Consultancy on Last Mile digitization by Fintech company – RFP-UGA-SERV-2023-001

Terms of Reference (TOR) for Last Mile digitization by Fintech company

Who is the Danish Refugee Council

Founded in 1956, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading international NGO and one of the few with a specific expertise in forced displacement. Active in 40 countries with 9,000 employees and supported by 7,500 volunteers, DRC protects, advocates, and builds sustainable futures for refugees and other displacement affected people and communities. DRC works during displacement at all stages: In the acute crisis, in displacement, when settling and integrating in a new place, or upon return. DRC provides protection and life-saving humanitarian assistance; supports displaced persons in becoming self-reliant and included into hosting societies; and works with civil society and responsible authorities to promote protection of rights and peaceful coexistence.

DRC has been present in Uganda since 1997, implementing projects across the country with a current focus on the refugee situation in the West Nile and southwest regions as well as a focus on non-refugee humanitarian and development needs in the northern and Karamoja regions of the country

Purpose of the consultancy

The Danish Refugee Council seeks to engage a company to develop an intervention to pilot upscaling digitalization of cash payments and financial inclusion for the last mile community in Imvepi and Rhino Camp refugee settlements.

Objective 1: Financial Service Providers, Mobile Network Operators mapping

A selected company is expected to undertake a mapping exercise to identify infrastructure/ network connectivity gaps and spread of the agents within the settlements of Imvepi and Rhino

Objective 2: Project Design

Develop parameters based on the mapping exercise to define activities, success factors, feasibility and Key Performance Indicators upon which will inform the digitalization of cash payments for the last mile community

Objective 3: Create linkages with Mobile Network and Financial Service Providers

A selected company is expected to create/have partnerships collaborations with MNOs and FSP in order to increase population of agents, merchant payment points, liquidity, other related services low cost

Background

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is leading an ECHO – funded consortium comprising of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) to implement an action“UCC – Multi-Purpose and Sector Specific Cash Assistance to the Most Vulnerable Refugee HHs in the Southwest and West Nile Regions of Uganda. The main objective of the Action is to provide household-level assistance to refugees, through the provision of multi-purpose cash transfers (MPCT) as a means to address immediate, basic non-food needs. The action targets newly arrived refugee households as well as the most vulnerable long-term refugees in Uganda’s South West and West Nile regions

Objective of the consultancy

Objective 1: Financial Service Providers, Mobile Network Operators mapping

A selected company is expected to undertake a mapping exercise to identify infrastructure/ network connectivity gaps and spread of the agents within the settlements of Imvepi and Rhino

Objective 2: Project Design

Develop parameters based on the mapping exercise to define activities, success factors, feasibility and Key Performance Indicators upon which will inform the digitalization of cash payments for the last mile community

Objective 3: Create linkages with Mobile Network and Financial Service Providers

A selected company is expected to create/have partnerships collaborations with MNOs and FSP in order to increase population of agents, merchant payment points, liquidity, other related services low cost mobile phones and have a dedicated team that will directly supervise digitalization activities and works with MNOs to submit areas of network gaps.

The consultant will be required to provide project out puts below;

1. Inception report
2. Identify infrastructure gaps within low network areas with GPS coordinates and coordinate with MNOs for improvements
3. Training and tooling of Agents to support agent balancing and floating within refugee settlements
4. Customer onboarding and training awareness campaigns for increased uptake of digital financial services – detailed report on # of farmers reached and active
5. Increasing distribution and ownership of low-cost phones among refugees – number of phones purchased by refugees report
6. Train and Support Refugees in Digital Financial Literacy in series according to need – list of all beneficiaries trained on basic financial literacy

Scope of work and Methodology

The Consultant will be required to prepare a detailed concept note and work plan indicating how the objectives of the project will be achieved and the support required from DRC.

Deliverables

The Consultant will submit the following deliverables as mentioned below:

Inception report

Financial service provider mapping

Stakeholder engagement

Identification of infrastructural gaps with Low network areas with GPS coordinates and coordinate with MNOs for improvement

Implementation

Training and tooling of agents to support balancing and floating with refuge settlements

Custormer onboarding and training awareness for increased uptake of digital financial services

Train and support refugees in digital financial literacy in series according to need

Increase distribution and ownership of low cost phones among refugees

Reporting

Final report

Final report including number of refugees reached and active

List of beneficiaries trained on digital financial literacy

Number of phones purchased by refugees report

The Consultant will provide the documentationby, email, Word, PowerPoint, PDF.

Duration, timeline, and payment

The total expected duration to complete the assignment will be no more than 5 months.

The consultant shall be prepared to complete the assignment no later than 30th September 2023.

Proposed Composition of Team

• Team Leader digital financial inclusion
• Associate team leader
• Project officer

Eligibility, qualification, and experience required

DRC will award a contract to the firm/company based on the following criteria

1. Company must be able to demonstrate conversance with the themes of fintech and digital financial services, with at least 5 years’ experience
2. Company must be able to demonstrate at least 5 years’ experience in developing complex strategies in the context of FSPs and digital FSPs serving marginalized populations
3. Must have the capacity to engage intensively with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs)
4. Must have experience in supporting Merchant and agent rebalancing distribution models
5. Must have robust digital Monitoring systems for field agents engaged with field operations
6. Well proven business model around management of agent assisted networks in delivering digital financial services among Refugees

Technical supervision

The selected consultant will work under the supervision of: A selected company/ consultant will work under the supervision of and report to the consortium Manager. DRC (both at Kampala and particularly at field level) will fully support the project implementation as well.

Location and support

Location of the assignment will be Imvepi and Rhino camp refugee settlements in West Nile region of Uganda.

Submission process

Interested applicants should provide a proposal covering the following aspects. Send the documents to [email protected]by 4th May 2023

1. Let of interest
2. Detailed technical proposal/concept note clearly demonstrating a thorough understanding of this ToR and including the following:
   • Demonstrated previous experience in coordinating and administering activities and projects of a similar nature.
   • Proposed methodology (2 pages)
   • Ethics and child safeguarding approaches, including any identified risks and associated mitigation strategies
   • A proposed timeframe detailing activities and a schedule/work plan
   • Previous experience/mandates similar in nature including type of study, sector, organization
   • Team composition and level of effort of each proposed team member.
   • If applicable: Police clearance or evidence of other authorizations in order to access the program sites
3. A financial proposal with a detailed breakdown of costs for the study, including the following:
   • Itemized consultancy fees/costs.
   • Itemized administrative expenses.
   • Validity period of quotations.
   • Copy of registration certificate, VAT and other relevant documents.
4. Curriculum Vitae(s) of all proposed staff outlining relevant experience.
5. Names and contact information of three references who can be contacted regarding relevant experience.
6. A copy of previous reports of similar work undertaken on last mile digitalization of cash payments.
7. A Consulting Firm profile. In the case of a firm, full names, physical addresses, telephone numbers, and contact person of the firm/company; date of registration, registration number, copy of registration certificate and VAT certificate; names of directors/proprietors

Please find complete bid documents in the following link: Last Mile digitization by Fintech company – RFP-UGA-SERV-2023-001

How to apply

Bids can be submitted by email to the following dedicated, controlled, & secure email address: [email protected]

When Bids are emailed the following conditions shall be complied with:

• The RFP number shall be inserted in the Subject Heading of the email
• Separate emails shall be used for the ‘Financial Bid’ and ‘Technical Bid’, and the Subject Heading of the email shall indicate which type the email contains
  • The Financial Bid shall only contain the financial bid form, Annex A.2
  • The Technical Bid shall contain all other documents required by the tender as mentioned in section A. Administrative Evaluation, but excluding any pricing information
• Bid documents required, shall be included as an attachment to the email in PDF, JPEG, TIF format, or the same type of files provided as a ZIP file. Documents in MS Word or excel formats, will result in the bid being disqualified.
• Email attachments shall not exceed 4MB; otherwise the bidder shall send his bid in multiple emails.

Failure to comply with the above may disqualify the Bid.

DRC is not responsible for the failure of the Internet, network, server, or any other hardware, or software, used by either the Bidder or DRC in the processing of emails.

DRC is not responsible for the non-receipt of Bids submitted by email as part of the e-Tendering process.