Request For Proposal- Portfolio Management Audit – August 2022, AECF

1.   THE AECF

AECF is a leading development finance organization that supports businesses to innovate, create jobs and leverage investments to build resilience and sustainable incomes for rural and marginalized communities in Africa.

The AECF aims to bridge the investment gap between early-stage enterprise and business maturity for entrepreneurs serving the poorest communities. We provide patient capital to new and innovative business models in the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors across Sub-Saharan Africa through various financing instruments. We also offer advisory services, investment support, and knowledge and insights to supplement finance.

2.  Internal Audit Unit (IAU)

The Internal Audit Unit (IAU) is responsible for conducting internal audit activities at the AECF and investee companies. IAU provides an independent and objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve the operations of the AECF.

3.  About the assignment

The AECF’s core business is driven by the Portfolio management process. The process includes a competition process – market assessments, preparation of term sheets, inviting applications through a call for proposals, applicant selection, due diligence, onboarding, capacity building or technical assistance, portfolio monitoring, disbursements, collections (where applicable), risk management procedures and reporting. We seek a consultant to audit the Portfolio Management process, identify improvement areas and communicate suitable recommendations.

4. Scope of work

The scope includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Review Portfolio management documented policies and procedures;
• Obtain an understanding of the process and applicable internal controls;
• Conduct interviews or review documentation to understand the current practice;
• Ongoing documentation and communication of findings

5.      The objective of the assignment

The objective of the audit is to obtain reasonable assurance that the internal control system established within the Portfolio Management process:

• Guarantees the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of operations of The AECF;
• Secures as far as possible, the financial and operational reporting;
• Ensures that costs charged by The AECF to her donors are reasonable, allocable, allowable, adequately supported and applied consistently to programs;
• Ensures the safeguarding of assets of The AECF; and
• Ensures compliance with policies, procedures, regulations, and rules

6.      Deliverables

• Inception report: Within 5 working days of the signing of the Contract, submit an Inception Report which should include a draft work plan containing a schedule of effort, and deliverables under the Contract.
• Progress updates: Hold regular discussions with the Head of Internal Audit including reasons for potential delays; follow-up actions and significant trends identified.
• Draft Report: Produce a Report for review and comments before the completion of the audit. The report shall include an executive summary, the methodology followed during the assignment and the outcome of the review based on the objectives and tasks defined above. The report should detail any key positive practices, and weaknesses identified during the audit, along with recommendations for corrective action to prevent a recurrence.
• Final Report: The Final Report will cover all key activities undertaken during the assignment. This will include weaknesses in a control system of the AECF Portfolio Management Process and make appropriate recommendations.

7.      Duration of the assignment

The assignment is expected to be completed within 4 weeks from the effective date of the contract.

8.      Qualifications and Experience

The consultant or consulting firm/team must demonstrate experience and understanding of gender mainstreaming approaches in development programs and in private sector development.  The minimum competencies and qualifications include:

9.      Competence and skills

• Teamwork
• Relationship Building
• Task Management Skills
• Communication

10.  Reporting

The consultant will report to the Head of Internal Audit

11.  Proposal submission

Qualified consulting firms are invited to submit a proposal including the following requirements:

• The Technical Proposal must be submitted separately and clearly marked on the document and email subject “Technical Proposal – Portfolio Management Process Audit”. NO details of a financial nature whatsoever should be included in this Technical Proposal. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in disqualification.
• Proposers are requested to submit a Technical Proposal that demonstrates the capability to delivering the requested services.
• The Technical Proposal shall include information to demonstrate the current soundness and financial position of the submitting organization:

1. Organizational: a brief description, including ownership details, date, and place of incorporation of the firm, objectives of the firm, partnerships, qualifications, and certificates, etc.
2. Statement of Satisfactory Performance of similar services from the firm’s Clients.
3. Listing of proposed personnel, experience, and qualifications
4. Comments on the RFP and how the firm will address the requirements.
5. Methodology and Approach

To facilitate a faster evaluation and comparative analysis of the proposals, we recommend that the proposals be structured in the following manner:

1. The expertise of Firm/Organization – This section should provide details regarding the management structure of the organization, organizational capability/resources, and experience of the organization/firm, and the list of projects/contracts (both completed and ongoing, both domestic and international) which are related or similar in nature to the requirements of the RFP.
2. Proposed Methodology, Approach and Implementation Plan – This section should demonstrate the implementor’s response to the RFP/scope of services by identifying the specific components proposed, how the requirements shall be addressed, as specified, point by point; providing a detailed description of the essential performance characteristics proposed; and demonstrating how the proposed methodology meets or exceeds the specifications, while ensuring appropriateness of the approach to the local conditions and the rest of the project operating environment.
3. Management Structure and Key Personnel – This section should include the comprehensive curriculum vitae (CVs) of key personnel that will be assigned to support the implementation of the proposed methodology, clearly defining the roles and responsibilities vis-à-vis the proposed methodology. CVs should establish competence and demonstrate qualifications in areas relevant to the TOR.

In complying with this section, the implementer assures and confirms to The AECF that the personnel being nominated are available on the proposed dates. If any of the key personnel later becomes unavailable, except for unavoidable reasons such as death or medical incapacity, The AECF reserves the right to render the proposal non-responsive.

1. Through this request for proposals (“RFP”), the Internal Audit Unit of The AECF seeks to appoint a Provider/Consultant to audit the Portfolio Management process.
2. The AECF may, at its discretion, cancel the requirement in part or whole. It also reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal and to annul the selection process and reject all proposals at any time before selection, without thereby incurring any liability to proposers/firms.
3. Proposers may withdraw the proposal after submission provided that written notice of withdrawal is received by the AECF before the deadline prescribed for submission of proposals. No proposal may be modified after the deadline for submission of proposals. No proposal may be withdrawn in the interval between the deadline for submission of proposals and the expiration of the period of proposal validity.
4. All proposals shall remain valid and open for acceptance for 30 calendar days after the date specified for receipt of proposals. In exceptional circumstances, the AECF may solicit the proposer’s consent to an extension of the period of validity. The request and the responses thereto shall be made in writing.
5. The proposals prepared by the proposer and all correspondence and documents relating to the proposal exchanged by the proposer and the AECF shall be written in English

12.  Financial Proposal

The Financial Proposal should include pricing information covering the requirements covered in this document.

The Financial Proposal document must be clearly marked “Financial Proposal – Portfolio Management Process Audit” as well as the email subject. NO details of a financial nature whatsoever must be included in the Technical Proposal. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in disqualification.

The financial component shall include the following:

• Fee structure and pricing details in US dollars including all expenses and applicable taxes;
• The financial methodology that explains the rationale of the financial component and how it offers the best value;
• A financial plan that clearly links all costs to activities and outputs detailed in the work plan with associated payment mechanisms;
• Unit rates
• Total Lump sum Contract amount

Financial proposals that will not have the above details will be disqualified. In addition,

• The Implementor shall include and clearly show all expected taxes in the financial component.
• The AECF reserves the right to give preference to the most appropriate baseline in terms of expected economies of scale.
• The financial proposal shall be fixed price and not based on Time & Material. It should contain real efforts in terms of man days (i.e. Junior, Intermediate, Senior etc.) and price per man day for each category. Based on the Technical proposal (Workplan, methodology, personnel, goods, and services to be supplied under the contract and the unit rates, the bidder must provide a total lump sum fixed price for determining the financial score and contract value.
• AECF is obliged by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes on service contract fees as well as ensure VAT, at 16%, is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position with regards to provisions of Kenya tax legislation when developing their proposals.

13.  Evaluation Criteria

An evaluation committee will be formed by the AECF. 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 proposals.

In deciding the final selection of qualified bidder, the technical quality of the 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 in terms of total points scored.

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

14. Application details

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

• The AECF invites qualified consultants/firms to send a proposal to aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org clearly marked “REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL – PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT PROCESS AUDIT” The AECF shall not be liable for not opening proposals that are submitted with a different subject.
• A prospective proposer requiring any clarification of the solicitation documents may notify the AECF in writing via the email address aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org by 9^th September 2022. The AECF will respond in writing to any request for clarification of the solicitation documents that it receives by the due date.
• The proposal should be received no later than 16^th September 2022, by 5.00 pm East Africa Time (GMT +3) addressed to The AECF, Procurement Department. Any proposals received by the AECF after the deadline for submission of proposals will be rejected.

15. Disclaimer

AECF reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, the 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… https://www.aecfafrica.org/careers/request-for-proposal-portfolio-management-audit-august-2022/