PLEASE ADDRESS CORRESPONDENCE TO THE GOVERNOR Request for Proposal Project Title: Pacific Islands Working Group Financial Inclusion Data Measurement Project Background The Pacific Islands Financial Inclusion Working Group (PIWG) was formed in 2009 at the request of seven regional central bank governors: Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Timor Leste. Administered by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) and supported by the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP), the PIWG was created to promote greater financial inclusion in the Pacific region. As a regional peer-learning group, PIWG members collaborate on the development of national financial inclusion priorities in order to learn from other members, their peers in neighbouring regions, and others around the world. The Central Bank of Samoa (CBS) is Samoa s reserve bank and, as such, acts as banker to the government and commercial banks. The CBS serves the following main functions: to regulate the issue, supply, availability and the international exchange of money; advising the government on banking and monetary matters; promoting internal and external monetary stability; promoting a sound financial structure; promoting credit and exchange conditions conducive to the orderly and balanced economic development of Samoa; supervising and regulating banking business activities and the extension of credit; implementing countermeasures to deter, detect, and criminalize money laundering activities; and promoting financial inclusion and financial literacy. The CBS formulates and implements monetary policy and related measures, including open market operations in Central Bank Securities, to influence interest rate levels and the availability of credit in the financial system. The Central Bank of Samoa will serve as the administrative unit for this project on behalf of the PIWG.
Project Description The Pacific region spans one-third of the earth s surface and is one of the least banked regions in the world. The PIWG members share similar barriers to financial inclusion, including an extremely high unbanked rate, geographically dispersed islands with low population densities, and challenges related to physical and banking infrastructure. While data on financial exclusion are not yet available (data will be developed through this project), it is estimated that up to 80% of the population in each of the Pacific Island countries operates outside the formal financial system and does not use basic financial services such as a bank account. The key issue the project will address is the fundamental lack of data on financial inclusion, which has left central banks and policymakers unable to assess the level of financial inclusion in their countries and design appropriate interventions to increase access to and usage of financial services. The lack of data is a major barrier to implementing national reforms that would make the financial system more inclusive and accessible, especially for the majority of the population that is unbanked. This project will help the five Pacific region countries (Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa, and Vanuatu) to define and operationalize financial inclusion and to develop data monitoring tools to assess progress in achieving financial inclusion targets. The project is aligned with the regulatory and policy goals of all the participating countries, which are to increase access and usage of financial services through innovative delivery models and channels. The geographic challenges of the Pacific region coupled with disappointing results in microfinance and traditional banking necessitate novel approaches to scaling up financial inclusion to meaningful levels, such as mobile banking using modern telecommunications technology. The primary goal of the project is to assist PIWG members with developing a data management framework that will allow them to track, analyze, and report appropriate indicators for measuring the usage and benefits of financial inclusion in each of the member countries. Such information would: (i) provide inputs to the development of public policy aimed at promoting financial inclusion, (ii) measure the impact of financial inclusion policies developed by different government agencies departments using ex-ante and ex-post evaluations, and (iii) incentivize the private and public financial sectors to design financial products and business models for populations without access to financial services. The full list of project activities consists of: Activity 1: Participate in an AFI knowledge exchange visit Activity 2: Work to build a stakeholder consortium Activity 3: Define inclusive finance and develop indicators Activity 4: Assess what financial inclusion data are currently available Activity 5: Design a survey and data framework for measuring financial inclusion
Request for Consultants To assist with the implementation of the project, applications are invited from suitably qualified individuals for the following contract positions: 1. Senior Project Advisor. Provide ongoing guidance and assistance with project activities, such as facilitating technical discussions, providing inputs into the data framework, and developing indicators. The Senior Project Advisor will participate in the PIWG meetings held quarterly in different locations and will assist the project manager as needed. The expected outcome of this position is to ensure that the project runs smoothly and has adequate technical resources and expertise as it is implemented. 2. Technical Consultant (survey design expert) specializing in survey design to assist the group and individual countries in developing national survey instruments. The Technical Consultant will provide training on the development of financial inclusion survey instruments and will guide the development of the survey for the three countries implementing the full data project. The survey will be conducted using laptop computers and the survey instrument for each country will be programmed directly onto the laptops using Access data software. Other information: Ideally the two consultants will work collaboratively in order to achieve the project outcomes within the specified time frame. Other required duties include: Conducting focus group discussions (both consultants); Training local enumerators to run a pilot test of the survey in each of the three countries implementing the full data project (both consultants); and Assisting with the programming of the survey instrument (using Access) onto laptops so that the enumerators can input data directly (Technical Consultant only). To achieve some harmony between this financial inclusion data and measurement initiative and other data projects around the world, the consultants are encouraged to consult the work of the AFI Financial Inclusion Data Working Group, Global Findex, CGAP, and other recognized institutions providing leadership in the field of financial inclusion data and measurement. The two consultants are expected to co-author the project report and clearly document the implementation, results, and outcomes. The first draft should be submitted to the project manager no later than 6 weeks after the conclusion of the project activities. Anticipated Travel The Senior Project Advisor s anticipated travels are as follows: o PIWG meetings in December 2012, and April 2013 o Summer 2012 to participate in and facilitate the stakeholder meetings in each country. The Technical Consultant is scheduled to provide training to the PIWG in December 2012 and will travel again in April 2013 for the final assessment of the pilot and the overall design of the project. Confirmation of the possible travels aforementioned and any other necessary travels will be known as the project progresses.
Estimated Contract Days The Senior Project Advisor will be engaged for approximately 60 days, which will be divided between on-site time in the Pacific, meetings with the PIWG outside the Pacific, and off-site time assisting with online discussions, the development of financial inclusion measures, survey development, policy coordination, and other activities, as well as providing overall technical support to the project manager. The Technical Consultant s engagement is estimated to be approximately 50 days, which includes on-site time in the Pacific and off-site assistance with the survey design and pilot. Estimated Project Duration Project duration is 15 June 2012 31 May 2013 The first phase of the project is the preparatory stage: Activities 1-4 The last phase is conducting the survey and data collection: Activity 5 Special Terms and Conditions To ensure that the project is implemented within the set timeline and is completed by the target date, the consultants must only be employed by this project. The bid currency for the project is either EUR or USD. The project will cover the consultants travel and accommodation costs. The consultants will be expected to enter into a contract with the Central Bank of Samoa as the project s implementing agency. Insurance and contractors liability: The contractor shall be solely responsible for securing and maintaining adequate insurance coverage, such as life, health, and other forms of insurance the contractor considers appropriate, to cover the period during which the contractor provides services for the project. Any liability arising from the contractor in the performance of his/her services under the project will be the sole responsibility of the consultant. The CBS will not be held responsible. Failure to expedite work: the contractor shall notify the CBS of any changes in conditions or the occurrence of any event that interferes with or threatens to interfere with the performance of his/her work and would likely result in a delay to completing the work by the target date. The CBS shall take such action as it considers, in its sole discretion, to be appropriate or necessary under the circumstances, including granting the contractor a reasonable extension of time to satisfactorily complete the required work for the project. Submission of Information All interested and suitably qualified individuals for the specified consultant positions are requested to submit their bid proposals and resume, complete with CV, and a list of related and relevant projects or any related publications, and the names of three referees. The complete set of documents is to be addressed to and submitted by email to the project manager by end of business 1st October 2012 to:
Mrs. Lanna Lome-Ieremia Assistant Manager Financial Markets Department Central Bank of Samoa E: lanna.lome@cbs.gov.ws F: (685) 20293 P: (685) 34172 Anticipated Selection Schedule Successful applicants will be notified by email on 15 th October 2012. Unsuccessful applicants will not be notified. The contracts between the CBS and the successful applicants will be finalized by 29 th October 2012. The successful contractors are expected to commence work on 5th November 2012. Note to applicants: Once a bid proposal has been submitted it is final. The Pacific Islands Working Group reserves the right to dismiss any proposal for any reason and its decision is final and will not be subject to further negotiation.