International consultant to Support the analysis and development of the guidelines for strengthening linkages between national planning and budgeting in Africa - MFGPD

The consultancy aims to develop practical, evidence-based continental guidelines to strengthen the integration of national planning, budgeting, and financing systems across African countries. The consultant will support the Economic Commission for Africa in analytical framework development, comparative analysis, diagnostic methodology design, operational guidance, stakeholder consultations, and validation of guidelines.

Responsibilities

• Review existing literature on planning, budgeting, public financial management, and financing frameworks in Africa.
• Review international good practices on planning-budget integration.
• Develop an inception report outlining methodology, workplan, diagnostic framework, country selection criteria, and consultation strategy.
• Develop standardized diagnostic tools to assess planning-budget integration across selected African countries.
• Undertake comparative analysis of selected countries to identify institutional patterns, analyse planning-budget integration models, assess financing approaches, document lessons learned, and identify scalable good practices.
• Prepare comprehensive operational guidelines covering alignment between national development plans and budget systems, programme-budget mapping, budget coding and expenditure traceability, financing strategies, institutional coordination mechanisms, monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and practical implementation roadmap.
• Support ECA in organizing technical consultations and validation workshops by preparing consultation materials, facilitating technical discussions, and incorporating stakeholder feedback into the final guidelines.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree in economics, statistics, sociology, development studies, or related fields. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• At least 15 years of progressively responsible experience in development planning, public financial management, macroeconomic policy, or public sector reforms.
• Extensive experience in Programme-Based Budgeting (PBB), Medium-Term Expenditure Frameworks (MTEFs), public investment management, and fiscal policy is desirable.
• Demonstrated experience supporting governments in Africa on planning and budgeting reforms is desirable.
• Experience conducting institutional diagnostics and comparative policy analysis is desirable.
• Proven experience drafting high-level policy guidelines, analytical reports, and strategic frameworks for governments or international organizations is desirable.
• Previous experience working with the United Nations, African Union, African Development Bank, World Bank, or similar international institutions is desirable.
• Excellent analytical and conceptual skills.
• Strong knowledge of African public finance systems.
• Ability to synthesize complex policy issues into practical guidance.
• Excellent drafting and report-writing skills.
• Ability to facilitate multi-stakeholder consultations.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to work independently and deliver high-quality outputs within agreed timelines.

Skills

• Development Planning
• Public Financial Management
• Macroeconomic and Fiscal Policy
• Public Sector Reform
• Programme Budgeting
• Medium-Term Expenditure Frameworks
• Public Investment Management
• Fiscal Policy Analysis
• Institutional Diagnostics
• Comparative Policy Analysis
• Policy Guidelines Drafting
• Analytical Report Production
• Strategic Framework Development
• African Public Finance Systems
• Policy Synthesis
• Multi-Stakeholder Facilitation
• Analytical Frameworks
• Diagnostic Methodology Design
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Report Writing

Languages

English, French