Request For Proposal:Terms of Reference for outbound call centre services for Tanzania Clean Cooking Project, October 2024

 1. Background

The AECF, LLC (Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund) is a leading non-profit development organisation that supports innovative enterprises in the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors with the aim of reducing rural poverty, promoting climate resilient communities, and creating jobs.

We catalyze the private sector by surfacing and commercializing new ideas, business models and technologies designed to increase agricultural productivity, improve farmer incomes, expand clean energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve resilience to the effects of climate change. We finance high risk businesses that struggle to access commercial funding; we are committed to working in frontier markets, fragile contexts, and high-risk economies where few mainstream financing institutions dare to go.

To date, we have supported over 510 businesses in 26 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, impacted more than 33million lives and created over 35,000 direct jobs.

AECF is headquartered in Kenya and has offices in Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Nigeria, South Sudan, Benin, and Somalia.

2. Tanzania Clean Cooking Project – TCCP

The TCCP is a three-year programme (July 2022 – June 2025) funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The project seeks to reduce energy poverty through a transformational increase in the use of clean cooking solutions in rural, marginalized, and underserved communities. The envisaged outcome is increased private sector investment, innovation in affordable clean cooking solutions and accelerated access to clean cooking solutions in Tanzania.

The programme aims to achieve three main objectives:

• Accelerate adoption of clean cooking solutions in underserved markets in Tanzania.
• Catalyze private sector participation and innovation in market-based approaches for clean cooking. Focus on small and growing businesses.
• Strengthen sector coordination and advocate for a conducive policy environment for the clean cooking sector

3. Purpose of the assignment

Through this request for proposals (“RFP”), the AECF is looking for a consultant to provide outbound call centre services for the TCCP results-based financing program.

3.1 Specific Duties and Responsibilities of the Consultant

• Conduct telephone interviews of a random sample of customers to verify information provided on reported sales e.g. name of the customer, product/service sold, date of sale, sales price and location, as provided by the customer interviewed corresponds with the sales information provided by the results-based award company. It is expected that 1800 customers will be interviewed over the course of 1 year.
• Provide periodic reports to AECF as an output of the telephone interviews.

3.2 Outputs and Reporting Requirements

• Monthly telephone verification reports
• Supporting call logs and reports

4. Duration of Service

This task is expected to be for 9months after contract sign-off.

5. Qualifications & Experience

• A call centre based in Tanzania that has been providing services to corporate and SME clients in Tanzania for at least three years.
• Experience providing customer care services on behalf of companies that provide solar or clean cooking solutions to households will be an added advantage
• Demonstrated capacity to deliver in the timeframe outlined.
• Fluency in written, spoken English and Swahili.

6. Reporting

The lead consultant will report to the TCCP Programme Manager.

7. Evaluation Criteria

The AECF will form an evaluation committee.  All members will be bound by the same standards of confidentiality. The consultant should ensure that they fully respond to all criteria to be comprehensively evaluated.

The AECF may request and receive clarification from any consultant when evaluating a proposal. The evaluation committee may invite some or all the consultants to appear before the committee to clarify their proposals. In such an event, the evaluation committee may consider such clarifications in evaluating the proposals.

In deciding the final selection of a qualified bidder, the technical proposal will be given a weighting of 70% based on the evaluation criteria. Only the financial proposal of those bidders who qualify technically will be opened. The financial proposal will be allocated a weighting of 30% and the proposals will be ranked according to the total points scored.

The mandatory and desirable criteria against which proposals will be evaluated are identified in the table below.

 8. Proposal submission

Interested companies/individuals must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications.

a) A technical proposal, max 15 pages (excluding annexes) including the following:

• A profile of the lead consultant (max. 3 pages) explaining why they are the most suitable for the work
• CVs of the team composition, qualification and experience.
• An understanding of the consultancy requirements.
• Methodology and work plan for performing the assignment.
• Detailed reference list indicating the scope and magnitude of similar assignments.
• Letters of references/recommendation from previous companies/assignments
• Relevant services undertaken. Sample of past work: applicants are requested to submit a sample of similar tasks to demonstrate the experiences required by this Terms of Reference
• Registration and other relevant statutory documents (this apply to Institutional consultants).

b) A financial proposal

• Financial proposal in USD clearly showing the proposed team member, roles, and proposed days and the proposed professional fee. The financial proposal shall also include an indication of reimbursables (travel, communication etc.)

9. Pricing

The financial proposals shall include all applicable taxes quoted separately. The AECF is obliged by the Tanzania tax authorities to withhold taxes on service contract fees as well as ensure (VAT) is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position with regards to provisions of tax legislation when developing their proposals.

 10. Application details

The AECF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The AECF considers all interested candidates based on merit without regard to race, sex, colour, national origin, religion, age, marital status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

• All clarifications and/or questions should be sent to aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org  by 25^th October 2024, 5.00pm (EAT)
• The AECF invites qualified consultants/firms to send a proposal to aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org  clearly marked read ‘’TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR A FOR OUTBOUND CALL CENTRE SERVICES FOR TANZANIA CLEAN COOKING PROJECT to receive no later than 31^st October 2024, 5.00pm (EAT) time. addressed to: AECF, Procurement Department.

11. Disclaimer

AECF reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party

NB: The AECF does not charge an application fee for participation in the tender process and has not appointed any agents or intermediaries to facilitate applications. Applicants are advised to reach out directly to the AECF PROCUREMENT DEPARTMENT