National Technical Consultant on Private Sector Engagement and Commercial Financing at RTI International

The USAID Effective Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (E-WASH) program is working to improve urban water and sanitation service delivery by strengthening the governance, financial, and technical viability of the State Water Boards (SWBs) in five states in Nigeria - Abia, Delta, Imo, Niger, and Taraba. In collaboration with the respective state governments, SWBs and communities, the program is enabling the SWBs to become financially and operationally autonomous and to institute corporate principles and actions that in the long-run will enhance and expand service delivery and build customer trust based on cost recovery principles.

Activities

While USAID E-WASH has helped establish the foundation for autonomous SWB operations through its governance work, additional technical assistance and assessments will further advance reform and inform opportunities for greater public and private stakeholders’ leveraging in WASH services delivery. The program is therefore working on the following activities:

Private sector engagement (PSE) and commercial financing

Tariffs Study for Urban Water Services.

Regulatory framework.

To help its assessment and studies around the subjects noted above, USAID E-WASH is engaging an international specialist through a Short-Term Technical Assistance (STTA) assignment with SEGURA. To support these international STTA specialists, SEGURA is seeking to retain the services of Nigerian professionals based in each of the five states. Specific tasks for these local technical specialists are shown in the next section.

National Technical Consultant on Private Sector Engagement and Commercial Financing

The technical consultants will work in the 5 aforementioned states and will support related technical activities and studies on PSE/Commercial financing, Tariffs Studies, and Regulatory Framework. All tasks will be under the lead of the SEGURA international STTA Specialists.  They in turn will work with the E-WASH Technical Advisors and in close coordination with the E-WASH state teams/specialists.

The Assignment

The technical consultants will:

• Support the SEGURA STTA specialists in the review and analysis of state level WASH legislation (policies and laws) and SWB-specific policies/local mandates regarding private sector engagement, tariffs, regulations around WASH services
• Provide in-country and state and/or SWB specific context to the technical activities and studies including stakeholder analysis/interaction, political/social environment, etc.
• Collect data as requested through primary approaches (direct meetings, calls, outreach, site/facility visits) and secondary methods (desk study, reports).
• Organize and review information to complete questionnaires, surveys and other data collections tools requested from state/SWB stakeholders including households, government officials, community representatives, private sector actors, etc.
• Identification of current water and sanitation systems and associated costs (O&M) and required needs to improve the services (investment and O&M costs).
• Schedule and coordinate meetings with state/SWB stakeholders as required with remote connections (Zoom, Google, Skype and others).
• Document all interactions with notes, emails, photos and others.
• Participate in regular progress check-in virtual meetings with STTA specialists and SEGURA home office.   
• Carry-out other related tasks as assigned.

Deliverables

The consultant should submit:

• Completed questionnaires or templates with data and information as requested by STTA specialists
• Written meeting and interviews notes – other support documentation
• Original files and photographs, maps and engineering plans, as applicable
• Estimated Level of Effort (ELoE)
• It is estimated that this assignment will require up to 90 days per person from July – December 2020.

Duration

• The proposed performance period for this assignment is July to December 2020 (6 months).
• Note: Engagement days may not run concurrently

Qualifications and Experience

If you meet the following minimum qualifications and experience, then do kindly apply.

• University degree in Engineering, Economics, Business or Public Administration, or any related field. He/she must have knowledge of the water and sanitation systems in the corresponding selected state. Master’s Degree a plus.
• Prior experience in working and interacting with state-level stakeholders with government agencies, communities, households, private sector, and others.
• Technical experience in WASH or related sector enabling environment development, including regulations, financing/economics, and policies.
• Experience in Data collection and Data Analysis
• Excellent English written and oral communication.
• Computer and internet access to share notes and participate in conference calls.
• Ability to travel domestically throughout the corresponding state as necessary