Request for Proposals 

Recruitment of a firm for the Provision of Simultaneous Interpretation & Document Translation Services to Smart Africa Secretariat under 2 years framework agreement 

1.      Background of the Organization 

SMART Africa is a bold and innovative commitment from African Heads of State and Government to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development on the continent, ushering Africa into a knowledge economy through affordable access to Broadband and usage of Information and Communications Technologies.

The Transform Africa Summit held in Kigali, Rwanda on 28th-31st October 2013 culminated in the adoption of the Smart Africa Manifesto document by seven (7) African Heads of States (Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Mali, Gabon, Burkina Faso) in which they committed to provide leadership in accelerating socio-economic development through ICT’s.

On 30th-31st January 2014, The SMART Africa Manifesto was endorsed by all Heads of State and Government of the African Union at the 22nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa. This development places the Manifesto at the heart of the ICT agenda in Africa beyond just the 7 original signatories at the Summit to all the 53 African countries.

The Smart Africa Alliance has since grown to include 39 African countries that represent over 1 billion people. 

2.     RFP Objective 

The Smart Africa Secretariat is soliciting qualified company to provide services of Simultaneous Interpretation & Document Translation Services to Smart Africa under 2 years framework agreement 

3.     Scope of work and deliverables 

The scope of work is detailed below:

LOT 1: Document translation, Professional editing/ proof-reading and Online meeting interpretation services

• Document translation (English, French, Portuguese, and Arabic)
• Professional editing/ proof-reading of Smart Africa documents (English, French, Portuguese, and Arabic)
• Online meeting interpretation in French, English and Portuguese including provision of interpreters.

LOT 2: For the Smart Africa headquarter office’s location-Rwanda

• Physical interpretation in French, English and Portuguese including provision of interpreters and
• Rental of physical interpretation equipments: PA sound system, booths, receivers, microphones and other equipment which will be needed to perform the assignment.

Additional Specifications

1. Document Translation 

1. Ensure that the translation text is technically, linguistically, and grammatically correct, error free and it should meet high quality standards, and would not need further editing after completion of translation.
2. Text translation from/ to French and English is per page. Each page is calculated by 300 words (300 words per 1 page)
3. Provide professional, accurate and timely translation to the satisfaction of Smart Africa standards from/to French and English
4. Observe confidentially and refrain from divulging any information about the content of the text. The documents translated remains the copyright of Smart Africa and should not be shared to any third party.
5. The original of the documents and translated materials should be provided to Smart Africa after completion of the required services in a hard copy, soft copy or both.

2. Interpretation Equipments

1. Interpretation equipments are provided on request of Smart Africa, with advance alert and according to number of participants. Equipment in good condition and clear sound should be installed prior the event and to be tested.
2. Services are provided against purchase orders of the needed services and Fees will be paid upon actual services provided. 

4.     Duration of Engagement 

This will be a framework agreement and will be concluded for the duration of two (2) years effective from signature by both parties unless terminated earlier or extended by agreement of the parties in an executed addendum to this contract, but expected to Start early January 2024.

5.     RFP Submission Requirements 

Applicants interested in competing for this contract are required to submit/send their proposal to the Smart Africa Secretariat. The applicant will provide a detailed description of the approach to the scope of work that addresses the following requirements for the proposal. The applicant’s proposal shall include: 

5.1             Administrative Documents 

Please submit:

• company registration certificate
• Tax Clearance Certificate/ Equivalent.

5.2            Corporate Profile 

Present a corporate profile with details of the bidding firm or of the consortium in such a case. 

5.3            Demonstrated Success 

Vendors/agencies must provide at least three (3) certificates of work completion of issued by current or former clients within the last 2 years for which your company has performed work of a similar nature, scope, size, or complexity. 

6.     Required Skills, Experience and Competencies 

Provide a table highlighting: (1) the names of each team member, (2) his/her proposed role, (3) the specific title of the deliverable he/she will be assigned to as well as (4) the relevant expertise he/she possesses that related to the deliverable he/she will be assigned to. 

Provide the CV of each team member / of the consultant.  At least 5 interpreters of 5 years of experience are required. In addition to their qualifications, degrees (at least A0 in languages, literature and / or in related areas), or professional certificates, please make sure that their CVs highlight a brief description of prior works/assignments related to the respective deliverables. 

7.     Experience Required 

Please note that the bidding firm/consultant must demonstrate at least 5 years’ worth of experience handling similar work. 

8.     Value Added Propositions, Recommendations and Other Considerations 

Provide a detailed note on the value addition that you will bring to Smart Africa:

• Detail the additional aspects which you feel would add value to the organisation.
• Highlight your value proposition to Smart Africa. 

8.1             Additional suggestions 

The client is open to suggestions of material substitutions to the items detailed in this proposal based on the supplier’s experience and expertise. These would be considered and scored under the technical proposal. 

9.     Detailed Financial Structure and Proposed Costs 

• Provide an explanation of your fee and billing structure.
• Explain your organization's internal mechanisms/processes that are in place to ensure all costs stay within budget for the duration of the contract.
• Outline your detailed financial proposal budget (detailed breakdown of the corresponding fee for each deliverable including all costs for all individuals).
• Include the total estimated cost of providing this service broken down above in the scope of work and deliverables. 

10.   Structure of the Submission 

The bidder is expected to adhere to the following structure of the technical and financial proposals: 

• Documents required. 

A specific outline must be followed to facilitate the Smart Africa Secretariat’s review and evaluation of the responses received.

A response to this RFP must include the following sections in the order listed:

1. A cover letter confirming the agencies’ interest to provide the services required.
2. A technical proposal containing the following content:

• Executive summary
• Business experience/Profiles
• Mission team experience/profiles
• Updated Curriculum Vitae for the team and academic certificates requested.
• Duly signed and stamped recommendation certificates/letter of work completion of issued by current or former clients
• Company registration certificates and tax clearance/or equivalent

3. Financial Proposal clarifying the following information and Cost should be inclusive of applicable taxes

Notes:

1. All Financial Proposals/offers should be password protected and Smart Africa will request for it for bidders who have been qualified in the technical evaluation
2. All Financial Offers should be quoted and submitted in USD Currency.
   • A withholding tax of 15% will be deducted from payments for Firms not VAT-registered with Rwanda Tax Administration (RRA) and 18% VAT will be applicable for registered firms in Rwanda
3. The prices shall be fixed and unchanged during the agreement period of 2 years

11.    Evaluation Method and Criteria 

All bidders should note that the method of evaluation is Cost Quality Based Selection (QCBS) for consultants. The technical and financial scores are respectively 0.8 and 0.2 (0.8 + 0.2=1). 

Technical criteria

The following template will be used to evaluate all offers received:

The financial proposal of only those firms will be opened, which secure a minimum score of 70/100 in the technical evaluation. St= Score for the Technical Evaluation

Financial criteria

Once the technical criteria have been evaluated, the costs of all bids will be listed from low to high. Computing the cost criteria score will be accomplished by use of the following formula:

 Sf

The Applicant getting maximum marks on 80-20 weightage (80% for technical and 20% for financial) will be selected as Consultants for the Client. The weights given to the Technical (T) and Financial Proposals (F) are: T = 0.80 and F = 0.20

The Final Score (S) is calculated as follows: S = St*T + Sf*F 

12.   Rights Reserved 

1. This RFP does not obligate the Smart Africa Secretariat (SAS) to complete the RFP process. SAS reserves the right to amend any segment of the RFP prior to the announcement of a selected firm.
2. SAS also reserves the right to remove one or more of the services from consideration for this contract should the evaluation show that it is in SAS’s best interest to do so.
3. SAS also may, at its discretion, issue a separate contract for any service or groups of services included in this RFP. SAS may negotiate a compensation package and additional provisions to the contract awarded under this RFP.
4. Smart Africa reserves the right to debrief the applicants after the completion of the process due to the expected high volume of applications and avoiding the compromise of the process. 

13.   Proposal Submission

Soft copies in one of two languages in either French or English of both Technical and financial proposals must be sent to: procurement@smartafrica.org showing each the nature of the offer concerned (technical or financial offer), not later than 08^th December 2023 at, 5:00 PM local time (Kigali), addressed to Procurement Office of Smart Africa Secretariat, with subject marked: 105/S.A/RFP/11/2023: Provision of  Interpretation  & Translation Services to Smart Africa Secretariat. Financial Proposals will be confidential during the selection process (Financial proposal must be password protected and the password will be requested as per RFP requirements)

Late proposals will be rejected. 

14.   Validity 

Proposals and quotes must remain valid for a period of 180 days after the date of closing noted above. After, the closing date and time, all proposals received by the Smart Africa Secretariat become its property. Once selected into Smart Africa database, the consultant/firm shall be offered a contract renewable annually. 

15.   Enquiries 

Any inquiries will only be received at least 5 working days before the bid submission deadline. Prospective respondents who may have questions regarding this RFP may submit their inquiries to tenderenquiries@smartafrica.org

16.   Anti-Corruption 

Smart Africa is committed to preventing and not tolerating any act of corruption and other malpractices and expects that all bidders will adhere to the same ethical principles.