SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- MCC Senegal II - Willingness to Pay Survey - MCC-17-RFI-0099
- Notice Date
- 6/16/2017
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541690
— Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Millennium Challenge Corporation, MCC, Washington DC, 1099 Fourteenth St NW, Suite 700, Washington, District of Columbia, 20005, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20005
- Solicitation Number
- MCC-17-RFI-0099
- Archive Date
- 7/13/2017
- Point of Contact
- Janet M. Carlson, Phone: 2027726309, Jacqueline H. Naranjo, Phone: 202-521-2692
- E-Mail Address
-
carlsonj@mcc.gov, naranjoj@mcc.gov
(carlsonj@mcc.gov, naranjoj@mcc.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- RFI FOR MCC SENEGAL II - WILLINGNESS TO PAY SURVEY MCC SENEGAL II - WILLINGNESS TO PAY SURVEY PROJECT DEFINITION PHASE SUPPORT DESCRIPTION THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is seeking information from interested firms for an extremely time sensitive, integrated and technically specific project in Senegal. MCC is issuing this request for information to ascertain whether there are qualified businesses positioned to perform this scope of work at the highest level of technical expertise and within the required timeframe and budget. A firm is sought to provide expert skills to MCC to collect data from households and businesses in Senegal to assess the potential value of using more effective energy sources and the willingness to pay (WTP) for a more reliable electricity supply. This is NOT a solicitation or pre-solicitation and this notice does not guarantee that a solicitation will be posted in the future or as an obligation on the part of the MCC. At this time, no solicitation exists; therefore, please do not request a copy of the solicitation. BACKGROUND The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a United States government-owned corporation created under Title VI of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2004 and is responsible for the stewardship of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). MCC works with developing countries to promote sustainable economic growth to reduce poverty. Eligible countries develop specific investment programs in furtherance of the goal of economic development to be funded by MCC over a five-year period and implemented by the country partner. In December 2015, MCC's Board of Directors selected Senegal for a second compact. The Government of Senegal established the Unité pour la Formulation et Coordination d'un Second Compact MCA-Senegal (UFC-MCA), to lead its compact development efforts. The compact development process began with a constraints analysis, which identified the high cost of energy and low access to electricity as one of the two most binding constraints to economic growth in Senegal. After the constraints analysis, MCC and UFC-MCA conducted a root cause analysis, which resulted in concept notes that MCC's and UFC-MCA's respective board of directors have approved. In May 2017, MCC and UFC-MCA began the project definition phase, which includes commissioning studies and further analysis to better understand the activities that could be implemented to address the root causes identified in the previous phase. These activities will align with the Government of Senegal's energy sector strategy articulated in the Plan Sénégal Émergent (PSE) and leverage other actors' efforts in supporting the Senegalese energy sector. Activities may include a combination of infrastructure and non-infrastructure investments in the following general areas: a) diversification and efficiency improvements for Senegal's generation portfolio; b) policy reform and regulatory and institutional strengthening; c) modernization of the transmission and distribution network; d) improving the efficiency and effectiveness of Senelec; and e) increased opportunities for electrification in rural and peri-urban areas. The primary economic benefits from the five-year MCC compact with the GoS may include reductions in the following: the fiscal burden associated with GoS subsidies, the cost of service of the national utility and independent power producers, and the cost of electricity consumption for households and businesses. A key assumption of the economic model is that by making supply for electric energy more adequate and reliable, and by making the tariff system transparent, businesses and households will shift from using alternative energy sources (relatively more expensive) to using electricity. A longer-term economic benefit may include increased income and productivity as a result of higher quality and more reliable electricity. OBJECTIVE The objective of this Request for Information (RFI) is to receive prospective contractors' capabilities to provide professional services to collect data from households and businesses in Senegal to assess: 1. The potential economic benefit of the incremental value of using higher energy value and lower cost per unit of electric service instead of alternative energy sources such as generators, candles, kerosene lamps, and batteries for lighting and household appliances. 2. Their willingness to pay (WTP) for more reliable electricity supply. To assess the economic benefit and the WTP for additional electricity, MCC and UFC-MCA propose to use a comprehensive survey of households and businesses with and without a more reliable electric service to determine, in the most reliable way possible, their current and potential energy expenditures. The data collected from this household and business-energy-use survey will illustrate the consumers' preference for reliable electric service. Scope of Work 1. Document Review: The contractor will review documents on the Senegal II compact development process, the energy sector in Senegal, and relevant national-level statistical studies (e.g. national enterprise survey). 2. Work plan development: The contractor will draft and submit a work plan with expected deadlines for deliverables. It should include plans related to training, testing and piloting data collection instruments, and data collection implementation. 3. Survey protocol development: The contractor should provide a document summarizing all survey protocols related to the sampling frame, drop criteria, replacement strategy, target respondent, informed consent, and protection of human subjects, interview techniques, security, and data quality. The contractor is expected to propose a sample, which will be representative at the national level and at the regional level for at least 2-4 regions to be determined by MCC. Those 2-4 regions would be chosen as a result of a geo-spatial analysis, which MCC is currently undertaking. This sampling approach is subject to change. The contractor may propose random stratified sampling according to characteristics such as number of employees and sector for businesses and electricity access for households. The contractor should also identify initial within strata variables such as sex or age. It is expected that approximately 3,000 households and 1,000 businesses would be included in the sample. The contractor is expected to collect geographic coordinates for each household and business that is surveyed. The contractor is expected to work on sampling with the national statistical agency, ANSD, to obtain access to national census data, the Répertoire National des Entreprises et associations (RNEA), and the cartography of Senegal. 4. Survey instrument development: MCC and UFC-MCA will submit a first draft of the survey questionnaire, which the contractor will revise and finalize. MCC and UFC-MCA will provide final approval on the survey instrument, English or French version. The contractor will be responsible for translating the survey instrument into national languages. 5. Survey testing and piloting: In accordance with its testing and piloting plan (Task 2), the contractor will pilot the survey for at least 20 households and 10 businesses. The contractor will train supervisors who will conduct the piloting. The contractor will submit a pilot report including clean data from the pilot. A third party is expected to develop a software application for Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) with smartphones and tablets and train the data collection team in its use. 6. Data collection training: The contractor will hire and train the supervisors and interviewers in accordance with the training plan developed under Task 2. MCC and the contractor will provide training of trainers before the main data collection training. The contractor will prepare training materials (e.g. manual and PowerPoint presentations), which MCC will review and validate. The training should cover the entire questionnaire and all survey protocols. It should also include how to use the tablet, mock interviewing, pilot testing in the field, time for debrief, and a test to select interviewers. 7. Data collection and monitoring data quality: The contractor is responsible for implementing data collection and monitoring data quality in accordance to its relevant plans developed under task 2. 8. Data cleaning: The Contractor will provide clean data sets with geo-referenced observations. Any missing values should be coded consistently. All variables should be named and labelled according to MCC's specifications. Key personnel The contractor will determine the composition of its team and describe the team's qualifications and task assignments. The contractor should also provide an organizational chart. The contractor should provide individual names and CVs for the Team Leader and Data Collection Coordinator positions. Individual names and CVs for up to three non-key personnel is encouraged but not required. Team Leader The Team Leader must meet or exceed the following minimum requirements: - A master's-level degree in statistics, economics, or related field - Five years' experience managing or overseeing in-person surveys of households and businesses in Senegal, including experience with electronic data collection tools - Experience with willingness to pay or energy sector surveys is preferred - Three years of experience establishing survey protocols including designing cost-effective sampling strategies - Fluency in French and Wolof, and professional proficiency in English; Proficiency in other additional national languages of Senegal is desirable - Excellent knowledge of Stata or other similar statistical analysis software - Excellent database management experience - Excellent communication, facilitation, organization, and management skills and experience working with diverse teams and a wide range of stakeholders. - Experience writing detailed and concise implementation and analysis reports. The Team Leader will have the following responsibilities: - Liaise on a regular basis with MCC, UFC-MCA, and other organizations involved in the study - Lead and manage the study team - Ensure quality control of all deliverables being submitted to MCC - Ensure deliverables are submitted on time - Provide technical oversight of instrument and survey protocol development - Oversee the recruitment and general training of data collectors - Provide direct supervision over the data collection coordinator and data analyst and provide overall supervision of all other staff Data Collection Coordinator The Data Collection Coordinator must meet or exceed the following minimum requirements: - A bachelors-level degree in statistics, economics, or related field - Three years' experience in coordinating in-person surveys of households and businesses in Senegal with at least some experience in using electronic data collection tools - Experience overseeing teams of at least 25 enumerators - Experience managing survey implementation issues and data quality monitoring - Experience managing training for supervisors and interviewers is desired - Fluency in French and Wolof; Proficiency in English and national languages of Senegal is desirable - Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications for report writing and project management - Excellent ability to manage diverse teams and organize logistics - Pro-active problem solver The Data Collection Coordinator will have the following responsibilities: - Report to the Team Leader on a regular basis - Identify data collection challenges; propose and manage measures to overcome challenges - Manage data collection training and survey pilot testing. - In close coordination with the Team Leader, plan and oversee all aspects of data collection Non-Key Personnel MCC anticipates the following non-key personnel positions may be required: one administrative and finance assistant, one data analyst, four to six supervisors, and 25-50 interviewers. These positions are illustrative and the contractor may propose different positions and number of staff. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE The period of performance is estimated to be approximately 8 months starting in the September/ October 2017 timeframe. ANTICIPATED BUDGET MCC has an estimated budget of approximately $225,000 for this project. CONTRACT TYPE The government intends to solicit and award this effort on a firm fixed priced basis (if a solicitation is issued and contract awarded). SUBMITTAL INFORMATION - Capability statement/brochure of corporate capabilities/services (3 pages or less), - References/past performance of similar data collection exercise that sought to obtain respondents' valuation of infrastructure investment (if applicable), - CVs for the potential Team Leader and Data Collection Coordinator positions. Individual names and CVs for up to three non-key personnel is encouraged but not required - Ability to start the work by September/October 2017. - Company cage code and NAICS in response to this sources sought announcement. Please Note: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay the Contractor for the information provided in response to this notice. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any contractor responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the contractor's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a synopsis/solicitation may be issued. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a future solicitation.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/MCC/MCCMCC/MCCMCC01/MCC-17-RFI-0099/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Company Offices and Senegal, Senegal
- Record
- SN04547581-W 20170618/170616234540-27fdf7227f7e1fa2dcee60fb3962816b (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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