Request for Proposals: Implementation of a Learning Management System October 2021

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

1.2 Since 2008, AECF has invested in 343 enterprises across more than 40 value chains in 26 sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries, raising US$392 million in funding for programs and has leveraged over US $740 million in matching funds from the private sector. AECF investments focus on agribusiness, renewable energy, and climate technologies, while also addressing the cross-cutting themes of gender, youth, and fragile contexts. The AECF has impacted more than 28 million lives and created close to 25,000 jobs. The AECF is headquartered in Kenya with offices in Cote d’ Ivoire and Tanzania.

1.3 Having supported over 300 enterprises with catalytic financing for over eight years, and enterprise development services (EDS) for five years, AECF, through the AECF Academy, is improving the approach and model for provision of EDS to make these services more effective and accessible to SMEs at lower cost. The AECF Academy aims to increase affordable and practical advisory services that enable enterprises in SSA to scale and deliver meaningful impact. Through a digital, AI-enabled platform integrated with consulting services from industry experts, a learning management system, virtual trainings, peer-to-peer mentoring among enterprises and professional coaching, the academy will provide internationally recognized capacity building programs for small and growing enterprises in emerging markets in Africa.

2. Invitation
2.1 AECF would like to deliver this improved virtual learning support to its investee SMEs through a simple, practical, flexible and integrated learning management system that provides capabilities that meet the above objectives, through a plug-and-play system that also offers already developed SME training content especially in business management and leadership. The system will also enable AECF’s investees to engage in cross-learning/peer-to-peer mentoring. These learning services will also be accessed by AECF staff, to increase their own productivity at work. Details of this scope have been presented in the Annex 1 – Statement of work.

2.2 Through this request for proposal (“RFP”), The AECF is seeking to invite vendors to submit bids for the implementation of a Learning Management System as per the statement of works annexed to this TOR.

2.3 The vendor will be required to provide implementation, customization & training on the proposed system as well as on-going support and service including system upgrades, fixes, and enhancements. The proposal will encompass all that is required to successfully implement a working Learning Management System based on an existing platform.

2.4 To be considered, your proposal reference “REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL IMPLEMENTATION OF A LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (LMS)” must be addressed to aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org and received by 17th November 2021, 5:00 PM EAT.

2.5 The AECF may, at its discretion, cancel the requirement in part or in 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 prior to selection, without thereby incurring any liability to proposers/firms.

2.6 Proposers may withdraw the proposal after submission provided that written notice of withdrawal is received by the AECF prior to 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.

2.7 All proposals shall remain valid and open for acceptance for a period of 180 calendar days after the date specified for receipt of proposals. A proposal valid for a shorter period may be rejected. 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.

2.8 Effective with the release of this bid, all communications must be directed only to the Procurement department by email at aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org. Proposers must not communicate with any other person of the AECF regarding this RFP.

3. Award
3.1 Award will be made to one Proposer. Award will be made to the highest ranked, responsive, and responsible Proposer whose proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to The AECF. The service contract will be based on the initial product cost, licenses, maintenance fee, and professional services for training and implementation.

4. Request for Clarification of RFP Documents
4.1 A prospective proposer requiring any clarification of the solicitation documents may notify the AECF in writing via the email address aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org by 29th October 2021. The AECF will respond in writing to any request for clarification it receives by the due date. Written copies of The AECF response including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry will be posted on The AECF website.

5. Amendments to RFP Documents
5.1 At any time prior to the deadline for submission of proposals, The AECF may, for any reason, whether at its own initiative or in response to a clarification requested by a prospective proposer, modify the RFP documents by amendment. All amendments will also be posted on The AECF website in the “Work with Us” section.

6. Language of Proposals
6.1 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.

7. Submission of Proposals
7.1 Proposers shall submit their proposal in soft copy via email aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org

7.2 Technical and Financial proposals must be submitted in separate documents and with clear subject description of the proposal (technical or financial) by the date and time stipulated.

7.3 Proposals must be sent ONLY to the address provided above. Proposals sent to any other addresses will be rejected.

7.4 The Financial proposals shall include all applicable taxes quoted separately. If taxes are not mentioned in the financial proposal, The AECF shall consider that they are included in the prices provided. 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.

7.5 The financial proposal shall include implementation costs, license costs & expected recurrent costs for at least the first 3 years.

8. Late Proposals
8.1 Any proposals received by the AECF after the deadline for submission of proposals will be rejected.

9. Conflict of Interest
9.1 In their proposal, proposers must confirm that, based on their current best knowledge, there are no real or potential conflicts of interest involved in rendering Services to the AECF.

10. Confidentiality
10.1 Information relating to the evaluation of proposals and recommendations concerning selection of Firms will not be disclosed to Firms that submitted proposals.

11. Disclaimer
11.1 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.

Read full terms of reference here; https://www.aecfafrica.org/sites/default/files/about-us/work-with-us/TOR%20-%20AECF%20Academy%20Platform_Final%20RO.docx.pdf