Regional Contracting Officer, USAID/Dakar, Senegal, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2130

R -- PRSO PRIME CONTRACTOR FOR USAID/SENEGAL STRATEGY 1998 -- 2006 SOL 685-99-P-007 DUE 080499 POC Leonel T. Pizarro, Regional Contracting Officer, Tel: 221-832-1602, Fax: 221-823-2965, E-mail: lpizarro@usaid.gov or mdiouf@usaid.gov WEB: http://www.info.usaid.gov,

http://www.info.usaid.gov/procurement_bus_opp/procurement/announce/cbd. E-MAIL: http://www.info.usaid.gov, lpizarro@usaid.gov and mdiouf@usaid.gov. The United States Agency for International Development Mission to Senegal (USAID/Senegal) is initiating implementation of its country strategic plan for 1998 to 2006. The Private Sector Strategic Objective (PRSO) or SO-1 is "Sustainable increases in private sector income-generating activities in selected sectors". The purpose of this summary is to obtain technical services to help USAID/Senegal, particularly the PRSO core team and its extended team partners, meet defined performance measures necessary to achievement of PRSO, sustainable increases in private sector income-generating activities in selected sectors. Efforts will focus on strengthening technical and management systems and building capacities of key private sector intermediaries to improve access to financial services and to increase use of best technical and managerial practices among micro, small, and medium enterprises in Senegal. The proposed Contract will be for a five year period, and will include provision for a two-year optional extension. The PRSO team expects to benefit its ultimate customers on the national level in terms of strengthening critical legal, regulatory and judicial systems and in fostering effective decentralization of essential financial systems and services. The PRSO team anticipates achieving change at the household and enterprise level through more intensive capacity building work with key financial, managerial, and technical intermediaries in targeted geographic zones. Over its eight year life, the key impacts at the SO level will be measured through: increased income through supported activities; increased number of small and medium enterprises; increased number of microenterprises; and an increase in the ratio of private investment to GDP. Intermediate Results: USAID has identified three key intermediate results (KIRs) that will lead to the achievement of this SO: KIR 1: Improved legal, regulatory, and policy environment will be achieved through two intermediate results: policy and regulatory framework improved; and judicial process more adapted to business needs. KIR 2: Improved access to financial services will be achieved through four intermediate results: decentralized financial systems (DFS) expanded and sustained; increased awareness of clients of financial instruments; financial risks reduced; and more savings mobilized. KIR 3: Increased use of best technical and managerial practices will be achieved through three intermediate results: improved access to information; increased access to appropriate technology; and private businesses, associations, and groups strengthened. USAID/Senegal will address the three PRSO KIRs through a two-pronged tactical approach: i) At the national level, PRSO activities will concentrate on achieving KIR 1 through influencing policy to foster a business environment more conducive to supply-response by creating appropriate incentives, reforming GOS institutions, regulations, and policies, and strengthening the judiciary. ii) At the local level, PRSO activities will focus on achieving KIR 3 and much of KIR 2 with key intermediaries and enterprises in five zones of high economic potential. USAID/Senegal has identified the priority zones of Pikine/Rufisque, which is urban, and one rural zone, either Kolda or Tambacounda, for initial emphasis, with expansion to three other zones to commence no later than January 2001. PRSO Tools and Tactics. The PRSO is being implemented under a new Strategic Objective Agreement (SOAG) signed September 2, 1998, as amended, that provides for assistance to achieve the three KIRs summarized above. The Contractor shall be responsible for providing technical services to help the Mission and its partners (GOS, Senegalese DFS and other intermediaries, other USAID-funded partners, PVO/NGOs, Senegalese communities and businesses) meet defined performance measures necessary to achievement of the PRSO. The technical services required are expected to include but not be necessarily limited to: short- and long-term technical assistance (TA); support to/provision of non-academic in-country and third-country workshops, conferences, training, and observation tours; development and dissemination of information on financial services and financial and managerial best practices, and other communications; harmonization of data collected by USAID's PRSO partners for USAID's reporting needs; administration and management of a decentralized financial systems program and funds to expand the portfolios of viable, sustainable decentralized financial system intermediaries; provision of necessary equipment to complement assistance to DFS intermediaries and technical/managerial partners; and facilitation of coordination between all USAID partners engaged in PRSO activities. The Contractor shall provide these technical services for three contract components: * Decentralized Financial Systems component (KIR 2) * Technical and Managerial Best Practices component (KIR 3) * Monitoring, Evaluating, Reporting, Analysis (MERA) and Communications Outreach component (PRSO-wide) Decentralized Financial Systems Component. The Contractor shall establish and manage a DFS component with the purpose of improving and expanding existing successful DFS methodologies operating in Senegal and adapting proven global DFS methodologies for use in Senegal. The DFS component is expected to include provision of technical assistance (TA), training, limited commodity support, and financial and/or in-kind improvement/ expansion grants totaling $11 million equivalent to viable and/or promising financial intermediaries and NGOs, with a focus in selected target zones. The Contractor shall assure that financial services are provided so as to have a significant impact on the growth of microenterprises and SMEs and the families they support. Types of interventions to be considered might include guarantee funds, credit lines, and in-kind grants. The critical input of local savings for loan capital should not be overlooked. The Contractor will propose attractive programs to mobilize savings in rural and semi-urban areas and to orient funds collected toward productive activities. The impact will be greatest for the smallest of enterprises (those firms of 1-5 employees) which have little or no access to savings and credit schemes. Larger microenterprises (those firms of 5-10 employees), however, also need both financial and non-financial services to achieve growth and expansion. For the DFS improvement/expansion grants, the Contractor shall be responsible for establishing selection criteria, acceptable to USAID, soliciting proposals or grant requests from Senegalese DFS intermediaries operating in, or interested in expanding to, the target zones; evaluating proposals; granting funds; and monitoring implementation of activities by the recipients. Offerors must propose a plan for an outreach campaign through which potential grantees will be made aware of the grant programs, to assure that broadbased participation is solicited and disadvantaged groups -- e.g. women, youth, disabled -- are not neglected. USAID will have substantial involvement in the establishment of the grantee selection criteria and shall approve the actual selection of grant recipients, based on documentation prepared by the contractor. A total of $11,000,000 is expected to be available for this grant program in total. It is anticipated that these funds will become available in increments of about $2 -- $3 Million per year. Technical and Managerial Best Practices Component. It is important to stress that USAID recognizes the risks inherent in terms of potential market distortion by USAID's proposed financing of direct assistance to the private sector under this Contract. USAID needs to avoid charges of "favoritism" and to assure equitable access to its proposed assistance across all segments of the business community. In addition, Senegal has a small but growing management consulting and training community, and USAID does not wish to provide it unfair competition. For these reasons, Contractors are encouraged to maximize opportunities to utilize and strengthen the business development and support capacities of these local training and consulting enterprises. Additionally, Contractors are encouraged to propose selection criteria and norms (specifically, financial contributions and/or cost sharing) for participation in activities under the Contract by training/consulting firms and, when indicated, by individual entrepreneurs and enterprises. These criteria should take into account the needs and potentials for different customer profiles, and should assure that at a minimum the scale of enterprise (micro-, small, medium) and gender are included in the factors represented. The Contractor shall provide assistance to increase the quality of business technical and financial services and to assure that Senegalese institutions possess the capacity to deliver those services over time. Types of assistance could include such interventions as short-term TA, in-country training, and third country non-academic study and observation tours, including attendance at relevant regional trade fairs and technology expositions, to private Senegalese entrepreneurs and, possibly, their collaborating public sector colleagues. It is important to highlight that TA and training should be offered in basic business management skills as well as highly specialized "hands-on" technical/operational specialties. Monitoring, Evaluating, Reporting, Analysis (MERA) and Communication Outreach. In conformance with guidelines established by USAID Senegal, the Contractor shall undertake routine monitoring, periodic assessment, impact assessment, evaluation, USAID required reporting, and topic-specific analysis activities to assure that the PRSO team has the information it needs of a quality and frequency to allow it to meet its internal oversight needs and external reporting requirements in a timely and professional manner. The Contractor shall also utilize appropriate media and fora to disseminate and communicate useful findings from the MERA system to a wider audience, contributing to general public education on microfinance and best technical and managerial practices to promote improved understanding of private sector development in Senegal. USAID encourages the participation of small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business in this activity to the maximum extent possible, as prime contractor or subcontractor in accordance with Part 19 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. In this respect, it is anticipated that the prime contractor will make every reasonable effort to identify and make maximum practicable use of such concerns. All selection evaluation criteria being found equal, the participation of such concerns may become a determining factor for selection. To help identify potential subcontractors, a list of all organizations requesting a copy of the solicitation will be published with the solicitation document. Organizations are encouraged to indicate whether they are small or small disadvantaged entities when requesting the solicitation and may indicate that they do not wish to beincluded on the list. By providing the list, USAID does not endorse the listed organizations as being capable of carrying out the activity, nor does USAID verify the claimed status of the organizations. Necessarily, the list will contain the names of only those organizations known prior to the issuance of the solicitation document. Proposals shall include small business plans reflecting, to the maximum extent possible, subcontracting with the above-defined entities. Telephone requests for the RFP will not be honored. The issuance date of the RFP is expected to be on/or about June 4, 1999. A preproposal conference will be held in Senegal on June 23, 1999. The RFP closing date will be on/or about August 4, 1999. The publication of this notice or the issuance of a solicitation does not obligate the U.S. Government to award a contract. NOTE: Requestors of RFP No. 685-P-99-005 which was previously published, and cancelled thereafter, are hereby informed that USAID/Senegal will not be sending them automatically the new PRSO RFP unless it is specifically requested. Would-be offerors are hereby requested to cite the new RFP number. Posted 05/12/99 (W-SN330808). (0132)

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