REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) PROVISION OF BULK PAYMENT SERVICES FOR ZHI DREAMS-RISE PROJECT
Title
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) PROVISION OF BULK PAYMENT SERVICES FOR ZHI DREAMS-RISE PROJECT
Location
Harare
Type of Contract
Call for Suppliers
Deadline
10/12/2023 (Expired)
About
The Zimbabwe Health Interventions (ZHI) is implementing a five-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID) program known as Re-Ignite Innovate Sustain and Empower (RISE). RISE is one of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funded programs through USAID that aims to disrupt the main drivers of HIV risk for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Zimbabwe using a proven approach called Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe women (DREAMS). The DREAMS approach aims to prevent new HIV infections and reduce vulnerability among OVC, OVC caregivers and AGYW in Zimbabwe. The DREAMS-RISE program is being implemented in eleven (11) priority high HIV burden districts in Zimbabwe of Bulawayo, Bulilima, Beitbridge, Gokwe South, Gwanda, Gweru, Insiza, Mangwe, Matobo, Mazowe and Mberengwa.
ZHI’s primary role is to deliver a comprehensive curriculum on HIV prevention, gender norms and social asset building targeted at AGYW in school, out of school and their sexual partners at community level. ZHI’s core thrust in the DREAMS-RISE Program is to keep girls and young women HIV Free through provision of a comprehensive, multi-sectoral package of core interventions to address key factors that make adolescent girls and young women vulnerable to HIV. These include structural factors, such as gender-based violence, exclusion from economic opportunities, and a lack of access to secondary school.
Scope Of Work/Goods To Be Supplied
ZHI is looking to partner with a service provider that can handle bulk payments, with payees ranging from 100 to 1000 per payment cycle. Payments will be done in US Dollars through mobile money payments or as cash in transit. Single payments can range from a few USD value up to several hundreds, although typically the bulk payments are usually below US$100 per payee. Over US$1,5 million is estimated to be disbursement in this financial year 2023-2024.
Additionally, ZHI is looking to identify a service provider with a nationwide presence, strong market capitalisation of at least US$4 million and effective systems to manage the risks of handling cash, and the capacity to report on implementation with evidence of disbursements in a timely basis.
Objectives
The overall objective of this procurement process is to establish a Master Service Level Agreement (MSLA) with an identified service provider(s) to provide different payment platforms, mainly mobile payment, and cash-in-transit (CIT) services to meet ZHI’s multiplicity of needs, and as and when required.
Expected Deliverables
Below is a summary of the expected ZHI service requirements:
a) Disbursements to beneficiaries such as Caregivers, Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYWs) and Schools, among other beneficiaries of the RISE programmes across eleven (11) districts in Matabeleland South, Bulawayo, Midlands and Mashonaland Central.
b) Payments are typically monthly, although provision may be made for once-off payments through mobile or CIT.
c) Production of various periodical reports required on the services provided.
Service providers can provide proposals to meet some or all these requirements. This should be explicitly stated in the proposals.
Application Requirements
11. APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS AND TERMS FOR BIDDERS
11.1 Application Instructions
Interested service providers are requested to submit the following:
a) A Letter of Interest indicating significant relevant work experience including ability/capacity to handle the assignment.
b) Company profile (for those submitting as a company or partnership), which will not be accounted for as part of the 10-page limit.
c) Technical and Financial proposals (as a single document) of not more than 10 pages, outlining the following:
d) Clear understanding of the Terms of Reference
e) Clear description of the offered services and service provision methodologies/structures
f) Breakdown of management/service fee/rates and any other related costs
g) Mandatory requirements as follows:
o Certificate of incorporation
o Valid Tax Clearance Certificate
o CR14 and CR6
o Most recent audited financial statement – audited by a reputable audit firm.
h) Three (3) reference letters related to the execution of similar assignment from recent clients.
11.2 By submitting a bid, all vendors certify that the person(s) involved in the preparation and collation of the proposal and/or quotes were or are in no way associated or have any Conflict of Interests with the initial preparation of the solicitation, the tender documentation, or the subsequent evaluation, assessment, analysis, management, and decision-making process of this tender.
11.3 Language – the quote, as well as all correspondence and documents relating to the offer shall be in English.
11.4 The Financial Proposal should include the following:
a) Management fees/service rates shall be quoted in US dollars (USD) inclusive of all applicable fees and taxes.
b) Bid Validity Date – All information submitted in connection with this RFP will be valid for sixty (60) days from the RFP due date and not subject to variation on any account during the Bidder’s performance of the final Contract unless another time is specified in the addendum of the RFP. This includes, but is not limited to any financial costing, delivery timelines, terms and conditions, service levels, and all other information.
c) If your firm is awarded the contract, all information in the RFP and negotiation process is contractually binding. No submission will be considered for any discovered omissions from the Bidder(s).
11.5 ZHI does not bind itself to accept the lowest tender price and reserves the right to reject
all submissions, in whole or in part, enter negotiations with any party, and/or award
multiple contracts.
11.6 Proposals MUST be received on or before the closing date and time and all bids received
after the closing date and time may not be considered.
11.7 ZHI will issue a Master Service Level Agreement (MSLA) to the selected winner(s) that
shall state the terms and conditions of the contractual agreement and services to be
performed. The MSLA will become a legally binding contract when it has been formally
signed by both ZHI and the winning service provider.
11.8 To ensure that the same level of information is conveyed equally to all suppliers, ZHI
reserves the right to share questions and responses with all other suppliers.
11.9 All responses and supporting documentation shall become the property of ZHI and will
not be returned.
11.10 ZHI reserves the right throughout this process to select any servicing option that best
meets its business requirements and to hold discussions with any and all respondents.
12 Submission Instructions and Deadline
Proposals, supporting documents, including a Letter of Interest/Cover and trade references, should be emailed to: tendersrise@zhi.co.zw with subject: “Bulk Money Transfer Services”. The deadline for submission of proposals is 23:59pm on Sunday, December 10, 2023.
13 Terms and Conditions
• ZHI reserves the right to eliminate bids deemed not to be in the best interest of ZHI and award the contract to the bidder whose submission is in the best interest of the organization.
• ZHI reserves the right to accept or reject any proposals received at any time, without incurring any liability to the affected bidder(s) or any obligation to provide information on the grounds for the action.
• ZHI reserves the right to award more than one contract with any of the qualifying bidders.
• All responses must be received on or before the deadline of submission date.
• Incomplete proposal submissions that do not comply with all specifications will be rejected.