SADC SECRETARIAT
REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST SHORTLISTING
(Consultant Qualification Based Selection (CQS)
COUNTRY: Botswana
NAME OF PROJECT: SADC REGIONAL CLIMATE RESILIENCE PROJECT (RCRP)
PROJECT ID: P180171
ASSIGNMENT TITLE: CONSULTANCY TO UNDERTAKE CAPACITY BUILDING ARISING FROM IDENTIFIED (MHEWS) GAPS AND NEEDS FROM MEMBER STATES
REFERENCE NUMBER: SADC/3/5/2/474
DATE OF ISSUE: 28th October 2026
SADC Member States are prone to a wide range of natural disasters such as torrential rains, floods, strong and devastating winds, tropical cyclones and tropical depressions, droughts and earthquakes. Hydro-meteorological extreme events such as Tropical Cyclone Dineo in 2017, that traversed and affected several countries stretching from Madagascar all the way to Botswana going through Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Similarly in 2019 Tropical Cyclones Idai and Kenneth affected Comoros, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. In early 2023, Tropical Cyclone Freddy the longest lasting tropical system in history, affected Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique with Malawi bearing the heaviest brunt of its impacts.
El Nino driven droughts in the periods (1982–1984, 1991–1993, 2014–2017, 2019-2021 and 2023-2024) have had devastating human, social, economic and environmental impacts. Coastal countries, including South Africa, Angola, Namibia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, and Seychelles experience frequent extreme climate events ranging from drought, floods, tropical cyclones, storm surges, coastal inundation and coastal erosion, including sea level rises. Landlocked countries like Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, also experienced frequent mild to severe droughts.
While a significant part of the region experienced severe drought conditions (e.g., South-western SADC), some parts of the region (e.g., North-eastern SADC and the region’s island states) experienced a lot of rainfall in the year 2023/24. The heavy rains in parts of Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi, and Tanzania caused flooding which displaced populations and caused damage to property and infrastructure. In Tanzania, heavy rains in Manyara and Dar es Salaam region caused landslides and damage to crops and critical infrastructure. Malawi reported flooding in Nkhotakota district in central region and Karonga district in the north, displacing about 7,000 people and damaging crop fields. In southern Mozambique 48,000 people were affected by Severe Tropical Storm Filipo in mid-March, while further flooding occurred in southern Mozambique in late March due to continued heavy rainfall.
The overarching development objective is to strengthen national MHEWS capacities and regional framework by implementing selected common and high-priority capacity-strengthening interventions identified through national MHEWS/EW4All Roadmaps, with emphasis on technical assistance, training, Training-of-Trainers, peer learning and sustainable knowledge transfer in Eastern and Southern African countries and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services for CONSULTANCY TO UNDERTAKE CAPACITY BUILDING ARISING FROM IDENTIFIED (MHEWS) GAPS AND NEEDS FROM MEMBER STATES.
The project aims to strengthen institutional, technical and operational capacities of SADC Member States to operationalize harmonized, interoperable, people-centred and end-to-end Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS) and of the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre (SHOC) to coordinate and harmonize early warning practices across the region, through targeted implementation of priority capacity gaps identified in national MHEWS/EW4All Roadmaps and aligned with the SADC Regional Framework for MHEWS and SHOC Early Warning and Monitoring SOPs. The consultancy will particularly strengthen interoperability and information exchange between national systems, SHOC and AMHEWAS, ensuring that timely and actionable risk information supports anticipatory action, preparedness and coordinated response.
The consulting services (“the Services”) will deliver specific objectives as follows;
Strengthen national MHEWS capacities and regional framework by implementing selected common and high-priority capacity-strengthening interventions identified through national MHEWS/EW4All Roadmaps, with emphasis on technical assistance, training, Training-of-Trainers, peer learning and sustainable knowledge transfer.
Harmonize MHEWS operational processes and procedures by reviewing, adapting and developing standardized methodologies, SOPs, protocols, templates and tools that facilitate consistent approaches to multi-hazard monitoring, risk analysis, information exchange, warning dissemination, anticipatory action and operational coordination across SADC Member States.
Strengthen interoperability between national MHEWS and coordination atregional and continental levels by developing and operationalizing appropriate standards, methodologies and protocols for seamless information exchange between Member States, SHOC and AMHEWAS, with particular emphasis on the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and other relevant open and internationally recognized standards.
Strengthen the co-production of people-centred, impact-based and actionable alerts and advisories by developing methodologies and building capacities at MS that enable collaboration among forecasting and technical institutions, National Disaster Management Authorities, sector ministries, SHOC, communication actors and end users in translating hazard information into understandable, trusted and actionable early warning products.
Promote the responsible application of innovation, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in MHEWS by identifying practical and cost-effective use cases and developing guidance and demonstration applications, where feasible, to strengthen risk analysis, hazard monitoring, impact forecasting, decision support, warning generation and dissemination, while ensuring appropriate data governance, transparency and human oversight.
Strengthen institutional arrangements and regional coordination for sustainable MHEWS by identifying and recommending measures to clarify institutional roles and responsibilities, strengthen coordination and information-sharing arrangements, enhance cross-border cooperation, and institutionalize linkages between national MHEWS structures, SHOC and relevant regional and continental mechanisms.
Enhance the operationalization of the SADC Regional Framework for MHEWS and SHOC Early Warning and Monitoring SOPs by translating the regional architecture into practical, harmonized and replicable operational tools and capacity-strengthening interventions that Member States can adapt and institutionalize according to their national contexts.
The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment can be found at the following website: (https://www.sadc.int/procurement-opportunities)
The SADC Secretariat now invites eligible consulting firms to indicate their interest in providing these services. Interested consulting firms must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services and will be shortlisted using the below;
a | Applicant firm’s core business area alignment with the envisaged assignment at hand (please showcase the similar assignments); | 50 |
b | General and specific experiences of the applicant firm in terms of number of years in the consulting industry and number, similarity and complexity of successfully completed assignments within the last recent years (say 7 to 10 years); | 20 |
c | Technical and managerial capability of the applicant firms in terms of corporate technical competence, financial capabilities, institutional quality management and overall team of experts under its command; (Key Experts will not be evaluated at the shortlisting stage) | 30 |
Total | 100 |
The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Section III, paragraphs, 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” dated September 2023 (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. which is available on the Bank’s website at https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/Procurement-Regulations-September-…, setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.
Consultants may associate with other firms to enhance their qualifications but should indicate clearly whether the association is in the form of a joint venture and/or a sub-consultancy. In the case of a joint venture, all the partners in the joint venture shall be jointly and severally liable for the entire contract, if selected.
A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Consultants Qualifications-based Selection (CQS) method set out in the Procurement Regulations.
Interested consultants may obtain further information at the address below during office hours 08:00 hours to 16:30 hours Botswana time. Expressions of interest must be submitted electronically in PDF format and dully signed via this
COLLAB LINK: https://collab.sadc.int/s/BsAtb4STZc5QfEm
at or before midnight Botswana time on 17th November 2026 and using the drag and drop link provided above in a zip folder with all necessary documents for consideration.
Firms are advised to submit their proposals during working hours for support in case of any technical problems. Expressions of Interest must be submitted as one PDF file or zipped folder bearing the name of the applicant.
Below is the address for obtaining further information:
The Procuring entity: SADC Secretariat
Head of Procurement Unit
Contact person: Mr. Purpose Chifani
Telephone: +267 364 1989 / 3951863
Fax: 3972848
E-mail: pchifani@sadc.int
Copy to: tngandu@sadc.int; tchabwera@sadc.int
Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
