Closing date of RFP:                       December 11, 2017

Implementing Organization:       United States Energy Association

Funding Agency:                             United States Agency for International Development

The United States Energy Association (USEA) is inviting prospective organizations or individuals through this Request for Proposal (RFP) to submit proposals for conducting a program on “Leadership Training” for the Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) in Washington, DC.  This is an activity implemented by USEA under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Power Africa Initiative.

Proposals are due by 17:00 hours EST of the closing date.  Please forward your proposal in soft copy (PDF form) to Ms. Marina N. Barnett, Senior Program Coordinator, at [email protected].

As this is a USAID-funded program, the RFP follows USAID Procurement Regulations and Laws.  All bidder details will be kept confidential.

1. INTRODUCTION

The U.S. Energy Association (USEA) is the U.S. Member Committee of the World Energy Council (WEC). Headquartered in Washington, DC, USEA is an association of public and private energy-related organizations, corporations, and government agencies.

Through a cooperative agreement with the USAID Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and Environment (E3), USEA implements the Energy Utility Partnership Program (EUPP), available to all USAID-assisted countries and USAID Missions.  EUPP supports the efforts in USAID-assisted developing countries to increase environmentally sustainable energy production and to improve the operational efficiency and increased financial viability of their utilities and related institutions, with the goal of increasing the access of these countries to environmentally sound energy services.

USEA conducts a number of activities under the EUPP mechanism for Power Africa - a U.S. Government-led partnership to increase Sub-Saharan Africa’s access to energy.  Power Africa uses a wide range of U.S. government tools to support investment in Africa’s energy sector. From policy and regulatory best practices, to pre-feasibility studies and capacity building, to long-term financing, insurance, guarantees, credit enhancements and technical assistance, Power Africa provides coordinated support to help African partners expand their generation capacity and access.

2. SCOPE OF WORK

USEA plans to arrange a single five (5) day leadership training course the week of February 19 – 23, 2018 for seven to ten (7–10) mid- and senior-level EEU management personnel to take place in the USEA’s offices in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC.

The training will focus on management techniques to deliver greater efficiency, effectiveness, and personal authority, as well as improved morale, productivity and profitability, including, but not limited to the following topics:

• Successful staff and work-flow management:

• how to delegate effectively,
• how to encourage innovation,
• how to enable, encourage and motivate staff and boost morale,
• strategies for retaining staff and building stronger, more successful teams,
• techniques for analyzing performance.

• Effective communications;
• Change management;
• Bottom-up approach.

The training course should include the following features:

• a wide array of interactive exercises and involve real-life scenarios;
• a strong team-building element.

At the end of the course, the participants should be able to demonstrate solid understanding of main concepts of effective leadership, as well as methods for measuring success.

The training course will include pre-training and post-training surveys administered to all participants.  A pre-training survey will be designed to assess participants’ baseline knowledge and competencies and to identify knowledge gaps and weak areas, so that the course can be modified as necessary. A post-training/skill assessment survey will be designed to measure participating trainees’ progress.  A program evaluation instrument will also be developed to measure the overall effectiveness of the program, as well as to identify areas for improvements for future capacity building programs.

The purpose of this RFP is to solicit proposals from various candidate organizations, conduct a fair evaluation, and select the organization deemed most suitable to conduct the leadership training course.

3. BACKGROUND

Ethiopian Electric Utility Overview: The Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) as public utility enterprise was established for indefinite duration by regulation No. 18/1997 and conferred with the powers and duties of the previous Ethiopian Electric Utility. The purpose of the corporation is to engage in the business of distributing and selling electrical energy in accordance with economic and social development policies and priorities of the government and to carry out any other related activities that would enable it achieve its purpose.

EEU Vision: "Energizing Ethiopia's sustainable growth and enabling it to be power hub of Africa.”

EEU Mission: "To be a world-class utility and contribute towards nation building by ensuring delivery of cost- effective, safe, reliable and high quality power and to enable interconnections across the African Continent for exporting surplus power. EEU shall strive towards achieving international standards of customer care through sustained capacity building, operational and financial excellence, state-of-the-art technologies while ensuring highest standards of corporate governance and Ethics.”

4. SCHEDULE

The training course is scheduled to take place on February 19 – 23, 2018.

5. Deliverables

The following deliverables are anticipated:

• Leadership Training outline with contents specified in Section II;
• Pre-training and post-training surveys, and an overall program evaluation instrument;
• Final training curriculum, including manuals and all other training materials distributed to the participants;
• Conduct training program in USEA’s Washington office for five (5) days;
• Final report to include the following:

• Summary of major outcomes of the training program;
• Challenges encountered and knowledge/skills acquired by participants;
• Summaries of the administered pre-training and post-training surveys, and an overall program evaluation instrument;
• Recommendations for additional training as appropriate.

USEA will be responsible for all logistical arrangements, including:

• All travel related logistics and costs for the Ethiopian participants;
• Training venue and meals.

6. PROPOSAL CONTENT

The proposal must contain the following:

1. A cover letter to the proposal;
2. A technical proposal outlining the proposed work plan and methodology;
3. A financial proposal, including:

• Detailed justification (i.e. line item budget);
• Labor, other direct costs, indirect costs, and level of effort for each employee proposed for this project;
• All travel costs if any employees travel to Washington, DC to deliver the training.

4. Short CVs/bio sketches of proposed trainers;
5. Summary of the work to be performed by each employee proposed for this project;
6. Completed USAID Contractor Employee Biographical Data Sheet forms for each employee proposed for this project (https://www.usaid.gov/forms/aid-1420-17).

7. Evaluation Criteria and CONTRACT MANAGEMENT/OVERSIGHT

Selection of an offer for contract award will be based on an evaluation of proposals against technical merit and budget justification. Proposals shall first be evaluated from a technical standpoint based on the training proposal without regard to proposed budget justification.  For those proposals determined to be technically acceptable, budget justification will be evaluated.

Successful bidder will be required to obtain a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and maintain a current registration in the System of Award Management (SAM).

Contract management, oversight and payment will be carried out by USEA.

8. QUESTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

For all questions and clarification requests please contact Ms. Marina N, Barnett, Senior Program Coordinator, at [email protected].