TERMS OF REFERENCE

Request for Proposal (RFp) for the Recruitment of Consultancy firm to develop the SANIA web-based stakeholder engagement and Management platform

1. ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND

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 providing 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 54 African countries. The Smart Africa Alliance has since grown to include 39 African countries that represent 1.1 billion people.

The Smart Africa Manifesto aims to put ICT at the center of national socio-economic development agenda of member countries; improve access to ICT especially Broadband; to improve accountability, efficiency, and openness through ICT promoting the introduction of advanced technologies in telecommunication; to put Private Sector first, and to leverage ICT to promote sustainable development.

2. SANIA BACKGROUND

With an estimated population of 1.3 billion people, Africa is a continent brimming with potential, significantly characterized by its young and increasingly educated demographic. Each year, 15 to 20 million well-prepared youths join the workforce, poised to contribute to and reshape the African economic landscape.

Recognizing the critical role of technology and innovation in harnessing this demographic dividend, the Smart Africa Alliance, in 2019, earmarked the development of tech startups and innovation ecosystems as a pivotal priority. This decision led to the launch of the "ICT Startups and Innovation Ecosystems for Africa" initiative, championed by Tunisia. This blueprint sets a framework to foster the best conditions for the emergence, growth, and success of African tech entrepreneurs.

In line with the blueprint's recommendations, Smart Africa has developed the Tech-Driven Entrepreneurship program, focusing on three strategic areas: (1) policy development, (2) ecosystem strengthening and (3) access to capital.

The Smart Africa Network of Incubators and Accelerators (SANIA) serves as the operational arm of the tech-driven entrepreneurship program, with a clear mission to transform Africa into a global hotspot for digital entrepreneurship. SANIA's activities are aligned with the following strategic objectives:

• Facilitate the development of pro-entrepreneurship policies and ensuring the integration of startup ecosystem players in the policymaking process across Smart Africa member states to widen market access.
• Bolster the support network for incubators, accelerators, and innovation hubs by connecting these entities across the continent through capacity building, funding opportunities, and comprehensive networking.
• Strengthen and empower African financial and investment entities to create a robust pipeline of investment-ready startups and to design financial instruments tailored for early-stage ventures.

3. OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The overall objective of the consulting firm's mission is to design, develop, and operationalize the SANIA web-based platform aimed at facilitating the coordination and partnerships between digital entrepreneurship ecosystem players across Africa, accelerating the scale-up of African businesses. Specifically, the platform will provide learning and knowledge exchange, as well as enhancing stakeholder engagement and management within the SANIA network. The platform will facilitate effective collaboration among African tech entrepreneurs, startups, investors, policy makers, and support organizations involved in the digital transformation of the continent.

The specific functionalities of the platform include:

• User management for diverse stakeholders (entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, support organizations),
• Real-time communication tools (chat, forums, comments, notifications),
• Data collection and analytics capabilities (surveys, feedback forms, usage statistics),
• Content management and sharing features (multimedia, documents),
• Event management functionalities (webinars, workshops, conferences),
• Reporting and dashboard tools for comprehensive platform activity visibility,
• Interoperability with existing CRM and analytics tools,
• Secured platform adhering to data protection regulations.
• Single sign in possibility with a moodle e-leaning system

4. SCOPE OF WORK

The Service Provider will develop a centralized online platform facilitating learning and interaction among African tech entrepreneurs, incubators, accelerators, innovation hubs, and investors.

Key areas of work are:

• User profile management for various stakeholder types.
• Real-time engagement tools for seamless communication.
• Data collection and analytics for informed decision-making.
• Content management for sharing best practices, policies, and success stories.
• Event management for capacity building and knowledge exchange.
• Comprehensive dashboards and reporting tools for activity tracking.
• Interoperability with existing CRM and analytics systems.
• Compliance with data protection regulations.
• Robust cybersecurity measures to safeguard the platform and users.

5. INDICATIVE TIMELINES AND EXPECTED RESULTS

The selected firm or consortium of firms must carry out the project within maximum six (06) weeks from the date of signing the contract.

The following deliverables are expected:

• A fully functional, user-friendly web-based platform for learning and stakeholder engagement and management.
• Comprehensive user manuals and training materials for various user groups.
• Technical documentation outlining the platform's architecture, functionalities, and maintenance procedures.

6. FIRM PROFILE AND EXPERIENCE

In addition to the human resources required to assemble its team, as described below, the firm must meet the following minimum requirements to be considered for the evaluation:

• Demonstrate experience in the field of:
  • Deployment/Implementation of Customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) for organization or enterprise
  • Architecting, implementing and managing solutions on the Microsoft Power Platform covering major components like Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI
  • Web development, web design and content design
  • Stakeholders’ management and community building, having a clear understanding on membership management.
• Demonstrate technical ability in the field of digital skills, analysis of skills needs and learning
• Ability to provide Continuous Integration / continuous delivery automation.
• Demonstrate the ability to design user-friendly, intuitive deliverables and evolutive platforms/systems
• Have proven references for at least two contracts or relevant services in the past five years;
• Ability to work in a French and English environment.

7. PROJECT TEAM

Provide an overview of the proposed project team structure, including roles and responsibilities. The team should be composed of but not limited to:

• Project Manager
  • Responsible for overall project coordination, communication with stakeholders, risk management, and ensuring timely delivery.
  • Holding a Project Management Professional certification (eg: PMP, CSM,…)
  • More than 10 years of experience
  • Having led at least 3 similar projects in the last 5 years
• Lead Full-Stack Web Developer
  • Responsible for developing the front-end and back-end components of the web-based platform, integrating various functionalities, and ensuring cross-browser compatibility.
  • Holding Front-End/Back-End Web Development certifications.
  • More than 5 years of experience
  • Accomplished at least 3 similar projects in the last 5 years
• Database Architect/Administrator
  • Responsible for designing and implementing the database structure, ensuring data integrity, and optimizing performance.
  • Holding Database administration, design or modeling certification
  • More than 3 years of experience
  • Accomplished at least 2 similar projects in the last 5 years
• Quality Assurance (QA) Engineers
  • Responsible for creating and executing test plans, performing functional and non-functional testing, and ensuring the platform meets the defined quality standards.
  • Holding Software testing, test automation certification
  • More than 3 years of experience
  • Accomplished at least 2 similar projects in the last 5 years
• Cybersecurity Specialist
  • Responsible for implementing robust security measures, conducting security audits, and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations and industry best practices.
  • Holding Cloud security, risk management or information security certification
  • More than 5 years of experience
  • Accomplished at least 3 similar projects in the last 5 years
• Training Specialist
  • Responsible for developing and delivering training programs for various user groups, ensuring effective knowledge transfer and adoption.
  • Instructional design certifications.
  • More than 5 years of experience
  • Accomplished at least 3 similar projects in the last 5 years

NOTE: Additional roles may be included in the team, depending on the project's complexity and the vendor's specific capabilities. It's essential to have a well-balanced and experienced team with the necessary skills and expertise to ensure the successful development and implementation of the web-based platform.

8. EVALUATION CRITERIA

The following model will be used to evaluate all respondents and proposals submitted:

Technical Evaluation Criteria

The financial proposal of only those firms which secure a minimum score of 70/100 in the technical evaluation will be opened.

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 70-30 weightage (70% for technical and 30% for financial) will be considered for the assignment. The weights given to the Technical (T) and Financial Proposals (F) are: T = 0.70 and F = 0.30

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

9. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL PROPOSALS

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 firm’s interest to provide the services required
2. Administrative documents (Company registration certificates, Tax clearance certificates). Failure to submit will lead to automatic disqualification of the offer.
3. A technical proposal containing the following content:

• Executive summary
• Business experience/Profiles/Portfolio
• Methodology, Approach, and Workplan
• Architecture for the Platform
• Demo Links or Screenshots of expected features
• Mission team experience
• Updated Curriculum Vitae for the team and relevant certificates requested
• Recommendation letters signed and stamped

4. Financial Proposal containing the following tables.

• Summarized Total Cost VAT Inclusive (Value of tax indicated on final cost)
• Breakdown of a remuneration package
• Breakdown of reimbursable expenses
• All companies should quote in United States Dollars (USD) as currency.
• All bidding firms/ companies should Indicate their preferred payment terms

NOTE: 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 phase.

10. SUBMISSION PROCESS

Soft copies of both Technical and Financial Offers in PDF format must be submitted via email to: procurement@smartafrica.org showing each the nature of the offer concerned (technical or financial offer) with mention: 119/SA/RFP/06/2024, “Recruitment of Consultancy firm to develop the SANIA web-based stakeholder engagement and Management platform” not later than 9^th July 2024 at, 05:00 pm local time (Kigali).

Late proposals will be rejected.

11. RIGHTS RESERVED 

• 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.
• 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.
• 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. 
• The Smart Africa reserves the right to debrief the applicants after the completion of the process due to expected high volume of applications and avoiding the compromise of the process.

12. ENQUIRIES 

Any enquiries will only be received and addressed three (3) days or more prior to the bid submission deadline. Prospective respondents who may have questions regarding this RFP may submit their enquiries to tenderenquiries@smartafrica.org

13. 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.