REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
Reference: 1010230200010020_RFP_02
RFP Title:
Impact Evaluation of the mSTAR/Bangladesh Activity
RFP No:
RFP No. 101023.020.001.001.052016
Cost ceiling:
$25,000 USD
Key Dates:
December 5, 2016
RFP released.
December 14, 2016
Submission of questions or requests for clarification in writing via
email to Ataur Rahman Team Lead, mSTAR/Bangladesh, at
[email protected] by December 14, 2016, 5:00 PM Bangladesh
time. Please note that inquiries and answers to inquiries will be shared
with all parties who have previously expressed an interest in this RFP
by December 20, 2016. Please do not contact any FHI 360 employees
regarding this RFP. Contacting individual employees may be cause
for disqualification. No Telephone Inquiries Will Be Answered.
December 20, 2016
Responses to submitted questions sent to all applicants.
January 6, 2017
Submission of proposals due by 5 pm Bangladesh time via email to
Ataur Rahman at [email protected]
January 30, 2017
Selected candidate notified.
RFP No. 1010230200010020_RFP_02
PURPOSE
FHI 360 seeks an evaluation consultant(s) or firm to conduct an impact evaluation of its Mobile Solutions
Technical Assistance and Research (mSTAR) project’s activities in Bangladesh (mSTAR/Bangladesh).
The evaluation shall provide an independent assessment of the mSTAR/Bangladesh activity’s impact on
the acceleration and adoption of digital payments, including mobile money and electronic payments,
among the USAID/Bangladesh programs and the populations that they serve. The evaluation is scheduled
to be completed by the end of April 2017 (see timeframe below).
BACKGROUND
Within Bangladesh, mobile networks already cover 99% of the country, and mobile phone ownership
exceeding 70% in urban areas and almost 60% in rural communities. Since its start in 2011, the mobile
money market in Bangladesh has seen fantastic growth. By the end of 2015, Bangladesh accounted for 8%
of the total number of registered mobile money accounts globally and more than 10% of the number of
global transactions. Roughly, one in eight Bangladeshi adults now actively uses a mobile money account,
and double that number have opened accounts. Given Bangladesh’s high population density, mobile
coverage, demographics, low levels of financial inclusion, and permissive regulatory environment, it is in
many ways an ideal market for scaling up digital financial services, particularly via mobile.
In Bangladesh, mSTAR supports the acceleration and adoption of digital financial services (DFS), including
mobile money and electronic payments, within the USAID Mission’s programs and the populations that
they serve. Implementation of this activity began in September 2013 and it is anticipated to run until May
31, 2017.
The project’s primary objectives are: (1) Increase the use of digital payments in USAID programs—
especially those in the Economic Growth portfolio (Global Climate Change and Feed the Future)—resulting
in efficiency and productivity gains across USAID/Bangladesh’s sector portfolios resulting in strengthened
programs and greater attainment of development outcomes; and (2) Promote improvements in the overall
digital finance sector within Bangladesh that will be beneficial to improving uptake within USAID projects
and by USAID beneficiaries, which in the case of the latter will also help to promote financial inclusion.
To date, mSTAR/Bangladesh has served 8 USAID projects through formal technical assistance and 3
projects through small grants to transition from cash to digital payments. The project has also facilitated 7
mobile money consultative group meetings, which have had participation from about 20 organizations, and
provided technical training to over 80 individuals from USAIDs implementing partners (IPs).
SCOPE OF WORK
The evaluation firm or consultant will complete an evaluation of the mSTAR/Bangladesh project which
addresses three primary objectives (detailed below). The evaluator will determine the evaluation design and
methodologies per their capacity in order to meet the evaluation’s goal and objectives.
Objective 1: Assess the program’s progress toward the goal of integrating digital payments (including
mobile money and electronic payments) in the programs and operations of implementing partners.
 Has the demand for technical assistance for digital financial services from USAID/Bangladesh
implementers increased over the period of the project?
 What has been the impact of mSTAR’s technical assistance on recipients?
 What have been the greatest challenges and benefits to implementers from adopting digital
payments into their programs?
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
Why are implementers who are aware of DFS, but not adopting it? What are the remaining
critical barriers?
Objective 2: Assess the program’s progress toward the goal of supporting expansion of the digital
payments industry in ways that are beneficial to USAID programs and USAID’s broader development
objectives at an ecosystem level.



How has the market changed for adoption of digital financial services? (E.g. Farmers at the
beginning of the project were not able to receive DFS directly but are now being piloted as direct
recipients)
What has been the impact of any of the product interventions that mSTAR has helped to support?
Have any of the interventions been scaled up?
Objective 3: Assess the impact of the grants program


What was the impact of the grants program? Would adoption of DFS had occurred without the
intervention from mSTAR/B?
Are any of the grantees now discontinuing DFS? Is it due to project closure? If it is not due to
project closure, what are the reasons behind not continuing DFS?
Other Areas of Investigation
 What were the critical assumptions of the project’s success? Have these been impacted by a
change in the social, political, environmental factors within the project’s operating environment?
(such as political conflict and terrorist attacks)
Sampling guidance
Along with all learning and technical documents, the selected evaluator will be expected to reach at least
five technical assistance recipients, all three grants recipients, at least eight IPs who have had staff
attended mSTAR technical workshops, at least five DFS providers and at least six MMCG members to
evaluate mSTAR’s activities. The vast majority of these organization are located in Dhaka.
Sources of Information
All relevant documents for the evaluation will be made available for review including programmatic
reports, project publications, site visit reports and related documents. The subcontractor will have access
to project staff, partners, and beneficiaries. In the meantime, many of mSTAR/Bangladesh’s publications
and reports can be found online at: http://www.microlinks.org/library/mstar-mobile-solutions-technicalassistance-and-research-activity-profile-bangladesh
Intended Use of the Evaluation
FHI 360 expects that the following organizations will also utilize the evaluation findings, conclusions,
and recommendations:


USAID Global Development Lab and USAID/Bangladesh
Implementers directly or indirectly engaged in the projects and/or activities related to digital
financial services
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DELIVERABLES AND TIMEFRAME
The evaluation firm or consultant(s) is expected to produce the following deliverables:
1. Work plan for evaluation activities. The work plan should include a timeline, a description of
the proposed methodology and proposed types of data collection instruments.
2. Data collection instruments
3. First draft evaluation report. The draft report will include:
 Description of evaluation goals and objectives;
 Description of research methodology including data collection strategy, possible
limitations and data analysis process;
 Presentation of the main findings and conclusions of the assessment;
 Lessons learned;
 Redesign recommendations for mSTAR/Bangladesh.
4. Summary of findings in PPT form
5. Final evaluation report and PPT summary. The final report will include:
 Description of evaluation goals and objectives;
 Description of research methodology including data collection strategy, possible
limitations and data analysis process;
 Presentation of the main findings and conclusions of the assessment;
 Lessons learned;
 Redesign recommendations for mSTAR/Bangladesh.
 Annexes, including all data collection instruments, list of interviewees, etc.
The draft and final report will be submitted in English in MS Word format and should be no less than 20
pages and not exceed 30 pages, excluding Annexes. The document will be the sole property of USAID and
FHI 360, which will retain the right to use it for internal and external purposes.
The anticipated timeline is shown in the table below
Deliverables
Anticipated due
date
February 15, 2017
February 28, 2017
April 10, 2017
April 17, 2017
April 30, 2017
D1. Work plan
D2. Data collection instruments
D3. First draft of evaluation report
D4. Summary of findings in PowerPoint form
D5. Final report and PPT summary
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
FHI 360 is requesting interested firms to provide the following:
1. Technical Approach: Not to exceed a five-page narrative explaining the applicant’s technical approach
for implementing the activity. The technical approach should include:
 A detailed description and justification of proposed evaluation methodology including
sampling strategy, description of tools and techniques that will be used to collect and analyze
information.
 Draft work plan with the timeline for the activity.
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2. Corporate Capabilities and Past Experience Statement: Not to exceed a one-page narrative detailing
the organization’s capabilities to perform the scope of work indicating past experience in evaluations
and the firms’ qualifications.
3. Staffing/Personnel Statement: This section must include a statement demonstrating the proposed
personnel’s relevant skills and past experience to successfully complete this assignment, not to exceed
two pages. As an annex the applicant should include CVs of the proposed personnel who will conduct
the work (maximum 2 pages per CV).
4. Cost Proposal: The cost proposal will be based on the deliverables indicated above and the illustrative
calendar. The budget must be presented in the format included as Attachment A and must contain
detailed line item costs, a brief budget narrative that clearly show how the budgeted amounts were
calculated. Budgets must be submitted in USD or BDT. Applications submitted by organizations or
firms based in Bangladesh must be in BDT with the exchange rate shown.
5. Other Attachments
 Certifications (Attachment B); Certifications are required by FHI 360 and USAID and must be
signed by the authorized official, dated and included in the proposal. Recipients will be required
to comply with the content of the certifications as part of the contractual agreement when/if
funding is approved.
SELECTION CRITERIA
The criteria presented below have been tailored to the requirements of this RFP. A total of 100 points are
possible for the complete proposal. The relative importance of each criterion is indicated by approximate
weight by points.
Evaluation Criteria
Points
Technical Approach
 Understanding of the subject matter and issues.
 Soundness of proposed evaluation methodology.
 Reasonableness of timeline.
35 points
Corporate Capabilities and Past Experience
 Experience and capacity of the organization(s) in conducting evaluations, which emphasis
given to experience with digital financial service activities and work in Bangladesh, and
adequacy of resources.
Staffing/Personnel
 Proposed staff person(s) who will be responsible for implementation have the relevant skills
and past experience to successfully complete the assignment.
Budget
 Proposed budget represents the best value, and all costs included are allocable to this activity,
reasonable and allowable under USAID rules and regulations.
TOTAL
30 points
15 points
20 points
100 points
a) FHI 360 intends to evaluate offerors in accordance with the stated evaluation criteria and make a contract
award to the responsible offeror(s) whose proposal(s) meets the requirements of this RFP and scored the
highest proposal.
(b) The submitted technical information will be evaluated by a technical evaluation committee using the
stated technical criteria.
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(c) If FHI 360 determines that discussions are necessary, FHI 360 may establish a Competitive Range
composed of only the most highly rated proposals. FHI 360 may exclude an offer from the competitive
range if it is so deficient as to essentially require a new technical proposal. FHI 360 may exclude an offer
from the competitive range if it so unreasonably priced, in relation to more competitive offers, as to appear
that there will be little or no chance of becoming competitive. FHI 360 may exclude an offer that would
require extensive discussions, a complete re-write, or major revisions such as to allow an Offeror unfair
advantage over those more competitive offers. FHI 360 reserves the right to award one or more contracts
under this RFP on the basis of initial offers without discussions or without establishing a competitive range.
CONTRACT MECHANISM
FHI 360 anticipates awarding a fixed-price subcontract to the applicant whose proposal will be evaluated
based on the evaluation criteria described above. The estimated budget for this contract is $25,000 USD.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Applicants are responsible for review of the terms and conditions described below.
WITHDRAWALS OF PROPOSALS
Applicants may withdraw proposals by written notice via email received at any time before award.
Proposals may be withdrawn in person by an applicant or his/her authorized representative, if the
representative’s identity is made known and the representative signs a receipt for the proposal before award.
RIGHT TO SELECT/REJECT
FHI 360 reserves the right to select and negotiate with those firms it determines, in its sole discretion, to be
qualified for competitive proposals and to terminate negotiations without incurring any liability. FHI 360
also reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received without explanation.
DISCLAIMER
This RFP represents only a definition of requirements. It is merely an invitation for submission of proposals
and does not legally obligate FHI 360 to accept any of the submitted proposals in whole or in part, nor is
FHI 360 obligated to select the lowest priced proposal. FHI 360 reserves the right to negotiate with any or
all firms, both with respect to price, cost and/or scope of services. FHI 360 has no contractual obligations
with any firms based upon issuance of this RFP. It is not an offer to contract. Only the execution of a written
contract shall obligate FHI 360 in accordance with the terms and conditions contained in such contract.
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FIRM GUARANTEE
All information submitted in connection with this RFP will be valid for three (3) months from the RFP due
date. This includes, but is not limited to, cost, pricing, terms and conditions, service levels, and all other
information. If your firm is awarded the contract, all information in the RFP and negotiation process is
contractually binding.
OFFER VERIFICATION
FHI 360 may contact applicants to confirm contact person, address, bid amount and that the bid was
submitted for this solicitation.
FALSE STATEMENTS IN OFFER
Applicants must provide full, accurate and complete information as required by this solicitation and its
attachments.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
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Applicants must provide disclosure of any past, present or future relationships with any parties associated
with the issuance, review or management of this solicitation and anticipated award. Failure to provide full
and open disclosure may result in FHI 360 having to re-evaluate selection of a potential subcontractor.
RESERVED RIGHTS
All RFP responses become the property of FHI 360 and FHI 360 reserves the right in its sole discretion to:
 To disqualify any offer based on applicant failure to follow solicitation instructions.
 FHI 360 reserves the right to waive any deviations by applicants from the requirements of this
solicitation that in FHI 360's opinion are considered not to be material defects requiring rejection
or disqualification; or where such a waiver will promote increased competition.
 Extend the time for submission of all RFP responses after notification to all applicants.
 Terminate or modify the RFP process at any time and re-issue the RFP to whomever FHI 360 deems
appropriate.
 FHI 360 reserves the right to issue an award based on the initial evaluation of offers without
discussion.
 Award only part of the activities in the solicitation or issue multiple awards based on solicitation
activities.
 FHI 360 will not compensate applicants for preparation of their response to this RFP.
 Issuing this RFP is not a guarantee that FHI 360 will award a purchase order.
 FHI 360 may choose to award a purchase order to more than one applicant for specific parts of the
activities in the RFP.
ATTTACHMENTS to RFP
A) Budget Template
B) Certifications
(End of RFP)
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