Expected duration

The assignment will be completed in 3 months. The total fees for the assignment will be US$ 20,000 to be paid in two (02) equal installments. The first installment of US$ 10,000 will be paid after the submission of a satisfactory first draft of Rwanda Economic Diplomacy Strategy and related Plans. The second and final installment of US$ 10,000 will be paid after the submission of a satisfactory final Rwanda AfCFTA National Strategy and related Plans, in addition to the contribution to the organization of economic diplomacy workshops and training that the ECA, and the MINAFFET will agree to facilitate.

Budget: A20/10UNA/A20/13663/ 18AC0007/74171010

The timelines for the consultant is as follows:

Item Output Activities Date/Period

1. Initial Briefing Meeting with UNECA, MINAFFET,MINICOM,RDB,NAEB,MINECOFIN and relevant stakeholders to understand the rationale, expectations and requirements.
Within 2 working days after singing the contract

2. Inception report
Approach and methodology (including a work schedule), reporting (including content and structure of the report) Presentation of the Inception report
Week 2

3 Draft report + Formal workshop Submission of First Draft of the Strategy and related plans. The draft report will include incorporated stakeholders’ comments, a formal workshop will be organized to discuss the key findings and implementation road map. The consultants will be primarily responsible for the presentation of the report

Week 3, 4 and 5

4 Draft report reviewed Review of draft strategy by ECA and revision by consultant Week 6 and 7
5 Circulation of draft Circulation of First draft to stakeholders Week 8 and 9
6 Validation of final report Strategy and Action Plan Validation meeting Week 10
7 Submission of final report Submission of final Draft Strategy and Action Plan to ECA Week 11 and 12

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Background

Economic diplomacy refers to the use of a combination of diplomatic skills and economic tools of a state to achieve its national interests. It aims to influence international economic activities of a state namely exports, imports, investments, cooperation, lending, aid, economic partnerships and agreements, etc.
Countries develop business/economic intelligence based on the monitoring and analysis of economic policies and trends in foreign countries, to underpin their economic diplomacy and optimize the benefits drawn from their international relations.

The Government of Rwanda sees great potential in Economic Diplomacy to contribute to the materialization of the long-term vision of the country. In this context, it has been taking action some practical steps since 2017, to provide the country with a sound one.

In 2017, an inter-institutional taskforce composed of Government of Rwanda (GoR)’s institutions assessed Rwanda’s trade and investment strategy, including domestic and foreign economic policy actions, with a view to enhance GoR efficiency towards attaining its economic development targets.
The outcome of the taskforce was a draft economic diplomacy strategy which outlined GoR’s internal coordination, including cross-sharing of investment and trade data to inform economic and trade policies. On the other hand, the draft economic diplomacy strategy initiated at the time, aimed at enhancing external coordination and information sharing between the GoR and the private sector to unleash market opportunities and foster knowledge and understanding of GoR policies.

The draft strategy advocates for the design of an intelligence system composed of a digital platform (intranet) and in-person network (focal points and working groups) to facilitate internal communication. Additionally, the strategy promotes the development of a one-stop-shop platform (trade portal) for businesses to access information on exports and imports information (policies, markets research and agreements). Between 2017 and 2018 Rwanda Development Board established in-house focal persons to serve as liaison officers between Rwanda’s missions abroad and GoR institutions for better coordination and information exchange.

At the same time, the Ministry of Trade and Industry in collaboration with Rwanda Revenue Authority with support of TradeMark East Africa established the Rwanda Online Trade portal to provide key information to exporters and importers alike.

While the economic diplomacy draft strategy is yet to be adopted by the Cabinet of GoR, in May 2020, a Principal Officer in charge of Economic Diplomacy and Partnerships was appointed at the Ministry of Foreign Affrais (MINAFFET), to spearhead Rwanda’s economic diplomacy.

In this context, a taskforce was set-up within MINAFFET and mandated to develop and implement a short-term and long-term economic diplomacy strategy. To date quick wins have been identified, to be achieved in a 6 months to a year period. This includes connecting export-ready products and export-ready digital services to potential markets.

Against this background and in regards to the draft economic diplomacy strategy the Ministry plans on conducting an assignment to finalize Rwanda’s long-term economic diplomacy strategy.

This consultancy, therefore, seeks to support the GoR, through MINAFFET, in its efforts to provide itself with an efficient and effective Economic Diplomacy strategy, in line with the overarching development objectives of the country. The consultancy will (i) provide technical assistance to the GoR for the formulation of a sound long-term action-oriented and implementable Economic Diplomacy Strategy building on the existing efforts ongoing by the GoR, and (ii) provide support in the organization of capacity building activities in relation to economic diplomacy.

More specifically,
(i) as regards the formulation of the document, the consultant is expected to develop a strategy that can contribute to the following goals:

• Expand mark access for Rwandan goods and services;
• Attract Foreign Direct Investments;
• Position Rwanda as a strategic hub for business, finance, ICT, transport & logistics and MICE;
• Strengthen the capacity of Rwanda’s economic actors through targeted partnerships with relevant international partners and
accelerate integration into regional and global value chains;
• Build business intelligence and negotiating capabilities within foreign missions to meaningfully contribute to improved Rankings
for Rwanda across targeted global indices;
• Strengthen and expand Rwanda’s partnerships;
• The strategy must come with a clear action plan, implementation plan and a monitoring and evaluation framework.
• The strategy must be a master plan for economic diplomacy, bringing together the various strands of existing initiatives and
strategies, including the those related to external trade and investment under one single framework;

(ii) As regards the capacity building activities the consultant is expected to assist with:

a. the organization of a high-level workshop on best practices in the area of economic diplomacy.
 Suggest topics for discussion
 Identify and mobilize suitable high profile speakers on different aspects of economic diplomacy for experience sharing;

b. the review, improvement and delivery of a training programme that ECA will be developing with a training institution specialized in Economic diplomacy.

2. Responsibilities and Methodology

The study will be conducted under the direct supervision of the ECA Sub-Regional Office for East Africa and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It will be anchored on both primary and secondary data.

* Primary data will be compiled through extensive consultations with targeted GoR stakeholders, private sector, and academia. In this line, the consultant is expected to assist with the organization of a high-level workshop on best practices in the area of economic diplomacy, including identifying topics for discussion as well as identify and mobilize suitable high profile speakers on different aspects of economic diplomacy for experience sharing.

* Secondary data will be compiled through desk reviews of national, regional and international economic diplomacy strategies, export strategies, investment strategies, economic partnerships, policy frameworks for international cooperation.
The following steps should guide the work of the consultants.

* Prepare an inception Report: The consultant will prepare an inception report within a week of signing the contract. The inception report should outline an understanding of the scope of the assignment as well as the issues to be investigated. The inception report must also include a work plan indicating the phases in the study and report preparation, key deliverables and milestones and should be accompanied by an annotated outline of the structure of the Strategy;

* Conduct a Review of literature for the identification of best practices in Africa and abroad in all aspects of economic diplomacy, of the establishment of an economic and business intelligence; etc.

* Collection of data and formulation of the Strategy:

Qualifications/special skills

Academic Qualifications: Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or above) in Economics, Trade, International relations, Development Studies or related fields is a requirement.
Experience: The candidate should have a minimum of 15 years of proven experience in International relations matters in the field of development. Experience with working in Rwanda or on development issues in relation with Rwanda is required. Proven publication record is required in the area of trade, international relations, economic diplomacy, or development in general. Familiarity with the formulation of development strategic frameworks is required. Work experience in an international organization or an Embassy is required. Work experience in the academia is a strong advantage.
Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations. For this post, fluency in English (both oral and written) is required.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.