BAD invites Consulting Firms to indicate their interest in the following Assignment: STUDY OF “Offshore financial centres in africa – challenges and opportunities”

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
Financial Sector Development Department

Avenue Joseph Anoma – 01 B.P. 1387 – Abidjan 01 – Cote d’Ivoire

1. The African Development Bank hereby invites Consulting Firms to indicate their interest in the following Assignment: STUDY OF “OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTRES IN AFRICA – CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES”

2. Under the supervision of the Director, Financial Sector Development Department of the Bank, the main objective of the proposed assignment is to conduct a study on the current levels of development of Offshore Financial Centres (OFC) in Africa, with a particular focus on the distinction between Mauritius and other African OFCs.

3. In line with the Bank’s mandate to Industrialize and Integrate Africa, the Bank continues to seek ways to mobilize long-term funding into African countries, deepen the financial markets and attract financing for corporates and SMEs to create employment and growing the size of African economies. In this context, the Bank recognizes the importance of African Offshore Financial Centres (OFCs) in catalysing the mobilization of financial resources to fund the Bank’s High 5 agenda.
The study will assess the current levels of development of Offshore Financial Centres (OFC), in Africa, the comparative advantages and competitiveness of each of the OFCs, the necessary reforms required to improve on their effectiveness as well as the risks that such OFCs face and the associated mitigants.

4. The envisaged services to be provided under the Assignment include: analysis of the underlying features that have made Mauritius emerge as the major African OFC in which funds, special purpose vehicles and other structures are set up; the key features that drive this domiciliation, and the similarity in features between Mauritius and other international OFCs such as Dublin or Luxembourg. The following duties will be undertaken by the consulting firm:

1. Definition of key attributes of an OFC from an international and an African context.
2.  Identification of key features in Mauritius that sets it apart from other African OFCs.
3.  Examination of underlying legislation (regulatory environment) for African OFCs, benchmarking it against the expected best practise international standards.
4.  Specifically examine the different tax regimes in Mauritius and other African OFCs (including the tax treatment of carried interest and other profit distributions), the existence and implementation of double taxation agreements.
5.  Review Mauritius and other African OFCs’ compliance with the standards of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Global Forum, and European Union (EU) standards on tax and transparency.
6. Assess general risks, challenges and opportunities African OFCs face as well as analyse and review publicly available opinions, commentaries and comments on African OFCs.
7.  Propose initiatives and recommendations to guide the Bank’s approach to OFCs in Africa as well as suggest the necessary support the Bank can render to foster the development of the existing and other financial centers
   in the region
8.  Any other duties necessary to provide a detailed study.

   5. The Financial Sector Development Department now invites Consulting Firms to indicate their interest in providing the above-described services. Interested eligible Consulting Firms shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to provide the services (registration documents for the
   firm, experience in comparable assignments, references for similar services, availability of appropriately skilled staff, etc.).

   The Consulting Firm shall have expertise in the following areas:
   • Legal and regulatory expertise and (multi-jurisdiction) tax expertise.
   • Macroeconomics with deep understanding of investment and incentives policies;
   • Operations of Financial Centers, particularly African based OFCs;
   • Commercial and Trust law in an international environment;
   • Structure and Operations of Private Equity investments;
   • Sovereign operations and legal frameworks governing offshore investments;
   • Institutional Policy and Framework design and implementation;
   • Financial sector experience with skills on private fund investments;
   • Corporate Finance.

   6. The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the Bank’s “Rules and Procedure for the Use of Consultants”. Please, note that interest expressed by a Consulting Firm does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include it in the shortlist.

   7. The duration of the assignment shall be four (4) months. Commencement date is anticipated as September 24, 2018.

   8. Interested Consulting Firms may obtain further information at the address below during the Bank’s working hours: 09:00 to 17:00 hours.

   9. Expressions of interest must be received at the address below no later than 10th August, 2018 at 17:00 hours local (Abidjan) time and specifically mentioning Consultancy Services for Study of “Offshore Financial Centres in Africa- Challenges and Opportunities”

   10. For the attention of: Mr. Akin Adigun/ E-mail: a.adigun@afdb.org and Mr Victor Chando/ Email: v.chando@afdb.org; with copy to: Ms. Bronia Naivasha / E-mail: b.naivasha@afdb.org