Recruitment of an independent evaluator for end of REAP project evaluation

ECOWAS REGIONAL ELECTRICITY ACCESS PROJECT (ECOWAS-REAP) Project – P164044 REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (CONSULTING SERVICES – INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT SELECTION) RECRUITMENT OF AN INDEPENDENT EVALUATOR FOR END OF REAP PROJECT EVALUATION NG-ECOWAS-DEM-539424-CS-INDV Closing Date: 21st, May 2026 at 5:00 pm GMT Contract: Lump sum 1. Background and justification of the project The energy sector in the ECOWAS region faces enduring challenges in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly the objective 7, which aims to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services.

Access to energy remains an issue for member states, with around 180 million people having insufficient or no access to electricity by 2022. There are significant disparities between member states and between urban and rural areas within each country. Electricity production remains insufficient, with a low penetration of renewable energy in mix. Transmission and distribution suffer from high commercial and technical losses, of the order of 21.5%, which are incompatible with the new production capacity needed to meet the growing demand from rapidly expanding urban areas. ECOWAS Vision 2050 addresses these challenges as an integral part of achieving pillar 3 which is dedicated to « Infrastructure development and Interconnectivity ». The Vision document highlights the need to intensify the infrastructure development and interconnectivity to ensure availability and affordability of energy for the population. To improve people's access to electricity, ECOWAS is working to establish a regional electricity market through the development of power generation and transmission infrastructure, and the intensification of its electricity access initiatives. With the financial support of the World Bank, ECOWAS has thus initiated the Regional Electricity Access Programme (REAP), which must normally be implemented in the form of a series of projects to gradually cover 11 countries, including 9 ECOWAS countries. Phase 1 of the programme, entitled ECOWAS Regional Electricity Access Project (ECOWAS-REAP), covers The Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Mali. With a funding of 225 million USD, The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to increase access to electricity in the ECOWAS region through the strengthening and extension of electricity distribution infrastructure (MV and LV) and the connection of households in West African countries. The implementation covers the period 2019-2025. The target is toallow 2.04 million people to benefit from electricity service by 2025. Components of the project are the following: (i) construction of the electricity distribution networks, (ii) assistance of a owner engineer for the supervision of the works and (iii) project management and implementation coordination by local units (PIU) in the beneficiary countries and a regional coordination unit (RCU) in ECOWAS Directorate of Energy and Mines. The regional coordination of the project is ensured by ECOWAS through a Regional Coordination Unit (RCU), and Project Implementation Units (PIUs) are established in each of the countries concerned. 1.1. Major challenges during the implementation of the project • Emergence of Covid-19 The project financing agreements were signed in February 2019, and the preparation period for its implementation coincided with the emergence of Covid-19. The outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 had widespread and unprecedented effects on the implementation of development projects worldwide, including World Bank–financed regional energy and infrastructure operations. For multi-country projects, the pandemic created simultaneous disruptions across all participating countries, affecting implementation schedules, financial performance, and institutional capacity. • Institutional instability The project was significantly affected by the change of political order that occurred in Mali in 2021 and subsequently in Guinea-Bissau in 2025. These political developments led to the temporary suspension of disbursements and activities by the World Bank, in accordance with its operational procedures regarding governance and eligibility of member states. This suspension, which extended over a prolonged period, resulted in: • a significant slowdown in the implementation of activities; • delays in the execution of ongoing contracts; • the postponement of certain supervision and technical assistance missions; • a negative impact on the project's performance indicators. The gradual resumption of activities required extensive technical and institutional exchanges in order to restore the required operational and fiduciary conditions. • Project Extension: Taking into account the delays recorded in the implementation of activities, the three beneficiary countries (Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali) and the RCU submitted in 2025 official requests for project extensions. Following the review of these requests, the World Bank issued a favorable opinion, grant