Expression of Interest For Study On Innovative Solutions To Sustainably Finance The Maintenance Of Roads, Ports And Waterways

Expression of Interest are invited for Study on Innovative Solutions to Sustainably Finance the Maintenance of Roads, Ports and Waterways Description: The Governments of the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Republic of Congo (ROC) have solicited and obtained from the World Bank (WB) the financing of the Central Africa Waterways Project (the Project). The Project development objective is to enhance transport and trade efficiency, infrastructure climate-resilience, and social inclusion, along the selected waterways and road corridor sections between CAR and ROC. The Project mainly provides financing for priority infrastructure investments in ROC and CAR (roads, ports, waterways-related works) to revive the economy along the Project corridor but also seeks to support both governments in considering long-term operational, maintenance and financing strategies to maximize socio-economic impacts (particularly on women traders). On July 10th, 2024, the Project team was awarded a grant from the Quality Infrastructure Investment (QII) Partnership to help enhance transport and trade efficiency in a more sustainable, inclusive, and climate-resilient manner by supporting analytical work to: (i) Deepen the understanding of the service economy and trade environment in the sub-region, especially along the waterways corridor dominated by small-scale traders and informality; (ii) Implement best practices that will enhance domestic and intraregional trade, support community-led activities with a focus on women traders who are very active in the region, maximize financing for development, and enable the long-term and climate-resilient maintenance of the corridor infrastructure financed under the Project; (iii) Support ongoing and future WB engagement, projects, and investments along the corridor; and (iv) Tackle regional challenges faced by CAR and ROC in financing and maintaining transport infrastructure in a climate-resilient and sustainable manner, fostering local and sub-regional trade, and creating socio-economic opportunities for underrepresented communities.To add value to the existing project, the Project team seeks to use part of this grant to finance a study to assess the opportunities and help identify innovative solutions (including PPP/PBC options) to sustainably finance the maintenance of the roads, ports, and waterways along the Congo Basin. To adequately prepare this study, the Project team needs to (i) assess the challenges for the governments and their respective agencies to plan, finance and operate the maintenance of selected transport infrastructure in the Congo Basin; (ii) take stocks of and learn from successful initiative implemented to finance the maintenance of roads, ports and waterways (including but not limited to PPIAF initiatives and best international practices); (iii) develop recommendations with guidance for their implementation to sustainably finance the maintenance of the roads, ports, and waterways and implement selected priority maintenance activities/reforms . Consequently, the Project seeks to hire a consultant/consulting firm to prepare a study on innovative solutions to sustainably finance the maintenance of the roads, ports, and waterways of the Congo Basin. The present Terms of Reference (ToR) have been prepared for the recruitment of a skilled professional/firm (the Consultant), qualified to provide professional technical and institutional advisory and consultancy services to the Project team on all technical and institutional aspects related to the planning, programming, financing of the maintenance of transport infrastructure along the Congo Basin. The main objective of the present assignment is to produce a study on innovative solutions to sustainably finance the maintenance of the roads, ports, and waterways of the Congo Basin. The study will rely on the detailed findings of the review and audit conducted on the authorities responsible for the maintenance of transport infrastructure in the Congo Basin and provide recommendations to address the challenges identified. The study will also incorporate lessons learned from past PPIAF initiatives and best international practices to deliverable solutions that are scalable to the Congo Basin. Tender Link : https://wbgeprocure-rfxnow.worldbank.org/rfxnow/public/advertisement/4726/view.html

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