1.Background
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Federation of Women in Business (COMFWB) is a regional institution established under the COMESA Treaty Articles 154 and 155, which mandate the promotion of women in business and the strengthening of their participation in programmes that promote regional integration, economic development, and gender equality across its 21 COMESA member states. COMFWB serves also as the continental voice of women entrepreneurs, advancing their visibility, competitiveness, and leadership across the region by providing a platform for women entrepreneurs to participate in trade and regional markets.
The Secretariat has advertised the following Professional and general service positions below.
I.Resource Mobilization officer (P2)
II.Procurement expert
III.IT Assistant (GS7)
The COMFBW Secretariat wishes to contract a Human Resource Recruitment Agency/HR Management Consulting firm to conduct this service (RFP Ref: CS/ADM/165/20) for the short listing for the Posts, based on the terms of reference given in the call for applications
2.Specific Terms of Reference
i.Review all the applications received.
ii.Prepare a Summary of Applications in the format provided by COMFWB.
iii.Evaluate each candidates’ application as per the criteria below:
a.Qualifications
b.Relevant experience
c.Years of experience
d.Understanding of Job description Age
e.Computer literacy- eligible candidates should be computer literate
iv.Score each candidate and rank all applications short list a maximum of five (5) candidates for each post.
v.Ensure that only one (1) candidate from anyone (1) country is shortlisted for any given post. In cases where two (2) or more candidates from one country are found to be qualified for the post, the best candidate among the candidates should be short listed.
vi.Prepare a short-listing report and make recommendations with comprehensive justifications and rankings for all candidates (shortlisted or not shortlisted.);
vii.Sign and submit the short-listing report within five (5) days of signing the contract.
viii.Once the report is approved, prepare both oral and written interview questions including a psychometric test.
ix.Act as Secretary to the interview panel and prepare the interview report; and
x.and present the interview report and recommendations to Board of Directors of COMFWB
3.Deliverables
At the end of the assignment, the Consultant/Firm is expected to have delivered the following:
(i)A final Shortlisting Report, containing a shortlist of not more than five (5) highly qualified candidates for each post who will be invited for interviews.
(ii)A final Interview Report, containing the recommendations of the Interview panel for suitable candidates for each post
4.Eligibility of Consultants
This consultancy is open to reputable Human Resource Management Consultancy firms which have sufficient experience in recruitment and selection to undertake this assignment. Proof of having undertaken similar assignments is critical.
5.Individual, organizational, or firm Consultants (individual or consortium) are eligible for this assignment.
6.The maximum budget for this contract is US$3,000.00 for expert service/ consultants’ fees only. Proposals exceeding this budget will not be accepted.
7.Commencement and Completion of Work
The assignment is expected to commence 8th April 2026. Details of completion of work and work schedule including reporting will be discussed further and agreed upon after signing of the contract.
8.Criteria for Evaluation of Consultants
Bidders must provide both Technical and Financial proposals.
The evaluation shall be based on the following attributes:
a)The overall responsiveness and quality of the proposal in clearly stating an understanding of the work to be performed.
b)Technical ability of the proposer to perform the required services.
c)The experience and reputation of the proposer as represented in the response and the quality of the references.
d)Cost of services. Fees and expenses will be a particularly important factor when all other evaluation criteria are relatively equal.
Technical proposal will be assigned a weight of 80% and the financial proposal will be weighted at 20%.
9.Your CV will be evaluated against the following criteria.
-General qualifications : 20
-Adequacy for the assignment : 60
-Experience in the region : 15
-Language proficiency : 5
Total : 100
10.Your proposal should be submitted as per the following instructions:
(i) PRICES:
The financial proposal shall be inclusive of all expenses deemed necessary by the Individual Consultant for the performance of the contract.
(ii) EVALUATION AND AWARD OF THE CONTRACT:
Expressions of Interest determined to be formally compliant to the requirements will be further evaluated technically.
An Expression of Interest is considered compliant to the requirements if:
• The financial proposal does not exceed the maximum available budget for the contract.
• The award will be made to the applicant who obtains the highest technical score. Expressions of Interest not obtaining a minimum score of 70% will be rejected.
(iii) VALIDITY OF THE EXPRESSION OF INTEREST:
Your Expression of Interest should be valid for a period of 90 days from the date of deadline for submission indicated in Paragraph 4 above.
11. The assignment is expected to commence within two (2) weeks from the signature of the contract.
12. Additional requests for information and clarifications can be made until 7 working days prior to deadline indicated in the paragraph below.
13.The deadline for submission of your application, to the address indicated above, is April 3rd, 2026, at 16:00hours Malawi time
Contact person: Head of Procurement
E-mail: jmasanche@comesa.int with a copy to comfwb@comesa.int
