect data from various sources and develop robust data integration and management processes to ensure accuracy, consistency, easy process for future updates and integration of new datasets and ensure the security of the data stored and displayed on the platform. · Ensure Knowledge Transfer of the Platform and its data: Create an environment that encourages collaboration among stakeholders, enabling them to visualize and analyze data without the need of technical abilities and through simplified processes in which to convert geospatial and non-geospatial data stored on the platform into clean and professional outputs. Facilitate the analysis of energy data by global stakeholders through high-value themes including countries, regions, and topics. · Provide Capacity Building for the Users: (i) define tracks for editors (data curation), admins (ops & security), and viewers (analytics); and (ii) deliver FR/EN training materials, including recordings, and practical exercises to ensure that users are proficient in utilizing the platform effectively and efficiently. Key Features of the Platform · Data Hosting and Publishing: Allow for easy updates to the underlying database with information emerging from the continuous monitoring of energy supply, demand, and infrastructure databases of government countries, WBG and other recognized partners in energy. The implementation should account for data quality checks to ensure data format consistency and interoperability with existing data layers. · Data Integration: Design the platform for seamless integration of diverse energy data sources that support providing a comprehensive view of electricity access. · User Interface (UI): Design a user-friendly experience for easy navigation and tailored access to energy data insights. · Security: Ensure robust encryption and access controls to protect sensitive data. · Continuous Reporting: Implement automated reporting tools to support long-term policy planning and energy distribution optimization. · Sustainability Focus: Develop or integrate tools to monitor renewable energy initiatives, M300[6] initiative and support SDG7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) goals. Expected Outcomes Improved Decision-Making: Equip stakeholders with reliable data for planning and investment. Strengthened Coordination: Facilitate collaboration among energy teams through a shared platform. Capacity Building: Develop skills in data management and analysis within the energy sector. Encouraged Innovation: Foster new approaches to energy data analytics and reporting. Enhanced Transparency: Enhance transparency in the energy sector through open data access. Beneficiaries The primary beneficiaries will be the Task Team Leaders (TTLs) of the Africa West Region, with access extended to other stakeholders, promoting broader engagement and integration. Geographic focus The targeted countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte dIvoire, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo. Additionally, this terms of reference covers updating data for Côte dIvoire, Senegal and Niger that were covered in the pilot, meaning the final platform should be inclusive of all 13 countries Tender Link : https://wbgeprocure-rfxnow.worldbank.org/rfxnow/public/advertisement/6184/view.html