EDF National Authorizing Officer

EDF National Authorizing Officer (NAO) in Cameroon represents Cameroon in all the activities of the Cameroon-EU cooperation funded with European Development Fund and the European Investment Bank resources. EDF NAO in Cameroon is H.E., the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development.

Role of the NAO

His role results from the Cotonou partnership agreements, that are the framework of Cameroon-EU cooperation. This role includes a great number of tasks carried out in close coordination with the Head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Cameroon::

• Planning of European assistance,
• Identifying and designing community interventions,
• Follow-up and implementation,
• Assessment and audit.

Role of the NAO: Key articles of Cotonou Partnership Agreement

Article 57:

The National Authorizing Officer is fully responsible for
a) defining the objectives and priorities on which the indicative programmes are based;
b) selecting projects and programmes;
c) preparing and presenting project and programme files;
d) preparing, negociating and signing contracts;
e) implementing and managing projects and programmes, and
f) maintaining projects and programmes.
The National Authorizing Officer is also jointly responsible with the European Commission for:
a) defining, within the framework of joint institutions, Cooperation guidelines for financing development;
b) adopting indicative programmes;
c) investigating about projects and programmes;
d) ensuring fair requirements for participation to invitations to tender and contracts;
e) following-up and assessing project and programme effects and results, and
f) ensuring an adequate, fast and effective implementation of projects and programmes.

Article 2 of Appendix 4

" The cooperation strategy is prepared by the ACP State concerned and the EU after consultations with a wide range of actors involved in the development process, and by taking advantage of acquired experience and best practices”.

Article 35 of Appendix 4: National Authorising Officer

The public authorities of each ACP State appoint a National Authorizing Officer who represents them in all the activities funded with the Fund resources managed by the Commission and the Bank. The National Authorizing Officer appoints one or several deputy national authorizing officers who replace him in cases he cannot hold this position, and informs the Commission of such temporary replacement. The National Authorizing Officer can, subject to institutional capacities and sound financial management conditions being meet, delegate their attributions of relevant programme and project implementation to the entity in charge, within their national administration. The NAO informs the Commission about the delegations he makes.
When the commission is informed of problems in the course of procedures related to the management of the Fund resources, it takes with the National Authorizing Officer all necessary contacts to solve the situation and adopts, if need be, all appropriate measures.
The National Authorizing Officer is responsible only for the financial management of implementation tasks assigned to him.
Within the framework of the decentralised management of the Fund resources and subject to complementary powers, that may be granted by the Commission, the National Authorizing Officer:

• is in charge of the coordination, the planning, the regular follow-up and the annual, mid-way and final reviews of cooperation implementation, as well as coordination with donors;
• is in charge of the preparation, the presentation and the analysis of programmes and projects in close collaboration with the Commission;
• prepares documents of invitations to tender and, if need be, of calls for propositions;
• before the launching of invitations to tender files, and if need be, of calls for proposals, submits documents of calls to tender, if need be, of calls for proposals, to the Commission;
• launches, in close cooperation with the Commission, invitations to tender as well as, if need be, calls for proposals;
• receives bids, if need be, as well as proposals, and sends copies of bids to the Commission; supervises bids opening within the validity deadlines, while taking into consideration the required deadline for the award of the contract;
• invites the Commission to the opening of bids and, if need be, of proposals and communicate the result of bid and proposal opening to the Commission for approval of contract award and susidy grants proposals;
• submits contracts and programmes estimates, as well as their amendments;
• signs contracts and their amendments approved by the Commission;
• carries out the winding-up and authorises expenses in the limits of allocated resources, and
• takes necessary adaptation measures during implementation operations, to ensure, from an economic and technical perspective, the sound implementation of approved programmes and projects.

During operations and subject to the notification of the Commission, the NAO decides about:

• programmes and projects technical adjustments and modifications, as long as they do not affect the selected technical solutions and are maintained in the limits of the adjustement provision set in the financial agreement;
• changes of multi-unit programmes or projects locations for technical, economic or social reasons;
• the application or the putting off of late delivery penalties;
• proceedings for surety free hands;
• purchases from the local market without any consideration for the origin;
• the use of equipment and construction machines from elsewhere than member states or ACP countries, and for which no similar production does exist in member states and ACP countries;
• subcontracting;
• final reception, as long as the Commission is present at temporary receptions; signs the corresponding reports, if need be, attends final receptions, especially when the scope of reservations expressed during the temporary reception requires important rework, and
• the recrutment of consultants and other experts for technical assistance.