Section A:  Offer Instructions

Introduction to Offerors: Hinga Wunguke is a USAID program implemented by CNFA in Rwanda. The goal of the Hinga Wunguke Activity is to improve farmer incomes and nutritional outcomes by sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and strengthening domestic consumption and markets for high-value and nutritious agricultural products.

As part of its activities, CNFA requires the services of individual consultant or firm to carry out an assessment of agricultural equipment, machinery, and agricultural supply chain financing/lending in the country. Based on the findings of the assessment, the consultant(s) will prepare a comprehensive report, with clearly suggested recommendations. Section B provides full details on the required Scope of Work. The purpose of this solicitation is to solicit proposals from qualified offerors.

Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their offers are received by CNFA in accordance with the instructions, terms, and conditions described in this Solicitation. Consulting firms as well as individual consultants (either individually or in teams) are eligible for consideration in response to this solicitation. Failure to adhere to the instructions described in this solicitation may lead to the disqualification of an offer from consideration. Please reference the solicitation number in all responses.

Please note the following details of this solicitation: 

1. Offer Deadline and Protocol: Offers must be received no later than 23:00, Kigali time, on March 24, 2024. All interested and qualified firms or consultants should submit an application containing an updated CV of the proposed expert(s), a three-page write-up on the proposed high-level methodology and relevant experience, as well as the fee/daily rate, to: hingawunguke@cnfarwanda.org. Please include “Proposals for Assessment of Agricultural Equipment and Machinery Supply Chain Financing/Lending” in the subject line. Only successful applicants will be contacted.  Offers received after the specified time and date will be considered late and will be considered only at the discretion of CNFA. The cover page of this solicitation summarizes the important dates of the solicitation process. Offerors must strictly follow the deadlines provided on the cover page to be considered for award.  
2. Quotations: Financial proposals in response to this solicitation should be priced on a fixed price basis. The rate must be presented in RWF for local consultants or USD for international consultants and must remain valid for not less than sixty (60) days. The offeror shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of the quotations up to the final award of the contract. CNFA will in no case be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the procurement process. 
3. Taxes and VAT: All prices must be presented with details indicating financial proposals without taxes and taxes inclusive (duties, and withholding taxes or VAT, where applicable). The selected offeror is responsible for all taxes in accordance with applicable laws.  
4. Evaluation: The award will be made to a responsible offeror(s) whose offer follows the solicitation instructions, meets the eligibility requirements, and is determined via a trade-off analysis to be the best value based on application of the below evaluation criteria. Best value determination will consider both technical and financial proposals, i.e., the best approach and anticipated results in combination with a reasonable cost. Proposed costs must reflect and clearly match the degree of sophistication of the technical approach. The relative importance of each individual criterion is indicated by the number of points in the table below. 

A. Minimum Eligibility Criteria:

• The proposed consultant or team should have at least 10 years of relevant working experience in banking, agriculture financing and/or development.
• Demonstrated experience developing agricultural equipment and machinery financing facilities.
• The consultant(s) should at minimum hold university degree (Preferred degrees include but are not limited to master’s degree in any of the following: Agricultural Engineering, Agriculture Development, Business Management, Economics, Finance, or similar subjects)
• Fluent in English is required; fluent Kinyarwanda is an advantage and strong French skills are also considered an asset. 

B. Scoring Criteria:

C. Proposal Type: 

Best-offer proposals are requested. It is anticipated that the award will be made solely on the basis of the original proposals. However, CNFA reserves the right to conduct any of the following:

• CNFA may conduct negotiations with and/or request clarifications prior to award.
• While preference will be given to offerors who can address the full technical requirements of this solicitation, CNFA may issue a partial award or split the award among various suppliers, if in the best interest of the Hinga Wunguke activity.
• CNFA may cancel this solicitation at any time.
• CNFA may contact the best scored individual for additional clarifications following review of initial offers received. 

Please note that if there are deficiencies regarding responsiveness to the requirements of this Solicitation, an offer may be deemed “non-responsive” and thereby disqualified from consideration. CNFA reserves the right to waive immaterial deficiencies at its discretion. 

D. Payment and Award: The award will be awarded to the offeror whose quotation represents the best value to the Project. The award will be issued only to the individual which submits an offer in response to this solicitation. CNFA will not issue an award to different offerors, entities, or third-parties other than the selected offeror(s). Any award and payment resulting from this solicitation is anticipated to be in the form of a Performance Contract or Independent Consultant Agreement. This award is subject to the Hinga Wunguke’s terms and conditions as stipulated in Annex 3.

E. Offer Format Instructions (Administrative requirements): All offers must be formatted in accordance with the below requirements:

3. Offer in English language only.
4. Include the offeror’s name, date, Solicitation number, and page numbers as a header or footer throughout the document.
5. The Official Offer must be in the format provided in Annex 1 (Official Offer Template)
6. Cover letter signed by the offeror (see Annex 2)
7. CVs of the individual who will implement the assignment, clearly showing their experience in designing.
8. Fluent English skills required; good French skills and/or Kinyarwanda skills are considered an asset.
9. Provide two contacts for references from organizations/individuals for which the offeror has successfully performed similar work. 

F. Assignment Location: The assignment work location will be based in Kigali but with possible selected field trips as needed to Hinga Wunguke target districts: Gatsibo, Kayonza, Ngoma, Bugesera, Gakenke, Burera, Nyabihu, Rubavu, Rutsiro, Ngororero, Karongi, Nyamagabe and Nyamasheke districts. 

G. Assignment Costs: Please note that accommodation and local travel costs will be paid for by CNFA and thus to not need to be reflected in the submitted budget. Enumerators, if any are required, will also be engaged by CNFA directly if needed. These details will be discussed and agreed with the selected firm or individual consultant upon contract finalization.