INVITATION TO TENDER

INVITATION TO TENDER TENDER NUMBER: CRASA/FPGS/01/2015 TENDER TO SUPPLY CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR A STUDY ON ON DEFINITION FRAMEWORK FOR POSTAL GOODS AND SERVICES IN THE SOUTHERN AFRICA DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY (SADC)REGION FOR THE COMMUNICATIONS REGULATORS ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA (CRASA) Closing Date : 20 July 2015, 14:00HRS

TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1: INVITATION AND INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS 1. Introduction 2. Submission Format 3 Evaluation of Tenders 4. Tender Award 5. Rejection of Tenders SECTION 2: TERMS OF REFERENCE I. Introduction II. Background and Concept III. Overview of the Objectives of the study IV. Specific Objectives V. Duration of the Assignment VI. Expected Outputs/ Deliverables VII. Contracting and Briefing VIII. Project Governance IX. Experience requirements Consulatncy team X. Selection/Evaluation Criteria XI. Personnel and facilities to be provided by CRASA SECTION 3: ANNEXURES Annexure A: Form of Tender Annexure B: Statement of Capability 2

NOTICE OF TENDER COMMUNICATIONS REGULATORS ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA (CRASA) TENDER NO. CRASA/FPGS/01/2015 The Communications Regulators Association of Southern Africa (CRASA) wishes to invite tenders from reputable companies with substantial experience to conduct a study on Definition Framework for Postal Goods and Services in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The overall objective of this project is to establish a distinct definition framework for postal goods and services in SADC. This would allow postal operators to provide a much wider range of products and services, especially in relation to Postbank for example and to harness opportunities that come through innovation and investment in technology and leveraging from existing assets. The project will come up with a regulatory definition framework for postal goods and services in SADC that allows postal operators to diversify. The Invitation To Tender (ITT) document may be obtained from CRASA offices or our Cooperating Partners, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the Pan African Postal Union (PAPU), from Monday 22 June 2015. Tenders and all supporting documents should be submitted not later than 1400hrs on Monday 20 July 2015 or such other later date as CRASA may advise in writing, to the following address: 3

The Chairman PRP Tender CRASA Plot 138 Unit 2 Gaborone Internatinal Finance Park P O Box AD 135 ADD Gaborone Botswana Tel: +267 3158468 FAX: 267 3181171 E-Mail : crasa@it.bw ENQUIRIES All questions and clarifications on the terms of reference should be directed to Mr Clifford Nkomo through telephone : + 267 3158468 or e-mail to cnkomo@it.bw SECTION 1 : INVITATION AND INSTRUCTION TO BIDDERS 1. Introduction 1.1 The Communication Regulators Association of Southern Africa (CRASA) is a consultative body of regulators and other stakeholders dealing in telecommunications, broadcasting and postal sectors. 1.2 CRASA was established under the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communications and Meteorology, which encourages the establishment of industry-based bodies or forums with a view of ensuring participation by industries in telecommunications and postal policy development. 4

1.3 The core reason for the establishment of CRASA is to facilitate harmonisation of ICT and Postal policies and regulatory frameworks in SADC. This was in response to SADC leaderships common vision which recognized that individual information, communications and postal markets, in the region, were not big enough to have comparative advantage on the global arena as well as attract adequate investment to build modern infrastructure for provision of universally accessible ICTs and Postal services. Market integration was, therefore, identified as the solution to the challenge. 1.4 Currently, thirteen (13) regulatory institutions in the SADC region are active members of CRASA and are based in the following countries: Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 1.5 CRASA hereby invites tenders from reputable companies with substantial experience to conduct a study on Definition Framework for Postal Goods and Services in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) as detailed in Section 2 of this Invitation To Tender document. 1.6 The Technical and Financial Proposals shall be sent to the following address not later than 14:00 hours on 20 July 2015 or such other later date and time as CRASA may advise in writing: The Chairman PRP Tender CRASA Plot 138 Unit 2 Gaborone Internatinal Finance Park 5

P O Box AD 135 ADD Gaborone Botswana Tel: +267 3158468 FAX: 267 3181171 E-Mail : crasa@it.bw 2. Submission Format 2.1 The following items shall comprise the Technical Proposal 2.1.1 One (1) hardcopy marked ORIGINAL Technical Proposal and Five (5) identical copies each marked COPY. The Proposal shall address in detail, the requirements stipulated in the Invitation to Tender document, Terms of Reference and shall include, inter alia; i) Certified copy of Trading Licence or applicable licence or exemption from licensing by the relevant Authority or body. If none of these are applicable, the bidder must provide a statement confirming the same. ii) Certified copies of shareholding or directorship documents. Bidders that do not have shareholding shall provide a confirmation letter confirming the same. Where necessary the evaluation committee may, during evaluation stage, verify the authenticity of attached documents with respective offices indicated to have issued the documents. Submitted falsified documents shall result in the rejection of the bid. 6

iii) Certified copy of Certificate of Incorporation or applicable certificate. 2.1.2 The Technical Proposal shall make no reference to the prices, rates or charges contained in the Financial Proposal. 2.2 The following items shall comprise the Financial Proposal 2.2.1 One (1) detailed original Financial Proposal marked ORIGINAL FINANCIAL PROPOSAL and five (5) copies of the original each marked COPY. The Financial Proposal shall include a completed and signed Form of Tender (attached as Annexure A) 2.2.2 All prices should be quoted in United States Dollars or any convertible currency. 2.2.3 All applicable taxes must be shown distinctively and separately. 2.2.4 No escalation in the service fee will be permitted during the contract period. 2.2.5 The Service Fee should be broken down into components to show clearly the following; (i) (ii) (iii) The estimated number of hours and or days for performing this tender; Charge out rates for all levels of staff engaged; and Costs for disbursements. 7

2.2.6 The tender offers shall remain valid for at least 60 (sixty) days from the date of tender submission.in the event of the assessment of tenders not being within the period of the validity of the tenders, an extension of time may be requested from the tenderers. In these circumstances, CRASA shall renegotiate the validity period. Those who are willing to extend the period of validity of their tenders should neither be required nor permitted to modify their tenders. 2.3 Extension of Time for Tendering 2.3.1 Any formal request for an extension to the tender period must be received by CRASA in reasonable time before the tender expiry date, and, if acceptable an extension shall be communicated to all tenderers. 3.0 Evaluation Of Tenders 3.1 The Evaluation of this tender will be carried out in four stages as shown below. The scores of the tender will be allocated as follows: The Technical Evaluation takes a total of 60 points; Financial Evaluation takes a total of 40 points; Stage 1: Compliance Check 3.2 At Stage 1, the bids will be checked for compliance with the stipulated compliance checklist. At this stage, the check list shown at Table1 below will be used for evaluation. Bids that pass this stage will proceed to Stage 2 of the evaluation. 8

Table 1: Technical Proposal Compliance Check Description Yes No. 1. Hardcopy Proposal marked ORIGINAL TECHNICAL PROPOSAL (one (1) original) 2. Five (5) Copies each marked COPY. 3. Certified copy of Trading Licence or applicable licence or exemption from licensing by the relevant Authority or body. If none of these are applicable, the bidder must provide a statement confirming the same. 4. Certified Copies of shareholding or directorship documents. Enclosed in the Technical Proposal. Bidders who do not have shareholding or directorship documents shall provide a letter confirming the same. 5. Certified copy of certificate of Incorporation or applicable certificate. Table 2: Financial Proposal Compliance Check Description Yes No. 1. One (1) Hardcopy proposal marked ORIGINAL FINANCIAL PROPOSAL 2. Five (5) Copies of the Financial Proposal each marked COPY 3. Form of Tender completed and signed (Annexure A), enclosed in the Financial Proposal. 3.3 Any bidder who does not comply with the above compliance check list shall be disqualified immediately. Stage 2: Technical Evaluation 3.4 This stage shall consider the conformity of the Technical Proposal to the Terms of Reference. The criteria for evaluation shall be as shown in Table 3 below. Table 3: Scores for the Technical Evaluation 9

Evaluation Criteria Technical Score Specifications [Assess whether proposed bid meets tender specifications] Organisational Capability& Experience [marks to be awarded on evidence of bidder having undertaken similar projects, market experience, knowledge of postal sector reforms, reputation, references] Team Experience [assess level of relevant qualification and experience ( at least 5 yrs)s] Maximum Attainable Points 20 15 15 Approach and Methodology 10 (Marks awarded for detailed steps shown to fulfil the objectives, timeframe) TOTAL 60 3.5 Bidders who score 42 points and above will be short listed for Financial Evaluation. Stage 3 Financial Evaluation 3.6 The Financial Proposal will only be evaluated after the Technical Evaluation has been completed. 3.7 The evaluation of the financial proposal will be based on pro-rating the bid price against the lowest quoted price. This means the company that has the lowest price (amongst those which qualified for financial evaluation) will get the maximum score of 40 points. The weighted Financial Score will be calculated as shown below, and then summed up with the Technical Score to get the total combined score. 10

Financial score = (Lowest Bid price/ Evaluated Bidder s price) x 40 4 Tender Award 4.1 The winner of the tender will be determined by adding up the scores for each bidder under the Technical Evaluation and Financial Evaluation stages to obtain an overall score. CRASA is not bound to accept the highest or any tender and the decision of the relevant tender committee will not be contestable 4.2 Following the completion of the evaluation process, bidders will be notified in writing as to whether they have been successful or not. No further correspondence with the unsuccessful bidders will be entered into following such notification. 4.3 CRASA reserves the right not to award the tender at all, or to award it in whole or in part, at its total discretion. 4.4 The bidders should note that the awarding of the tender is subject to an agreed written contract. This tender document shall form part of the contract. 4.5 The bidder whose tender has been accepted shall be required to execute a formal contract with CRASA in order to establish the rights and obligations of the parties. The award of the contract shall be effected by the issue of a Purchase Order and by a formal letter of acceptance signed by the authorised officers, incorporating the Contract/Tender Reference and the value of the award. All unsuccesful tenderers shall be notified of CRASA s decision. 11

5. Rejection of Tenders Tenders may be rejected when none of the submitted tenders are substantially responsive or if it is apparent that there is no competition. If all tenders are rejected, CRASA will review the causes justifying the rejection and consider revisions of the specifications or modifications in the project or both before inviting new tenders. End of Section 1 Invitation & Instructions to Bidders 12

SECTION 2 : TERMS OF REFERENCE TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONSULTANCY SERVICES. A STUDY ON DEFINITION FRAMEWORK FOR POSTAL GOODS AND SERVICES IN THE SOUTHERN AFRICA DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY (SADC). FOR THE COMMUNICATIONS REGULATORS ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA (CRASA) 13

1. Introduction The Communication Regulators Association of Southern Africa (CRASA) is a consultative body of regulators and other stakeholders dealing in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), broadcasting and postal sectors. CRASA was established under the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Transport, Communications and Meteorology, which encourages the establishment of industry-based bodies or forums with a view of ensuring participation by industries in telecommunications and postal policy development. The core reason for the establishment of CRASA is to facilitate harmonisation of ICT and Postal policies and regulatory frameworks in SADC. This was in response to SADC leaderships common vision which recognized that individual information, communications and postal markets, in the region, were not big enough to have comparative advantage on the global arena as well as attract adequate investment to build modern infrastructure for provision of universally accessible ICTs and Postal services. Market integration was, therefore, identified as the solution to the challenge. Currently, thirteen (13) regulatory institutions in the SADC region are active members of CRASA and are based in the following countries: Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 2. Background and Context One of the key strategic goals of the SADC Postal Strategy 2014-16 is to create a policy and regulatory framework that allows postal operators to diversify into new areas of activity. This was in recognition of the fast changing postal landscape as a result of technological and digital revolution. Competition has come into the sector through vertical and horizontal integration caused by convergence of technology. A 14

key imperative of this strategic goal is to change and improve the wider knowledge, perception and appreciation of the postal sector in SADC, including the range and breadth of their capabilities and services. Furthermore, to allow postal operators to provide a much wider range of products and services, especially in relation to Postbank for example and to harness opportunities that come through innovation and investment in technology and leveraging from existing assets; and to establish a distinct definition framework for postal goods and services in SADC. The SADC Ministers responsible for Communications, ICTs and Postal endorsed this initiative at their meeting in Sandton, South Africa in March 2014 and resolved as follows; Corporate restructuring and operational reorientation of the postal sector to enable it to respond to changes. The leveraging of technology in the postal sector across the SADC region in an integrated way. The development and implementation of regional initiatives aimed at offering seamless financial services within the postal service. The promotion of harmonisation of postal policies and legislation in order to strengthen the capacity of Regulators. 3. Overview of the objectives of the Study This project aims to establish a distinct definition framework for postal goods and services in SADC. This would allow postal operators to provide a much wider range of products and services, especially in relation to Postbank for example and to harness opportunities that come through innovation and investment in technology and leveraging from existing assets. The project will come up with a regulatory 15

definition framework for postal goods and services in SADC that allows postal operators to diversify. Consequent to the changes in the postal sector fuelled by technological substitution and innovation, CRASA requires an analysis of the existing postal regulatory frameworks in the region and adequacy in allowing postal operators to diversify into new areas of business activity and dealing with the rapidly evolving postal sector. The study will compare existing regulations with international best practice and recommend the appropriate fit for the region that would allow the postal sector to flourish. The study will be make recommendations for a distinct regulatory definition framework for postal goods and services for the SADC region. 4. Specific Objectives The following are the specific objectives of the assignment: i. To evaluate the current Universal Postal Union (UPU) definition framework for postal goods and services and determine any modifications that may be made to suit the SADC environment. ii. iii. iv. To define the current postal market in SADC and describe the existing market segments in terms of the products and services offered. To outline the current definition framework for postal goods and services in SADC and identify its weaknesses and limitations as it relates to promoting innovation and diversification by postal operators. To identify gaps in the current definition framework and suggest product and service categories that postal operators can diversify into in order to leverage 16

their core assets and competences including their extensive physical networks. v. To make a comprehensive assessment of the adequacy of existing postal regulations in SADC countries in allowing postal operators to diversify into new areas of business activity as dictated by the evolving postal sector. vi. vii. To develop a distinct definition framework for Postal goods and services for the SADC taking into account regional specifics and international best practice. To develop a draft model regulatory definition framework for postal goods and services in SADC. 5. Duration Of The Assignment The assignment shall be undertaken over a period of Eight (8) weeks from date of signing of contract. 6. Expected Outputs/Deliverables It is envisaged that at the end of the assignment, the Consultant shall submit a detailed comprehensive report and model documents covering all the objectives of the assignment with clear recommendations in order to effectively address the problem under investigation. The report will include, but not limited to, the following information: - Methodology used to conduct the study, indicating methods used to conduct the study and stakeholders interviewed or consulted; - Findings from interaction with key stakeholders, including policy makers and National Regulatory Authorities (NRA) 17

- Ten (5) bound copies of the Final Report. 7. Contracting and Briefing The consultant will be expected to enter into a formal contract with CRASA. The following conditions are to be incorporated into the contract: Any scope variations need to be agreed to in writing between the parties; The consultant will be requested to sign a confidentiality clause. During the assignment the Consultant will provide CRASA Secretariat with:- Monthly progress reports; A draft final report to be presented to a consultative stakeholders workshop organised by CRASA in the sixth week of the assignment. 8. Project Governance The project will be managed by CRASA or any other party appointed by them. 9. Minimum Experience Requirements For Consultancy Team Consultants shall be required to undertake the assignment as a multidisciplinary team comprising the following: Team leader: Minimum of a master s degree in business administration, Economics or any relevant equivalent qualification in the social sciences field with not less than 8-10 years of working experience as a team leader under multiple projects. Must have proven relevant knowledge and expertise in the postal sector particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and will perform the following tasks: 18

Lead and organise the assignment in a professional way Report to CRASA through monthly reports, workshop and final report. 10. Selection/Evaluation Criteria The selection method is Quality and Cost Based Selection. The lump sum contract shall apply. Evaluation and selection criteria shall be based on the following:- 1) Experience in Consultancy 2) Knowledge of the Postal Sector 3) Consultancy fees charged 11. Data, Local Services, Personnel and facilities To Be Provided By The client The Executive Secretary of CRASA shall appoint an internal team specifically tasked to manage the affairs of the assignment. The team shall liaise with the consultants on matters related to the assignment. Ends/... 19

SECTION 3 ANNEXTURES 20

ANNEXURE A FORM OF TENDER (TO BE SUBMITTED IN THE FINANCIAL PROPOSAL) CRASA/PRP/01/2013 [Bidder s name and address in the Bidder s letterhead] TO: The Chairman PRP Tender CRASA Plot 138 Unit 2 Gaborone Internatinal Finance Park P O Box AD 135 ADD Gaborone Botswana Tel: +267 3158468 FAX: 267 3181171 E-Mail : crasa@it.bw The undersigned hereby offers To provide consultancy services for a study on Definition Framework for Postal Gods and Services in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)for the Communications Regulators Association of Southern Africa (CRASA) as described in the Terms of Reference for the total fee of: (in figures): (in words): 21

We confirm that if a contract was agreed between CRASA and ourselves with respect to provide consultancy services for a study on Definition Framework for Postal Goods and Services in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) for the Communications Regulators Association of Southern Africa (CRASA), such a contract would include CRASA s Request for Proposal Documents including all Sections and Annexures, Terms and Conditions, as generally applies to the industry and agreed to by CRASA shall form part of the contract. The undersigned confirms that the provision of consultancy services for a study on Definition Framework for Postal Goods and Services in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) for the Communications Regulators Association of Southern Africa (CRASA) shall run for a period of 6 weeks from the day of signing of contract. The undersigned confirms that the validity of this Proposal is for a period of 60 (sixty) calendar days from the Tender Closing Date. Dated this day of 2012 Signature: Full Name: Title: 22

Duly authorised to sign Proposals for and on behalf of: Bidder s Name: Bidder s Registered Address: Bidder s Telephone No. Bidder s Facsimile No. Bidder s Email Address 1 Bidder s Email Address 2 23

ANNEXURE B STATEMENT OF CAPABILITY Tender No.: CRASA/PRP/01/2013 With reference to the above tender, we submit the following particulars of our company. 1) Name of the Company and its physical and postal Addresses : 2) Name of the Directors and Shareholders 3) (a) Company/Trade Registration No. : : (b) Trading Licence No. : 4) Date of Incorporation/ Registration 5) Present strength of the company (human resources and others) 6) Recent list of the Companies and other Institutions at which you have rendered the services (attach list separately) : : : 24

7) An overview of the company structure covering subsidiary companies, holding companies, financial backers. 8) The locations of depots, agents and service centres appropriate to the supply of the services outlined in this document shall be included in this overview. Ends/... 25