Recruitment of an independent verification agent

Project: Cote d'Ivoire Public Resource Management for Jobs and Growth

Notice of Expression of Interest for the recruitment of an Independent Verification Agency for the Public Resource Management for Jobs and Growth Program in Côte d'Ivoire (PGRPEC)

                              Loan No: 8098-CI / P513144

1. Context and Justification

Côte d'Ivoire is undertaking significant public finance reforms to better mobilize its domestic revenue and manage its public spending. Key advancements include: the Medium-Term Revenue Mobilization Strategy (2024-2028), the Public Finance Reform Master Plan (SDRFP), and the digitalization of the tax and customs administration (including the SIGOMAP platform for public procurement).
Despite these advances, several areas for improvement remain: rationalizing tax expenditures, enhancing VAT efficiency (currently 3.3% of GDP, efficiency ratio of 0.18%), strengthening corporate tax productivity (7-8%), and consolidating the capacity of control institutions.

With a budget of US$100 million and implemented under the Program-for-Results (PforR) mechanism, the Development Objective (DO) of the Public Resource Management for Jobs and Growth Program in Côte d'Ivoire (PGRPEC) is to increase domestic revenue and improve the efficiency of public spending management in Côte d'Ivoire.

• In accordance with the financing agreement, results are expected within the framework of the PGRPEC implementation.
• The achievement of these results will be certified by the Independent Verifier. This Expression of Interest is issued to define the mandate and profile of the Independent Verifier and to provide a detailed description of the main tasks they will be required to perform.
• 2. Profile of the Independent Verification Agency

The Independent Verifier must be an accounting firm or a consulting firm with relevant experience, particularly in project and program evaluation. As such, it must have:

• At least five (5) years of experience in audit services, specific evaluation of public finance and administration sectors, verification, or monitoring and evaluation;
• Successfully completed at least two (2) successful assignments in missions financed by international donors, particularly the World Bank, the African Development Bank, or other similar institutions for operations financed under the Program-for-Results (PforR) approach or results-based financing mechanisms;
• Completed at least one (1) assignment in a mission related to Public Finance.

The firm must have a multidisciplinary team including experts in public finance management, taxation, and statistics, whose CVs will be evaluated in the second phase of recruitment in accordance with the Quality and Cost-Based Selection (QCBS) method according to the Procurement Regulations for Investment Project Financing Borrowers, Edition September 2025.

Duration of the mission: The mission will take place over the entire duration of the Program with interventions of variable duration, including interventions in Côte d'Ivoire as needed.

3. Missions of the Firm

The Independent Verifier will verify, as needed, the achievement of the objectives set out in the verification protocol to provide the necessary information on progress made, constraints, and lessons learned to potentially redirect actions and interventions aimed at optimizing results.

As such, the Independent Verifier will provide the client with: (i) an objective, rigorous, and external perspective on the achievement of the PGRPEC's objective values, in accordance with a schedule, as measured by the agreed indicators, linked to disbursement (DLIs) and annual disbursement-linked results (DLRs), which are defined in the loan agreement and the PAD; and (ii) objective and rigorous verification of the DLIs/DLRs that serve as the basis for the Bank's disbursement of funds for associated disbursements.

One of the missions is to conduct the contr...