Recruitment of consultants for the development of supply and use tables and the compilation of detailed household survey data

1. 1.    Context

To better fulfill its mission to support member States fostering intra-regional trade and deepening economic integration, the ECA, through its African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) and its Sub-Regional Office for Central Africa is implementing a project aimed at strengthening data and tools for economic analysis on Africa.

This requires, among other things, the collection and processing of economic data from all African countries to have reliable economic statistics that can serve as a basis for rigorous empirical analysis to assess the expected impacts of national, regional, continental, and international economic policies. To this end, ECA is recruiting economists and/or statisticians to assist in the collection and processing of data at two levels: 1) Development of Supply and Use Tables compatible with the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) database; 2) Compilation of detailed household survey data. Each consultant will be expected to focus on processing the necessary data for one of the following countries: Algeria, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe, Cabo Verde, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan. The ECA Sub-regional Office for Southern Africa is supporting the data collection and economic analysis process for Angola.

1. 2.    Objectives

The objectives of this project are to:

a) Improve the coverage of African countries in the GTAP[1] databases.

Currently, the coverage of African countries in the GTAP database is still incomplete. Indeed, the latest version (i.e. Version 11) of the GTAP database includes 30 individual African countries with the rest being aggregated into 6 groups of African countries. This means that nearly 45 percent of the countries on the continent are not individually included in the database, and therefore the potential impacts of economic policies cannot currently be assessed in sufficient details for Africa with global economic analysis models such as computable general equilibrium models. To overcome this challenge, the ECA aims, through this initiative, at collecting data and developing supply and use tables or input-output tables to then be made compatible with the GTAP database. This initiative covers the 18 countries mentioned above, with priority given to Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe.

 Requested data:

For the countries of focus, we are looking for supply and use tables (SUTs) or input-output tables (IOTs) with fairly recent data (preferably 2017 or more recent) and with detailed sectoral coverage to then allow transformation of the tables into the 65 sectors of the GTAP database (here for more details:  https://www.gtap.agecon.purdue.edu/databases/contribute/detailedsector.asp). A Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) to be converted into an IOT can also be considered.

 b) Collect household survey data to estimate the poverty and inequality impacts of economic policies, including the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The expansion of the GTAP database to include more individual African countries provides an opportunity to build rigorous analytical tools to assess the impact of continental initiatives such as the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement. For instance, ECA is developing microsimulation models to be linked to a global computable general equilibrium model. Microsimulation models need to be fed with fine microeconomic data at the household and individual level to allow for capturing the effects of economic policies on poverty and inequalities, with gender considerations.  

Requested data:

The mission involves collecting household survey databases such as the Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS). If making the entire database available is not possible, detailed data on household income and expenditures, socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the individuals in the survey, employment, economic activities, and education could be accepted. Ideally, data should be collected at the individual level.

1. 3.    Desired profile:

The expert must be able to:

• Collect recent data and compile SUTs or IOTs for one of the 18 African countries listed above and then submit the final deliverables (i.e. table converted into GTAP format along with technical documentation to inform the work done) by December 31, 2022;
• Handle national accounts data and work with standard statistical analysis and database management software (e.g. Stata, R, SAS, ERETES, etc.).

And as much as possible:

• Review household survey data. In this regard, the consultant should be able to verify the availability of household survey data (country and year) that could be provided to ECA.

1. 4.    How to apply?

Please send your CV, along with a cover letter articulating your ability to perform the expected assignment (clearly indicating the country the candidate would like to cover), by 15 June, 2022, to the following email addresses: souleymane.diallo@un.org, caitlyn.carrico@un.org and mevel@un.org.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted by e-mail around mid/end of July, 2022. A short interview may then follow with shortlisted candidates to establish the final selection.

1. 5.    Contract

ECA will establish appropriate contractual agreements with selected candidates.

1. 6.    Contact and information

Please send an email to Mr. Souleymane Sadio Diallo (souleymane.diallo@un.org) with any questions related to this o