SPECIAL NOTICE
R -- USAID/HAITI BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT ADVANCING FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN HAITI - Broad Agency Announcement
- Notice Date
- 7/2/2015
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Agency for International Development, Overseas Missions, Haiti USAID-Port Au Prince, Dept. of State, Washington, District of Columbia, 20521-3400
- ZIP Code
- 20521-3400
- Solicitation Number
- BAA-521-EGAD-2015-01
- Archive Date
- 9/11/2015
- Point of Contact
- Gerard Casimir, Phone: 01150922298000, Lourdes Valones,
- E-Mail Address
-
gcasimir@usaid.gov, lovalones@usaid.gov
(gcasimir@usaid.gov, lovalones@usaid.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Broad Agency Announcement Package ADVANCING FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN HAITI A Broad Agency Announcement BAA-521-EGAD-2015-01 I. Overview. A. This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) seeks Expressions of Interest on game changing solution(s) to advance financial inclusion in Haiti. The United States Agency for International Development Haiti's Office of Economic Growth and Agricultural Development (USAID/Haiti/EGAD) invites organizations and companies to partner with USAID/Haiti, as described below, to significantly expand access to safe, affordable, and relevant financial services in Haiti in support of the Government of Haiti's (GOH's) National Financial Inclusion Strategy. B. Federal Agency Name: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID). C. Opportunity Title: Advancing Financial Inclusion in Haiti. D. Opportunity Number: BAA-521-EGAD-2015-01. E. Authority: This BAA is issued under Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 35.016 (c). This is not a FAR Part 15 Procurement. F. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 98.001 USAID Foreign Assistance Programs for Overseas. II. Opportunity. A.Purpose: This BAA is intended to address the challenge of how to most effectively expand financial inclusion in Haiti. EGAD seeks opportunities to partner with companies and/or organizations to research, develop, pilot, test, and/or scale cost-effective interventions that offer breakthrough solutions to expanding access to safe, affordable, and relevant basic financial services in Haiti including payments, savings, credit and insurance in support of the GOH's national financial inclusion strategy. The intent is to co-create, co-design, co-invest and collaborate on interventions that demonstrate the highest potential to dramatically improve development impacts by tackling key constraints within the existing ecosystem along such inflection points as: institutional governance, financial literacy, transaction costs, liquidity, oversight and infrastructure. Of particular interest are opportunities that complement USAID's strategic focus on science, technology and innovative partnerships (STIP). B. Background: USAID/Haiti has a long history of supporting the expansion of financial services to the poor in Haiti. It has been instrumental in standing up and supporting financial institutions designed to serve the poor and other marginalized groups, and most recently has been at the forefront of supporting the introduction of digital payments and related financial services including mobile money. The impact has been significant, with a substantial number of Haitians now holding formal financial accounts, as well as a significant rise in the number of credit takers (borrowers). And though usage remains low, the backbone for digital financial services is in place and there is significant potential for rapid growth of the sector. However, while much has been accomplished, much remains to be done. GOH and the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) recently completed Haiti's first national financial inclusion strategy with the support of the World Bank and other donor and international organizations. The strategy sets aggressive targets for rapidly expanding financial inclusion through a well-designed five-pillar approach. USAID has pledged to support the GOH financial inclusion agenda, which aligns with the Mission's own strategy for increasing Haiti's economic security. C. Problem Statement: The majority of Haitian households remain unbanked (only 22 percent have an account at a financial institution), and what credit is available to the poor remains predominately short-term and high cost. There are particular challenges in providing financial services to those in rural areas, as well as expanding the availability of credit and access to other financial services to other underserved groups such as women and farmers. As a consequence, few people have the ability to adequately mitigate income shocks, invest in and grow their businesses, or access critical financial services. Although the backbone for digital financial services is in place and there is significant potential for rapid growth of the sector, usage remains low. Many of the financial institutions serving the poor are relatively unsophisticated and need improved governance and updated management systems. Haitian consumers are increasingly eager to access affordable credit (particularly smallholder farmers, who have sizable unmet credit needs), receive remittances (the international portion of which is equal to at least 20% of GDP, including less visible but quite sizable flows from over half a million migrant workers in the Dominican Republic), and benefit from secure savings mechanisms. In the context of related efforts at the policy and regulatory levels as herein described, USAID has identified the following focus challenges for meeting GOH strategic goals through this BAA: •Governance and capacity challenges: the need for improved governance and updated management systems, particularly for microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their federations; •Financial capability challenges: the lack of fundamental knowledge of or familiarity with credit and other financial terms, products or requirements, resulting in difficulty, for example, in formulating loan requests in a format as required by financial institution; •Proximity challenges and high transaction costs - the lack of access to agents and services for the rural poor. While use of mobile communications and ICT in the rural areas is growing, the majority of the rural poor lives prohibitively far from brick and mortar financial institutions. Those financial institutions which do attempt to reach out to population inevitably incur higher transaction costs; •Financial institution liquidity and capital challenges - the need, particularly on the part of MFIs, credit and savings associations to access basic liquidity (difficulty in accessing additional funds for lending) and in some cases their capital bases needs to expand; and, •Financial sector oversight and infrastructure challenges - weak ecosystem components critical to well-functioning financial services sectors such as credit bureaus, deposit insurance, pledge registries and payment systems, as well as some elements of regulation and supervision, This BAA seeks to identify innovative approaches designed to implement an intervention or combination of interventions that can be most impactful in the face of these constraints to advancing financial inclusion. EGAD seeks innovative, practical, cost-effective solutions to these constraints through basic and applied research and development. III. Collaboration. A. Types of Collaboration: 1. Co-creation: Co-creation occurs after an Expression of Interest is approved, but before the concept is developed. The prospective partner, the U.S. Government (represented by the Activity Manager employed by USAID) and potentially others work together to write and/or revise the Concept Paper, and jointly present the Concept Paper to USAID's Peer and Scientific Review Board. 2. Co-design: Co-design occurs after the Peer and Scientific Review Board recommends the project for further development, and the Contracting Officer or Agreement Officer has determined the proposer to be an Apparently Successful Partner. At this point, the Contracting Officer or Agreement Officer may determine the general nature of the award type or the specific award type, depending on the nature of the project, to facilitate project design. During co-design, the Apparently Successful Partner and the Activity Manager will design the technical approach, general resource requirements, and management control of the project under the guidance of the Contracting Officer/Agreement Officer. 3. Co-invest: Co-invest refers to the Government's strategic aim that the partnerships resulting from the individual BAA awards represent opportunities to achieve mutual or complementary development goals of the Partner, USAID, and potentially other resource partners, and therefore embrace shared responsibility, shared risk, and shared resourcing. Shared resourcing may be accomplished through funding by both parties, either through cash resources or the exchange of other resources, both tangible and intangible, such as in-kind contributions, expertise, intellectual property, brand value, high-value coordination, and access to key people, places, and information. Co-investing does not require equally shared resourcing (such as 1:1 leverage), but rather resource contributions that are appropriate to the specific project's objectives, considering the comparative advantages brought by the participation of each party and the award type. IV.Specific Rights Reserved for the Government under this BAA. A. The U.S. Government reserves specific rights, in addition to rights described elsewhere in this document or by law or regulation, including: 1. The right to award multiple awards, a single award, or no awards. 2. The right to make award without discussions, or to conduct discussions and/or negotiations, whichever is determined to be in the Government's interest. 3. The right to accept proposals in their entirety or to select only portions of proposals for award or co-investment. 4. The right to select for award an instrument type that is appropriate to the specific development context, partner relationship, and proposal selected for award. Instruments types include but are not limited to contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, Global Development Alliance agreements, Development Innovation Agreements, Inter-Agency Agreements, Government to Government Agreements, Donor to Donor Agreements, and Memorandums of Understanding. In addition, the Government may craft a new instrument type to meet the needs of a specific relationship. 5. The right to co-create projects with one or more proposers under the BAA, when it is in the best interest of the Government. 6. The right to request any additional, necessary documentation upon initial review. Such additional information may include, but is not limited to, a further detailed proposal, budget, and representations and certifications. 7. The right to fund or co-invest in proposals in phases, with options for continued work at the end of one or more of the phases. 8. The right to award instruments under this BAA that does not commit or exchange monetary resources. 9. The right to remove proposers from award consideration should the parties fail to reach agreement on award terms, conditions, and cost/price within a reasonable time, the proposer fails to timely provide requested additional information, or the Government believes it is in its best interest. V.General Criteria for Consideration. A. Submissions are not evaluated against other submissions, but solely against the evaluation criteria from the BAA. B. Decisions regarding USAID's pursuit of a particular project, technology or relationship are based on the available evidence, data, and resulting analysis. USAID seeks solutions that have a significant impact (i.e. breakthroughs, not incremental improvements), and can achieve that impact at scale. C. The reputations of an organization, its past performance, the managerial and technical ability of the person or team of people engaged in the endeavor are always significant considerations in assessing the potential and the risks associated with each award. D. For the purposes of this BAA, USAID/Haiti/EGAD seeks co-creation partners that possess a number of the following experiences: ● connecting disparate communities, i.e. academia, private sector, civil society; ● innovatively addressing/harnessing challenges/opportunities to financial inclusion; ● connecting with experts in nontraditional and diverse sectors; ● implementing adaptive and/or iterative programming; ● managing successful peer-to-peer networks; and ● catalyzing new ideas effectively. E. Criteria to be applied to all Expressions of Interest: 1. Idea/Approach: Soundness of your idea/approach, including appropriate evidence, to fostering systems that address the challenges and harness opportunities to advance financial inclusion in Haiti. 2. Partnership Expectations and Value: Strengths of your group as a partner, including your ability to provide a financial, in­kind, or leveraged match at various stages of the process. VI. Award Process. A. The amount of resources made available under this BAA will depend on the concepts received and the availability of funds. Some award types may not include any funding. The award process under this BAA has the following steps: Stage 1. Expression of Interest: Please submit an Expression of Interest in accordance with Section IX. Expressions of Interest must indicate the research or development idea which will work towards discovering potential solutions to the Problem and Challenge Statement(s), by increasing knowledge and understanding of potential solutions, exploiting scientific discoveries or improvements in technology, materials, processes, methods, devices, or techniques, advancing the state of the art, or using scientific and technical knowledge in the design, development, testing, or evaluation of a potential new product or service (or of an improvement in an existing product or service). Stage 2. Development of the Concept Paper. For Expressions of Interest which are deemed to have merit by USAID, USAID will issue an invitation to collaborate to the potential partner. Working together, USAID and the potential partner will collaborate on a Concept Paper. It is during this phase of co-creation and co-design that the parties will begin to determine additional partners and resources to complement the project. The Concept Paper, generally 5-10 pages, will further detail and explain the project as initially provided in the Expression of Interest. Additional Partners/Resources. During the project co-creation and co-design, both the Apparently Successful Partner and USAID will identify additional partners and resources, and whether additional mechanisms are necessary to implement the project. An invitation is sent to a potential partner to participate in a co-creation workshop, conference, meeting, or the method designated by USAID to work together with all invitees to further develop the idea presented in the expression of interest. All potential partners may not move forward to Stage 3. Stage 3. Review by the Peer and Scientific Review Board. All Concept Papers will be reviewed by the Peer and Scientific Review Board, comprised of experts from USAID, partners, and/or outside parties. The Peer and Scientific Review Board will review Concept Papers and recommend which applicants should be considered Apparently Successful Partners. Using its technical expertise, the Peer and Scientific Review Board will suggest revisions/additions to the project, and potential partners and resources. NOTE: Not all potential partners may move forward to Stage 4. Stage 4. Contracting/Agreement Officer Determination. The Contracting/Agreement officer will review the Peer and Scientific Review Board's recommendations and consider other information, such as resource availability, preliminary partner responsibility assessment, and Agency priorities, will make a determination that the respondent is an Apparently Successful Partner. The Contracting/Agreement Officer may also make or narrow down the anticipated instrument type to facilitate project design. Request for Additional Information. USAID will work with partners identified by the Peer and Scientific Review Board, and co-design the project and assist the partner to provide additional information with respect to the proposer's technical approach, capacity, management and organization, past performance, and budget, as well as representations and certifications, as needed. Final Review and Negotiation. The USAID Contracting/Agreement Officer will engage in final review, negotiation, and determinations of instrument type, responsibility cost reasonableness, etc., and will craft an award instrument with the Apparently Successful Partner. If the Apparently Successful Applicant and USAID cannot arrive at a mutually agreeable arrangement, the Contracting/Agreement Officer will cancel the project at no cost to the Government. Award. Where USAID determines that the award of an instrument is appropriate, the USAID Contracting/Agreement Officer will award the instrument. VII. Award Information. A. Number of awards could vary and may not mirror the number of expressions of interests or invitees to co-creation. B.Awards under this BAA will be made to Apparently Successful Partners on the basis of their ability to further USAID's goals of advancing financial inclusion in Haiti. USAID is seeking new applications of science, innovations, and partnerships that provide the best value to the Government and have the potential to substantially contribute to these goals. C. Proposals identified for negotiation may result in a contract, grant, cooperative agreement, Global Development Alliance agreement, Development Innovation Agreement, Inter-Agency Agreement, Government to Government Agreement, Donor to Donor Agreement, Memorandum of Understanding or alternative agreement type, depending upon the nature of the work proposed, the required degree of Government involvement, and other factors. The Government Contracting/Agreement Officer will determine award instrument type and negotiate instrument terms and conditions with selectees. USAID may select the award instruments it deems appropriate. D. Eligibility Information. Public, private, for-profit, and nonprofit organizations, as well as institutions of higher education, public international organizations, non-governmental organizations, U.S. and non-U.S. governmental organizations, multilateral and international donor organizations are eligible under this BAA. All organizations must be determined to be responsive to the BAA and sufficiently responsible to perform or participate in the final award type. E.Standard Clauses and Provisions of Award. The standard clauses or provisions for awards are generally prescribed by law and regulation and will vary considerably by award type. Information regarding clauses and provisions will be offered to the proposer when the award type is identified. F. Organizations are encouraged to consider providing reasonable cost sharing, leverage, or other exchange of resource arrangements, and are encouraged to suggest creative approaches to resourcing projects. VIII.Information Protection. USAID's goal is to facilitate the research and development that will lead to innovative, and potentially commercially viable, solutions. Understanding the sensitive nature of submitters' information, USAID will work with organizations to protect intellectual property. Expressions of Interest should be free of any intellectual property that submitter wishes to protect, as the expressions of interest will be shared with USAID partners as part of the selection process. However, once submitters have been invited to engage in further discussions, submitters will work with USAID to identify proprietary information that requires protection. Therefore, organizations making submissions under this BAA grant to USAID a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable right to use, disclose, reproduce, and prepare derivative works, and to have or permit others to do so to any information contained in the expressions of interest submitted under the BAA. If USAID engages with the organization regarding its submission, the parties can negotiate further intellectual property protection for the organization's intellectual property. Organizations must ensure that any submissions under this BAA are free of any third party proprietary data rights that would impact the license granted to USAID herein. IX.Expression of Interest Information. A.Be in English. B.Be submitted electronically to USAID/Haiti/OAA at usaidhaitioaa@usaid.gov with a copy to A&A Specialists Gerard Casimir at gcasimir@usaid.gov and Lulu Valones at lovalones@usaid.gov. C.Be up to 2 pages in length, no smaller than 12 point font. D.Contain a header with the following information (included in the page count): i.Respondent Name/Group and Contact Information; ii.Response Title; iii.BAA Addendum Name/Number; iv.Contain one optional graphic that fits on an 8.5"x11" or A4 piece of paper (included in the page limit); E.Be in.pdf,.docx, or.odf format. F.Expressions of Interest may be accepted on a rolling basis for 60 days after the release of this BAA.
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