Date:
2015-06-23
Reference number:
UF 2013/62662
Bamako, Mali
(Embassy of Sweden in Mali)
Invites tenders regarding
short-term Technical Assistance to GEDEFOR II (Sida Contribution
No: 51130063) and Case Number: UF 2013/62662/BAMA
You are hereby invited to submit tenders regarding Mali are undergoing
rapid deforestation and over-exploitation of natural resources. Forests cover in
total 100 million ha, out of which only 21 million ha is productive forest. The
majority of the relatively denser forest is situated in the Guinean and Sudanese
regions in the south. The forests are marked by a gradual degradation, in part
due to climate change and demographic growth (3.6% per year, Census 2009),
but mainly from unsustainable resource extraction and clearing for farming.
Rural communities - about 80% of the total population - rely on forests and trees
for fuel, food, medicinal plants, building material, and grazing and cash income.
However, deforestation, coupled with little or no active regeneration, threatens
the forests’ ability to satisfy present and future generations’ needs of these
products.
Mali is engaged in a decentralization process aiming at transferring the
governance responsibility for forests from the central government to rural
communes.
During 2009 - 2014, Sweden together with Norway funded the Programme
“Decentralized Forest Management Programme- GEDEFOR I” in three regions of
Mali.
The Programme assisted local communes in setting up and implementing
communal land development schemes and forests management plans. The
program implementation emphasized the development of specific actions on the
basis of local priorities, in response to local problems and in keeping with local
potential. Investment in training and skills development is believed to have
enhanced the capacity of the communities to identify their needs and make their
own decisions. In preparing land development schemes and forests management
plans, communes and communities were encouraged to think in terms of all
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possible uses of their land. Communities have also invested in activities that
would stop degradation of the soil (water harvesting, erosion control, soil
conservation, vegetation rehabilitation). Investments with immediate impact on
the community’s life, such as wells and boreholes with small scale irrigation
systems and seeds for market gardens, beekeeping and animal fattening have
also been supported. Besides meeting immediate needs and increasing income,
such investments reduced the local population’s need of income from (illegal)
forest exploitation and also helped build village confidence in the Programme and
test the organizational capacity of the communities.
It was noted that the business skills are weak at community level, which reduces
the likelihood of sustainability and scaling-up of local income-generating
activities.
The Programme has registered weaknesses and constraints related to the
national financial management system which initially slowed down the
Programme implementation and postponed the transfer of responsibilities and
resources to the local government (communes). Further, the 2012 multidimensional crisis resulted in the suspension of the bilateral aid, including support
to GEDEFOR I. This further slowed down the process of the transfer of
responsibilities and resources to the communes. The suspension was lifted in
2013 and the Programme continued from June 2013 to June 2014 with support
from Sweden.
In order to consolidate the achievements and to expand the interventions, Sida
decided in December 2014 to support the national programme « Programme de
Gestion Décentralisée des Forêts - phase II » during the period 2014-2018.
The overall aim of the programme is to continue to contribute to the decentralized
and sustainable management of forest resources in a climate change perspective
through improved local governance, strengthened capacity for climate change
adaptation and increased revenues from trees and forests for the most vulnerable
and poor rural populations (men and women) in two regions of Mali.
The specific objectives of GEDEFOR’s current 2nd phase are as follows:
1. Improve performances, knowledge and know-how of communes,
community-based organizations, the forestry service and all actors
of the wood and non-wood value chains in a significant manner in
the areas of decentralized and sustainable management of
forests, and reinforce their economic, social and cultural
subsistence base.
2. The development of micro-enterprises in value-addition of nonwood forest products and income-generating activities.
3. Promote organizational and technical performances of actors in
view of sustainable field actions.
4. Ensuring a correct institutional, administrative, technical and
financial management of the program through available means.
The Programme is owned by the Ministry of Environment, Sanitation and
Sustainable Development (MEADD). The main implementation body is the
National Directorate for Forests and Waters -DNEF, a directorate of the Ministry
for Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development (MEADD) which has
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the country-wide responsibility for forests, wildlife and wetlands. It is organized in
five divisions, each division being divided into two sections. One is a technical
section while the other deals with the promotion of people’s participation in
decision making processes and actions. The five divisions have the following
responsibilities: studies and planning, forests development, fauna and its habitat
conservation, laws and protection of nature and training and communication.
DNEF has a forestry service (office) in every region and every district. The
districts have local branches which deliver support to villages and communes.
The local Government structure in Mali consists of “rural communes” formed by a
group of villages and (in many cases) nomadic settlements. The “Commune” is
governed by an elected Local Government Council lead by a Mayor. The Local
Government Council is responsible for planning and implementation at
municipal/communal level. The performance capacity varies considerably
between different Local Government Councils. Some have only one or two staff
and a very limited experience in project implementation, while others have more
experience. However, in general the capacities at local commune level are low.
The Programme GEDEFOR II is supervised by a steering committee, which
approves and follows-up the annual work plans, budgets and reports.
The day-to-day operations of GEDEFOR II are coordinated by a Programme
Management Unit (PMU) composed of a Coordinator, a technical officer, a
monitoring and evaluation officer, training and communications officer, an officer
for gender, value chains and HIV/AIDS issues, an officer for climate change
adaptation, a financial assistant and support staff. There are also small teams at
regional and communal levels. The PMU is placed within DNEF under the
director and operates on a task implementation basis with the DNEF’s national
divisions and the regional and district offices. The PMU’s role is to move the
programme forward and to coordinate activities.
In the agreement signed between Sweden and the government of Mali in
December 2014, it is planned to recruit a pool of short term technical assistance
(international and national consultants). The Technical Assistance will mainly
support the PMU, as well as some other implementing structures/bodies: the
Monitoring Committee at DNEF, the National Nature Directorate for Forests and
Waters (DNEF) and its technical divisions, the Regional offices, the General
Directorate in charge of Communes/municipalities (DGCT).
The Client of the assignment is DNEF. They will have full responsibility for
communication; initiating requests and timing of consultant inputs; supervision
and support to the day-to-day work of the consultants; and validation of reports
and other outputs of the technical assistance. Sida will monitor the
implementation of the Programme, including the performance of the Consultant,
and participate as observer in meetings of the Steering Committee.
The Technical Assistance is planned on a short term basis. The team members
according to a planned schedule will be travelling to Bamako and within the
country mainly in the regions of Koulikoro and Kayes. The Technical Assistance
could also travel within the West Africa Region. The intended timeframe is from
November 2015 to March 2018. Each senior specialist will work hand by hand
with a consultant with local experience in order to take advantage from his/her
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knowledge about local realities. See the Time plan below in accordance with
this tender documentation.
We look forward to receiving your tender.
Appendixes
Appendix 1.1
Appendix 1.2
Appendix 1.3
Appendix 1.4
Appendix 2
Appendix 2.1
Appendix 3
Appendix 3.1
Appendix 3.2
Contact information
Price Appendix
Key ratios
Reference in writing
Terms of Reference (ToR)
References regarding projects completed
Draft contract
Sida’s General Conditions for Framework
Agreements, 2002
Sida’s Standard Conditions for Short and Long Term
Consulting Services, 2002
Table of Contents
1
Administrative conditions .................................................................... 6
2.1 Questions and answers regarding the contract documents .............. 7
2.2 Obligatory requirements ................................................................... 7
2.3 Evaluation of the tenders submitted ................................................. 7
2.4 Correction of errors and clarifications and supplementation of
tenders ................................................................................................... 7
2.5 Notice of award ................................................................................ 7
3
4
General Tendering Conditions ............................................................ 8
Requirements regarding the tenderer (qualification) ........................... 8
4.1
Financial Position ........................................................................ 9
4.2
Tenderer’s Technical and Professional Capacity ....................... 10
4.3
Quality assurance system.......................................................... 11
4.4
Sub-consultants ......................................................................... 11
5
Tender price...................................................................................... 11
5.1
Fees and costs .......................................................................... 11
6
Terms of reference/Requirements specification ................................ 12
6.1
Acknowledgement of requirements............................................ 12
7
Evaluation ......................................................................................... 12
7.1
Implementation and Method ...................................................... 12
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8
7.2
Organisation for the assignment ................................................ 13
7.3
Work- and Time Plan ................................................................. 13
7.4
Qualifications and competence .................................................. 13
Evaluation of tenders ........................................................................ 13
8.1
Evaluation principles .................................................................. 13
8.2
Method of evaluation ................................................................. 14
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General orientation
1 Administrative conditions
Contracting authority
Postal address
Embassy of Sweden
P. O. Box E 2093, Bamako, Mali
Building UATT, 2nd Floor
Embassy’s ID
No/organisation number:
Contact person
083312606L
Last date to tender
2015-08-31
The tender must be sealed and
addressed to the contracting authority.
The envelope must be clearly marked
as indicated below:
short-term Technical Assistance to
GEDEFOR II (Sida Contribution No:
51130063) and Case Number: UF
2013/62662/BAMA
Address and marking
Mamby FOFANA, Programme Officer
mamby.fofana@gov.se
Case Number: UF 2013/62662/BAMA
Tenders submitted by fax or
e-mail
Not allowed.
Procurement procedure:
Open,
Negotiations, if any, can only be
commenced at the initiative of
Embassy of Sweden in Bamako, Mali]
CPV Code
03000000-1 Agricultural, farming,
fishing, forestry and related products
77000000-0 Agricultural, forestry,
horticultural, aquacultural and
apicultural services
The tender shall be valid
until
Term of Contract
2015-11-30
2015-11-01—2018-09-30 with an
opportunity to extend for up to 12
months
Contracts will be signed with one tenderer.
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The Contract’s estimated
2 542 000 SEK
Procurement regulations
the terms and regulations of the Public
Procurement Act (2007:1091) (LOU)
2.1 Questions and answers regarding the contract documents
During the procurement process, the contracting authority is not permitted
to discuss documentation, tenders, evaluation or other such matters with
tenderers in a manner which favours or disfavours one or more tenderers.
Questions regarding contract documents must be directed to
“ambassaden.bamako@gov.se and/or mamby.fofana@gov.se no later
than August 19, 2015. A compilation of relevant questions and answers
will be published on Sida’s website, www.sida.se under Procurements
“Kommers Annons”. Each tenderer must ensure that it reads the answers
to the questions, together with any other information, which may be
published on the above-mentioned website during the period of the tender.
2.2 Obligatory requirements
The contract documents with the Appendixes contain a number of
compulsory requirements, which are so designated by the word must and
are underlined. In order for a tender to be examined, evaluated and
adopted these must requirements have to be satisfied.
2.3 Evaluation of the tenders submitted
Initially, an examination will be made of the administrative must
requirements (see sections 3 and 5). Later, each tender will be examined
to determine whether it meets the qualification requirements for suppliers
(see section 4).
Tenderers who satisfy the requirements and are deemed to be qualified
will have their tenders examined regarding requirements for the service
(see section 6) and finally evaluated. Evaluation criteria are set out in
section 7 and the evaluation method is described in section 8.
2.4 Correction of errors and clarifications and supplementation
of tenders
Responses by tenderers to requests by the Embassy for corrections of
errors, clarifications or supplementation of tenders must be submitted in
writing to the contact person indicated above.
2.5 Notice of award
All tenderers will be notified by e-mail of the winning tender as soon as
possible after a decision has been made to award the contract.
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A notice of award does not mean that a binding contract has been entered
into between the Embassy and the winning tenderer. A contract is not
legally binding until it has been signed by both parties.
3 General Tendering Conditions
1.
This procurement is governed by the provisions of the Public
Procurement Act (2007:1091) (LOU).
2.
Tenders must be prepared based on the conditions indicated, and
satisfy the listed requirements.
3.
Tenders must be in writing and signed by the tenderer.
4.
Tenders must contain information about the tenderer pursuant to
Appendix 1.1 Contact information, which is appended hereto.
5.
The tender and all documentation appended must be drawn up in
English and contain the information and documents indicated in this
tender documentation.
6.
The tender must be submitted as two complete sets - an original and
a copy. The tender must also contain a digital copy (CD, USB
memory or equivalent) and must be clearly marked with the name of
the company and the case number. If the tender versions on these
media differ, the paper copy shall govern. Certificates from the
Swedish Companies Registration Office and/or Tax Authority, or their
equivalents, however, need not be submitted in digital form.
7.
The formation of consortiums is allowed. In such cases the tenderer
must submit either:
a tender signed by all partners of the consortium and a draft of a
consortium agreement providing for joint and several liability with
reference to the contract including the nomination of the lead firm of
the consortium,
or
a tender signed by the lead firm and a copy of a consortium, signed
by all participating parties, providing for joint and several liability with
reference to the contract including the nomination of the lead firm of
the consortium.
8.
Tenderers, in their tender, must confirm their acceptance of the
annexed draft contract, including the General Terms and Conditions.
4 Requirements regarding the tenderer (qualification)
The following requirements must be satisfied
The tenderer must have fulfilled the required legal obligations regarding
registration, taxation and other legal charges in Sweden or in the
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tenderer’s home country. The tenderer and individuals representing the
tenderer must not have been found guilty of any crime related to the
exercise of his profession. Tenderers to whom circumstances pursuant to
LOU, Chapter 10, §§ 1-2 apply; will be excluded from participation in this
procurement.
A tenderer must append the following documents in a copy to its tender as
evidence that the requirements have been satisfied.
A copy of the registration certificate issued by the authorised
government agency (in Sweden, this is the Swedish Companies
Registration Office, Bolagsverket), provided that an obligation to
register exists. Registration number from the Swedish Companies
Registration Office (www.bolagsverket.se). In the case of companies
in the process of being established, the company must be registered
in the company registry at the time the contract is signed.
A certificate showing that the tenderer is registered for the payment of
value added tax, withholding tax, employee contributions, or similar
taxes or charges in accordance with the law of the country of the
tenderer, and is free from debts regarding taxes and social security
contributions. For a Swedish tenderer, a request for information in
connection with Public Procurement (Form SKV 4820) must be
submitted and signed by the Swedish Tax Authority. This form can be
obtained from the following website www.skatteverket.se. As this form
only applies to Sweden, foreign tenderers must submit equivalent
documentation, such as a certificated that the tenderer has complied
with the required registrations and payments. If the authority in the
tenderer’s home country does not release this information, and the
reason for this is stated in the tender, the certificate can instead be
signed by the managing director, chairperson of the board or the
auditor of the company
4.1 Financial Position
Tenderers must have a stable financial basis.
Companies that are required to prepare annual accounts:.

must demonstrate that the company has a stable financial basis by
appending to the tender copies of the most recent year’s adopted
annual accounts, including a signed auditor’s report.
Companies that are not required to prepare annual accounts, or newly
established companies:

must demonstrate that the company has a stable financial basis by
appending to the tender, income statements and balance sheets for
the two most recent years, or by appending a completed Tax
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Authority form known as ”Inkomst av näringsverksamhet” (income
of enterprise) for the two most recent years.

A newly established company must show that the company has a
stable financial basis by appending to the tender share capital or
other documents, attaching income statements, balance sheets, if
any, as well as indicating a reference to a bank and/or financier.
The Embassy of Sweden Mali will make a full evaluation of the tenderer’s
financial condition and stability (possibility of surviving through the term of
the contract) based on the material supplied by the tenderer, as well as a
credit report from the UC credit reporting agency.
The evaluation will include an examination of the solvency ratio and
liquidity ratio of the tenderer. If the tenderer have unusually low or
negative key ratios, compared to the average for the branch of trade
and/or shows a loss, the tenderer must be able to submit an acceptable
explanation with the tender, so that the tenderer’s stable economy can be
substantiated (e.g. by annexing a parent company guaranty or bank
guaranty). If a group guaranty is submitted, a credit report will also be
requested for the group in order to evaluate its stability.
In cases where a tenderer fails to shows a stable financial basis (e.g. low
key ratios, or no key ratios at all, the tenderer must nevertheless be
deemed to have satisfied these requirements if the tenderer in its tender
includes an explanation that clearly establishes that the tenderer
possesses an equivalent level of financial stability (e.g. a guaranty issued
by the parent company).
Tenderers must, upon request, submit their most recently adopted (not
older than two years) annual accounts.
If a tender is being submitted by a consortium, each party must submit the
information or documentation requested.
4.2 Tenderer’s Technical and Professional Capacity
Tenderers must have documented resources, competence and experience
to perform projects in the area(s) of expertise requested.
Tenderers must have completed at least two projects during the past three
years equivalent to this project in nature and scope according to
Appendix 1.4
The tender must contain:
a) A confirmation that the requirements specified above are fulfilled, (as
well) as a description of previous similar projects (scope, start and
finish date, name of principal, approximate value of the contract,
number of person-months, etc).
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b) A brief description of the tenderer (facts about the company,
competence and capacity, as well as the company’s market position),
c) A confirmation that the required resources will be at the disposal of the
tenderer when the project is to be implemented.
4.3 Quality assurance system
Tenderers must apply documented quality assurance routines that ensure
that projects are done in a manner that will achieve and maintain the
agreed upon scope and quality.
The tender must contain:
a) A confirmation that the stated requirements are full filled,
b) A description of the routines to which the tender applies (scope and
focus), especially in terms of:
– policy and goals relating to quality
– describing how the tenderer ensures that the implementation will
ensure the agreed upon quality.
– forms of cooperation with customers.
– document management
– deviation reporting, and corrective measures
– qualification and competence profiles of personnel and continuing
training.
c) An example of a project of a similar nature and scope, in which quality
routines were applied.
4.4 Sub-consultants
If a tenderer intends to place parts of the procurement contract with
subcontractors, this must be reported. Information regarding the corporate
ID numbers of all sub-consultants must also be included.
Tenderers who use subcontractors to perform projects, must describe in
the tender how the tenderer can utilise the resources of the subcontractor
that are needed to perform the possible contract.
This means that tenderers, upon request, must be able to submit CVs
from subcontractors, as well as other relevant facts that prove that the
requirements in this tender documentation can be satisfied.
5 Tender price
5.1 Fees and costs
Fees and costs must be given in SEK, excluding VAT, but including any
other taxes and fees.
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The tender must indicate the total cost of the project, specified as fee/hour
for each personnel category. Reimbursable costs must be listed
separately. Other costs should be included in the fee.
Fees and costs must be specified in Appendix 1.2
The tender must indicate a ceiling amount for the total fee, and the total
reimbursable costs.
Costs for travel are compensated according to Articles 7 and 10 of Sida’s
"Standard Conditions for Short and Long Term Consulting Services,
2002”. The daily allowance for Mali is SEK 450.
6 Terms of reference/Requirements specification
The terms of reference/requirements specification indicate fundamental
and specific requirements for the performance of the project, as well as
the goals for the programme or project.
6.1 Acknowledgement of requirements
The tender must contain an acknowledgement that the requirements for
performing the project, as stated in the terms of reference, are full field.
7 Evaluation
Tenderers who fulfil the requirements set out in sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 will
be evaluated as follows:
The tender(s) which is the economically most advantageous, subject to
the evaluation criteria in section 7, will be accepted.
7.1 Implementation and Method
The tender, based on the requirements in the terms of reference, must
describe the method intended to be used, with a special description of how
this will ensure that the goals are satisfied
In evaluation, the following criteria will be assessed:
-
Whether an appropriate and workable strategy for performing the
project and satisfying the goals has been proposed,
-
Whether the tender shows an understanding of the project and the role
and function of the tenderer.
-
Whether there is an adequate division of labour between the home
office and the work in the partner country, as well as a distribution
between international and local consultants.
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7.2 Organisation for the assignment
The tender must describe the organisation that will be used to perform the
assignment.
In evaluation, the following criteria will be assessed:
-
Whether the tasks that are needed in order to perform the project will
be assigned to persons with adequate education, experience and
knowledge,
-
Whether there is adequate staffing, both regarding resources, and
skills and expertise, which contributes to the project reaching its goals.
7.3 Work- and Time Plan
The tender must contain a proposed detailed work- and time plan for the
completion of the project, as well as a staffing plan that specifies the tasks
assigned, and the time allocated for every member of the team.
In evaluation, the following criteria will be assessed:
-
that the work plan is appropriate in order to contribute to fulfil the goals,
and that the time plan is realistic,
-
that the project can be started as soon as possible after the signing of
the contract, or alternatively, that the time it takes to come to the
worksite or the time it takes to start the project will be as short as
possible.
7.4 Qualifications and competence
The tender must contain information regarding the qualifications and
competence of the persons proposed (see terms of reference). This
information will be evaluated based on the following preferences:
8 Evaluation of tenders
8.1 Evaluation principles
Nr
1
2
Evaluation criteria
Max
score
Implementation and method
1.1
Method for implementation
20
1.2
Organisation for the project
20
1.3
Suitability of work- and time plan
20
Qualifications and competence of the proposed
staff
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Nr
Evaluation criteria
Max
score
2.1
Team leader (education, professional
experience, language, experience of
conditions in the country)
2.2
Other staff (education, professional
experience, language, experience of
conditions in the country)
Total score
20
20
100
8.2 Method of evaluation
The number of points that can be awarded
under each of the technical evaluation
criteria. For example, if a maximum of 20
points can be awarded for a give criteria,
”Good” will mean 0.8 x 20 = 16 points.
(In the evaluation, the levels (in %) will have
fixed values, which means that there will be
no intermediate values).
Minimum technical score
5
Poor1
0%
Not entirely
satisfactory2
40 %
Satisfactory3
60 %
Good4
80 %
Very Good5
100 %
The technical part of the
tender must achieve a
minimum of >60< points
as a condition for further
evaluation
Not addressed or not sufficient
Sufficient in some aspects but not as a whole
7 Sufficient but lacks substantial advantages or has uneven quality
8 Adequate and well suited to the purpose
9 Gives added value and shows high quality on the whole
2
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The results of the technical evaluation are used to price quality by
allocating tenders a percentage surcharge on the price, where the
surcharge is a function of how much lower the tender’s quality score is
than the maximum quality score. This method yields a comparison value
for every tender. The winning tender is the one with the lowest comparison
value.
The following formula is used:
Comparison value = Tendered price x (1 + Percentage surcharge).
Percentage surcharge = [(maximum quality score – quality score
assigned)/maximum quality score] x upward adjustment factor;
The upward adjustment factor reflects the effect the quality offered should
have when added to the price in an evaluation. The higher the upward
adjustment factor is, the greater the importance accorded to qualitative
criteria in relation to the price.
The upward adjustment factor is set at 3 for this procurement.