Engineering, procurement and contract management

 

A. Democratic Republic of the Congo: Seconded to the head of the EU delegation in his capacity of EDF national authorising officer

 

1. Dates: November 2004 – December 2008

2. Location: Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

3. Institution and parties involved: EC delegation in the DRC on top of the Council and the European parliament, the EC commission, which is tasked with conducting its external policy, notably with ACP countries, representing some 24 billion Euros (10th EDF at the time) in terms of development aid. This framework (Cotonou agreement) was suspended in 1992 with the DRC and resumed in 2002 with the signing of the 8th and 9th National indicative programmes (NIP). The Government office in charge of managing the EDF had withered and eventually disappeared during that very troublesome period.

4. Position: Responsible of the EDF Project management department, seconded to the head of delegation in his capacity of NAO on behalf of the Congolese government, which is to say managing all EC funded projects from their identification to their final evaluation and on the way their implementation (including tendering and contracting); This involved managing an envelope of some 1 billion Euros, of which some 300 million in the course of being executed (6th, 7th and 8th EDF).

5. Responsibilities:

NAO « makeshift »: Under the direct authority of the head of delegation, on one hand, in charge of setting up (as of end 2004) and then run the ad hoc unit (comprising a secretary and an accountant) within the same delegation (« internal » NAO) and on the other hand support the reinstalling of the structure aimed at assisting the EDF NAO (minister of finance) and the Congolese government in recovering the responsibilities temporarily in the hands of the EC through the delegation in the DRC. This meant assisting the HoD (and all operational section heads) as the prime interlocutor of the NAO as well as managing the above-mentioned internal NAO cell under his formal responsibility as well.

Project cycle management: making sure that project life cycles are well followed up, meaning the execution of all tasks linked to project identification and instruction, the elaboration of financial proposals, tender dossiers and procedures, contracting, implementation monitoring and control, payments authorisation and execution, joint annual reports with the NAO, in brief, everything according to EC rulings, precepts and procedures.

Liaise with all parties involved: making sure that there is coordination with the delegation’s « finance & contracts » section, bring technical competences to the NAO in the frame of the attributions him granted through the Lomé and Cotonou conventions, the appropriate training, regular contacts with all actors/partners involved within the delegation as with all technical parties (NAO services, technical ministries, contract holders, other donors and international agencies multilateral & bilateral …) ;

Follow up, monitoring and evaluation: making sure that project execution happens as prescribed by EC precepts both as to administrative and financial procedures as well as to managerial ones (results oriented management, logical framework approach). In coordination with the NAO office and related EUD units, making sure archiving and filing of all financial conventions / projects happens in a simple and effective way while being pedagogic with all those involved, especially on the Congolese side.

 

6. Major activities and achievements or projects:

 

6.1. Setting up of a NAO support unit within the delegation: a very specific management information system was put in place (as project documents had to follow a double circuit) in order to enable the NAO in his capacity of project manager to be included within the delegation while allowing operational sections to fulfil their role as EC; This involved training my own staff (secretary + accountant) in the process.

6.2. Support to the HoD in his role as NAO: Moreover, the HoD as project manager from the EC side had to be represented in his monitoring role within the project support units as well as towards the technical ministries or departments in their own capacity of master of works for all EDF funded projects 6th, 7th or 8th for most of them.

6.3. Support to the Congolese authorities in putting back the NAO system in place (€3.2 million project): In constant liaison with the co-ordinator of the NAO support unit (Cofed) and his technical assistant (an LT expert: Mr Dominique Lecompte), my office has been instrumental in reinstalling this national cell within the ministry of finance, notably through direct contacts with the minister and his staff, as to recruiting and training the personnel (2005-2006) as well as to restoring a formal collaboration circuit formal between the Cofed and the delegation on one hand, between the Cofed and the public services concerned by the EC co-operation on the other hand;

6.4. Institutional support Programme (€19.2 million): a project managed by the EUD from A to Z (closed end 2006), it entered upon several areas related to reinforcing the capacities of those involved in dealing with the NAO’s office; it also supported areas directly involved in the on-going democratic transition in place (justice, elections, "transition" institutions – June 2003 to December 2006).

6.5. Support to rehabilitation programme (€ 80 million): consisting in restoring the country’s major roads, tracks and causeways (Kinshasa, Bandundu, Equator provinces), it was by far the most important projects amongst those under implementation end of 2004 when it actually started. It followed up on a very similar one that ended that same year. It was still being executed in 2010. In the absence of an actual head of infrastructures section within the delegation until mid 2006, I was tasked with its coordination, which included supervising the PSU team (3 expatriates and several Congolese engineers) and all projects components across the country.

6.6. Assist in co-ordinating with other donors or international technical & financial partners as representative of the EC / EDF: as there was no chief of co-operation until early 2007 and between late 2007 and early 2008, I filled in on many a instance as the EUD representative or co-representative in monthly donor meetings that included the UK (DfiD), the USA (Usaid), France, Belgium, Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, the IMF, the IBRD/World bank and all other UN agencies regrouped under the UNDP resident representative and his deputy (Mr Mountain and Mrs Lise Grande). This included a meeting in Brussels late 2006 that paved the way to closer collaboration with the national authorities through the ministries of Planning and Finance after the installation of the newly elected government in February 2007.

 

7. Acquired skills and experience:

 

This professional experience within an EC delegation in the DRC enabled me to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the EC’s procedures (financial, managerial and contractual) and the way it actually works between the headquarters and the field. More specifically it included life experiences as essential as:

 

- Evolving in a country in a « post conflict » situation (almost under trusteeship of the UN with some 17,000 soldiers / blue helmets spread across the whole territory) where national capacities (human, material) are extremely week and the risks of a major destabilization still pretty much important;

-  Adapting to a most difficult context in many crucial or basic areas (political, logistical, juridical, and even military or related to severe insecurity still prevailing in huge swathes of the country ware extreme violence occurs on a daily basis, let alone the risk of having foreign troops intervening or of militias supported by outside quite high.

 

It also allowed me to enrich my experience thanks to:

 

- Continuous and in-depth contacts at the highest level with political and economical authorities including counsellors to the presidency, ministers, senators and members of parliament, top brass civil servants and members of the, captains of industry, entrepreneurs and business people etc.

- A much wider and deeper knowledge of a country where I had my first professional experience some 13 to 15 years earlier (between 1989 and 1991), notably through trips and assignments across the country (in 8 of its 11 provinces), in its eastern part more particularly (Katanga, North and South Kivu and Oriental – Iturbi);

- Being an elections observer through the EU’s financial involvement if financing and organising the December 2005 referendum and October 2006 presidential and legislative elections (the first ever over some forty years).

 

B. Engineering, procurement and contract management for a major international consultancy

 

1. Dates: September 1999 to June 2002

2. Location: Brussels, Belgium (with many a assignment to Romania and Tunisia for EU funded programmes)

3. Organisation/ company: MWH Inc. (Montgomery Watson Harza), Belgian sister company of MWH Inc. (USA & UK).

International engineering firm specialised in contracting, turnkey projects and technical assistance in various areas, world leader with respect to water and environmental issues (waste-water treatment, sewers, hydro-power, industrial and household waste management) Numbers 5,500 staff and set-ups across the world (Americas, Europe, Africa, Near-, Middle and Far-east, as well as Oceania).

Turnover for 2001 fiscal year: € 850 million.

4. Position: Business Manager, seconded to the managing director of the EPC&M (Engineering, Procurement, Construction & Management) department.

5. Responsibilities:

As project manager, I would, amongst other activities, be involved in identifying, responding and following up international tenders issued by States or multilateral organisations which included contracting eventually.

 

6. Major activities and achievements - main projects (refer to the « EPC » folder on the main web page, as well as to the « Monitoring & evaluation » and « Donors and international financial institutions » folders) with notably:

 

6.1. Rural electrification project in the West bank / Palestine (€ 7.5 million, financed by the Belgian technical cooperation - BTC): topographic surveys, procurement and delivery and execution of the contract as to the provision and installation of electrification equipment for some 30 villages, the supervision of the works executed during some 2 years on location. Responsibilities involved contributing to the tender early 2000 until contracting early 2001.

 

6.2. Child protection support project in Romania (€ 1.5 million, financed by the EC - Phare): Backstopping of the institutional support project to the national office in charge of taking care of abandoned children, which involved preparing the next support programme, assessing the situation, procurement (food, equipment, didactic material) as well as vocational training for management officials and NGO. This project was about to be suspended after six month of implementation and was therefore put under Roland Deschamps’ direct supervision early 2000. It achieved expected results to the client’s satisfaction in December 2001. Responsibilities included managing of a team of local and expatriated staff (30) and many an assignment in Bucharest between August 2000 and October 2001.

 

6.3. Evaluation of a telecommunication project (€25 million) in Tanzania financed by Belgium through a State-to-State loan (Sept.-Dec. 2000):

Following a request submitted by Siemens Inc. to secure the rescheduling of Tanzania’s telecommunications system rehabilitation project initiated since 1991, the Finexpo committee (Foreign affairs and Treasury department) tasked us to provide expertise for its evaluation. An expert was sent on location and though a « Performance Monitoring and Evaluation System », included his technical conclusions in a report that was presented to the director general of the Belgian foreign trade office in January 2001;

 

6.4. Assessment of vocational training in Romania:

In charge of the coordination of a needs’ assessment mission as to vocational training executed by a team of consultants in Jan.-June 2001 for the Romanian ministry of employment & vocational training (financed by the EC and the European foundation for VT in Milan).

 

6.5. Turn-key Meat production project (€ 250,000) in Côte d’Ivoire:

In charge of the final stages of a project supported by the African development bank and supervised by the ministry agriculture that mainly involved training the beneficiaries of the project once equipment was installed.

 

6.6. Monitoring and evaluation of all programmes financed by the EC in Central and Eastern Europe:

As MWH was tasked between 1995 and 2001 in executing the OMAS contract, which consisted in monitoring and evaluating all projects supported by Phare 1989, I was regularly asked to identify qualified experts as I did for the Framework-contract awarded in 2000 (Environment and infrastructure « lots »). It is to point out that MWH has also been awarded the renewal of the OMAS contract in 2001 on top of Tacis monitoring (former USSR countries).

 

6.7. Industrial waste, waste-water management and procurement:

In parallel, I seconded the managing-director in preparing tenders for the construction and management of industrial and domestic waste grounds as well as waste-water treatment stations in Bulgaria and Romania (€20 to €30 million worth contracts financed by the ERDB and the EC’s Programme); I also looked into the possible implementation of a procurement centre (€ 40 million - MEDA) for Vocational training equipment and material and went on several assignments in Tunis in 2001.

 

6.8. Support to the NAO of the Islamic republic of the Comoros:

Pardevo SA, front office of Montgomery Watson in Belgium in an initial stage, merged with MWH afterwards, held for some years this typical EDF system project (it was re-awarded in 1999). Considering the quite difficult context in which the contract evolved in some instances, notably as to the personnel turnover and the relative geographical isolation, the backstopping and involvement in Brussels could be quite significant.

 

7. Acquired skills and experience:

 

This professional experience with MWH, although initially focused on waste-water and environmental management, would regularly overflow on to other areas (in correlation with Pardevo’s practice and expertise) such as technical assistance or projects / programmes supported by the external and/ or development aid in fields as essential as (see also other above-mentioned headlines):

- The performance monitoring and evaluation (PMES) of international projects financed by major institutions (EC and Tacis, Phare, MEDA, EDF, ISPA, the EBRD, the World bank, the ADB…) including bilateral (International co-operation DG, Finexpo, BTC in Belgium, DFID…) and the mastering of their administrative procedures (e.g. « logical framework approach » of the EC);

- The management and backstopping of international teams in multicultural environments;

- Procurement and supply control;

- Cost control, demands and constraints of wide range projects (€40 to 50 million)

It also enabled me to widen my experience through permanent contacts with both local authorities and companies and numerous countries: Eastern Europe, Northern Africa and the Near East, in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

As well as being involved in:

-  Projects with a significant technical component (low and medium tension electrification and telecommunication systems);

-  A project requiring a thorough knowledge in the Belgian ministry of finance procedures as to support through State-to-State loans.

 

C. Logistics management of a major industrial and commercial corporation with as significant operation in the DRC

 

1. Dates: September 1989 – December 1992

2. Lieu: Kinshasa (+Matadi & Lubumbashi), Zaire/DRCongo and Charleroi, Belgium

3. Company and parties involved:

The Roger De Cock Inc. Group (Turnover of € 50 million in 1990) involved in:

- Construction and civil engineering (Travhydro, BPMN, Acier Alexis, Carolo Béton, Entreprises De Cock réunies , trading and procurement (Utema-Travhydro), agro-industry (Charleroi slaughter houses), retails and real estate (Cowalco);

With sister companies in Central Africa: the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, South Africa and the Groupe Travhydro Sarl in Zaire, operating in various sectors:

- Metal works and plastic pipes (Tubetra);

- Construction material, hardware stores, fire-fighting equipment;

- Stationary and office equipment and furniture (MATCO & UNIC)

- Cash & carry as well as retail distribution (Select).

4. Position:

(1) Logistics director of Travhydro SARL, based in Kinshasa until Sept. 1991, than

(2) Seconded to the managing director for African operations, based in Charleroi;

 

5. Responsibilities:

(1) In charge of the re-organisation of the « Imports » department (40 staff), which supplied all the company’s entities (€ 5 million/month) and decide each imported item’s price:

(2) Following the looting and unrest throughout the country in Sept.- Oct. 1991 that very much harmed the company’s activities, I briefly replaced the finance director / CFO before returning to Charleroi and seconded to the MD in reorganising procurement for Zaire;

 

6. Major activities and achievements:

• Reorganisation of the « supplies » department through a gradual computerisation and the setting up of a systematic monitoring of all orders placed by the different entities;

• Reduction of supply costs up to 40%;

• Forwarding and stock reduction of merchandise in transit and under bonding;

• In charge of budget control and financial restructuring of several departments;

• In charge of all relationships with partners, clients and government agencies/ ministries in connection with import licences, customs, transit and bonding;

• Several trips to Lubumbashi and Matadi;

• Training of local staff;

• Coordination of the setting-up a clinic for the personnel.

 

7. Acquired skills and experience:

• Managing an operation including several departments and 40 staff;

• Working in a multi-cultural environment and in contexts often difficult;

• Knowledge of trading and procurement (import licenses, credit letters, forwarding, SGS quality control, bonding…);

• Numerous contacts within the Zairean economy and with makers and wholesalers across the world.

Besides…

• The responsibility of coordinating the setting up of a clinic;

• Making it through during situations in periods of extreme crisis: during the looting, as many a people lives’ were at stake, I was tasked with recover whatever could be and make an initial assessment of the losses and damage at the end of the first week.