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German Financial Co-operation with the Arab Republic of
Egypt Financing
for Micro-, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) II Consulting Services for Technical
Assistance – Phase A (Immediate and Essential Activities) |
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Please note that the period for
inquiries was closed on February 22nd 2021 at 24:00, CET. For clarifications of inquiries please scroll down
this page ! |
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Date of most recent update
of this page: |
ONE STAGE Tender International open bidding
procedure with post-qualification for the consulting services required |
Dead-line:
March. 5th, 2021 |
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Project Measures and requested Consultant Services |
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Tender Documents |
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Note |
At any time,
MSME-DA and/or KfW either at its own initiative or
in response to clarifications requested by an interested consultant may
clarify this invitation. Inquiries from interested consultants concerning
this tendering will be accepted only till February 22nd, 2021. Updates and clarifications
will ONLY be presented on this website and will be made available to all
interested consultants by this mean. For any clarifications and updates
please consult this website regularly. |
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Contact for Inquiries |
All
communication on this project – with the exception of the submission of the
bidding documents - shall be through the tender agent using the following
email address: Dr.Lindlein@financial-cooperation.com
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Please note that the time for inquiries was closed on
February 22nd 2021 at 24:00, CET.
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INQUIRIES from Consultants concerning the Tender
documents Status |
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Tender Document |
Topic |
Inquiry |
Clarification |
Posted on |
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1 |
Section
3.1 of the TOR |
Kind of services |
According, the
consultant is expected to provide implementation support for all the
components listed in the table. Could you please clarify what should be the
extent of the implementation support? |
Objectives and tasks of the services and described in the respective
chapters. Within this program of Immediate and Essential Activities in
coordination with MSMEDA, the selected consultant will have to define the
details on the instruments and methods to fulfil the tasks. In 14.1.3 we
indicated that the total time-input of the experts is estimated to be in the
range of 150 -200 expert days. We are not in a position to indicate the
allocation of experts on the different fields and methods presented in the
table under TOR 3.1. with its range of services, serving primarily as a help
to understand the range and select adequately qualified experts. |
Feb 18th, 2021 |
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2 |
Section
3.1 of the TOR |
Ongoing Study
on ‘Risk Assessment and Management’ |
Within the same table, under the component
‘Risk Assessment and Management’ it is mentioned the following: ‘Ongoing
study’. Could you please clarify if there is an ongoing study conducted on the
risk assessment and management of MSMEDA or it is planned that the selected
consultant will conduct such a study? In case
of the former, please advise on the approximate date for the conclusion of
the study. |
A study on the risk assessment and
management of MSMEDA was conducted and submitted to MSMEDA. |
Feb 18th, 2021 |
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3 |
3.2.3 TOR Annex 6 |
Disbursement Procedure |
Could you
please share the respective Annex 6 (Disbursement Procedure) with all
applicants? |
This Annex 6 refers to the Separate Agreement between MSMEDA and KfW and the corresponding disbursement procedure for the
Loan and the Grant. Accordingly, it cannot be disclosed here, but naturally
will be shared with the consultant contracted. However, already we can inform
that it follows the standard procedures in such project types of German
Financial cooperation |
Feb 22nd, 2022 |
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4 |
3.3 TOR |
Final
Report |
Under section 3.3 there is no final report included in the
deliverables of the project. Please confirm that a final report will not be
requested at the completion of the services, or otherwise confirm the full
list of expected deliverables. |
Taking into consideration the rather limited duration of the task, and
the number of report, we consider that the final
quarterly report should fulfil as well the function of a final report. Thus,
this report shall give on overview on the tasks and results and include as
well recommendations. |
Feb 18th, 2021 |
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5 |
4.
TOR |
Location
of Services |
Could you
please clarify whether the consultant is expected to work only with the
central MSMEDA office or if deployment to regional offices and satellite
units is also expected? |
Most of the work will be with the central MSMEDA office. However, with
a proper practical approach this will include cooperation with regional
offices and satellite units, which may include short-term visits, however
actual deployment is not foreseen. |
Feb 18th, 2021 |
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6 |
General |
Financial
Cooperation |
Can you just
clarify what is the German Financial Cooperation? |
German Financial Cooperation primarily is the official bilateral
cooperation of the Federal Republic of Germany with governments of developing
countries and emerging market countries. On the German side KfW Development Bank implements Financial Cooperation for
the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. In this
line, KfW Development Bank provides financing to
governments, public enterprises and commercial banks engaged in microfinance
and SME promotion in developing countries. With Egypt such German Financial Cooperation exists since 1963. Some
corresponding information you can find under https://www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de/International-financing/KfW-Development-Bank/Local-presence/North-Africa-and-Middle-East/Egypt/ In quite a number of those projects the Central Bank of Egypt was
involved, for example as borrower of the funds for Egypt. More information on
all such general aspects you can find easily as well in the internet. |
Feb 11th, 2021 |
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7 |
COT 13.1 |
Website |
According to the COT Clarifications will be published on the link:
www.financial-cooperation.com/Tender/Egypt/SME-506410.htm However, this website is not working. Could you confirm the website? |
With the publication of the tender notice the website of the tender
and the clarification was changed to the URL shown in the initial tender notice, where the participants downloaded
as well the tender documents: http://www.financial-cooperation.com/Tender/Egypt/MSMEIC-506410.htm |
Feb 11th, 2021 |
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8 |
Datasheet,
section 15 |
Local Consultant |
According to the Datasheet, section 15, ‘III. Local Consultant as
Partner and/or sub-consultant’ is requested for the post-qualification of the
applicant. Could you please clarify whether it is mandatory to form a
partnership/sub-consultancy agreement with a local firm, or subcontracting of
local experts would also respond to the post-qualification requirement nr.
III |
As was already stated in the TOR, cooperation is required with a
(local) competent partner (company and/or freelancer) already based in Cairo. The role of the local partner can be fulfilled by a legal person
and/or a natural person, either as partner or as sub-consultant, always
provided that they have the proper qualification, competence, capacity,
organization, technology and availability for the task. |
Feb 18th, 2021 |
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9 |
Post-Qualification |
Minimum turnover |
Does annual average turnover of at least 1 m EUR in consulting
services requirement applies for the a) consortium overall, b) leading or one
of the sub-consultants or c) each of sub-consultants? |
It refers to the overall consortium of legally liable partners, i.e. NOT including sub-consultants |
Feb 18th, 2021 |
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10 |
Data-Sheet 31.2 |
Duration |
Project data sheet and ToR states that total
duration of the service period is estimated to be 6-9 months. However, we
assume that activities 3.2.4 Sub-Credits to PFIs and Individual Subloans and 3.2.5. Disbursements stated in the ToR will require more than 9 months. Can you confirm that a) above mentioned activities are planned to be
implemented within 6-9 months or b) that implementation period shall be
longer? If longer, may you specify the estimated period? |
Please take note, that the services are labeled as Phase I
(Immediate and Essential Activities) Although the process of sub-loan extension may last longer than the
indicated period, the services of the consultant in this Phase I are
estimated for a period of 6-9 months only. Possible later services in this line will be part of a separate tender
(Phase II). The Consultant firm selected in this present tender (Phase I) will be allowed
to participate in future tenders for later phases of the Services of the
Implementation Consultant.It will not be involved in the preparation of
the ToRs for the activities to be carried out in
future tenders for later phases of the Services of the Implementation
Consultant (Phase II). |
Feb 18th, 2021 |
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11 |
COT 4.1 |
Power of Attorney by
Sub-consultant |
Could you please clarify whether a firm leading a subcontracting
arrangement should include a power of attorney in the technical offer? |
According to COT 4.1 The Consultant shall nominate an authorized
representative who shall have the authority to conduct all business for and
on behalf of the Bidder…The authorization shall be in the form of a written
power of attorney attached to the Technical Proposal. This refers to the power of attorney from the own company and by
members of a Joint Venture (COT 17.3). Sub-consultants, who by definition are not liable partners of a
Joint-Venture, but working for their contract partner Consultant, who remains
responsible and assumes all liabilities for such cooperation, usually do not
have to present their power of attorney. However, if the sub-consultant is essential to comply with one of the
requirements to participate in this tender, namely the criterion “Local
Consultant as Partner and/or sub-consultant”, preferably there should be some
kind of written confirmation by that sub-consultant with an electronic
signature to express their willingness and availability for a cooperation in
a possible assignment. For a the corresponding template see
COT: FORM POST- Q-4 |
Feb 24th, 2021 |
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12 |
TOR 6.2 |
Requirements for company
and team experts |
Could you please clarify if the requirements under section 6.2
'Requirements for the Key Experts' of the TOR are for the firm or the
experts, or both? |
The Header 6.2 requires clarification. The correct text of the header
is: “6.2 Requirements for the Consulting Company and the expert team” The Consulting Company has to fulfill these requirements: ·
Experience and solid record
in implementation of financial sector projects with KfW ·
Experience in the promotion
of SME in direct interaction with this group (Financial Assistance ·
and/or Technical
Assistance) ·
Experience in ESMS for MSME
schemes, especially as well for SME and Microfinance institutions and
companies ·
Regional Experience in the
MENA Region; Nevertheless, it is not sufficient for a consulting company, to
fulfill these criteria as such, but these qualifications have to be
demonstrated by their proposed team as well, albeit not all by each of the
team experts, but in their combination, a competence which should be
complemented by Arab-speaking experts/assistant in the team. |
Feb 24th, 2021 |
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13 |
COT 10.1 |
Technical Proposal – Data
Package 2: |
Technical Proposal – Data Package 2: is the structure and content of
the technical proposal expected to rigidly follow the outline given in
section 10.1 (page 18) and section III (page 24) or is the Consultant free /
expected to provide additional information (e.g.
company profile)? |
First of all, the submission shall follow the instruction. Additional information – with a clear reference to the requested
content and required documents – can be presented in an Annex. This includes as well a brief company profile. However, please refrain
from including any promotional company documents. |
Feb 24th, 2021 |
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14 |
TOR 3.2.1 |
ESMS |
Chapter 3.2.1 of the ToR mentions only the
identification of needs for additional categorization and monitoring as
desired outcomes of the ESMS gap analysis. To our understanding, a detailed assessment of the ESMS according to
international standards would also look at if E&S risks are adequately
analyzed before they are classified. Please confirm if a complete analysis of
the ESMS is required. |
Over the last two decades, the ESMS of MSME-DA was developed with the
help of World Bank, Danida and AFD, however
initially intended to mitigate such risk in labor-intensive projects managed
by the Social Fund for Development, the predecessor of MSME-DA. Thus, at that time it was not geared towards a lending process. Since then, MSME-DA established a close cooperation with the Ministry
of Environment in order to make sure that every loan abides to national laws
and obtains the environmental approval according to the nature of the
business. Furthermore, MSME-DA is supported in this regard in the
implementation of other credit lines. MSME-DA is interested to strengthen its capacity in this regard.
Accordingly, we would like to draw your attention to the beginning of 3.2.1
and the definition of the general task of the Consultant: “The Consultant will strengthen the Environmental and Social
Management System within MSME-DA, first and foremost for this project, but
with the perspective to apply the identified solutions on the wider portfolio
of MSME-DA.” (In this phrase “project” refers to the Loan mentioned in the TOR). To this end, the ESMS of the PEA will be assessed in more detail by
the Consultant through a gap-analysis, also in comparison to the standards to
be applied to such loan programs under German Financial Cooperation.
Naturally, this will include an assessment of the corresponding ESM analysis
MSME-DA applies in their lending business and the ESMS they follow and apply
as an institution. The TOR indicate topics and criteria in this regard only to define
priorities and principles. |
Feb 24th, 2021 |
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15 |
TOR 3.3 |
ESMS |
Chapter 3.3 of the ToR specifies that an
operational environmental and social management plan shall be submitted
together with the inception report and an environmental operational manual
for SME lending shall be submitted after three months. From our understanding an environmental and social management plan is
typically a comprehensive document that is prepared for specific investment
projects. Can you please clarify what is meant with operational environmental
and social management plan? |
In this context, the “Operational environmental and social management
plan” refers ·
first to the implementation
of the credit line, ·
secondly to the completion
of the ESMS of MSME-DA as an institution. This Operational environmental and social management PLAN should
identify and prioritize the components (elements, measures, tools etc.) as a
roadmap of activities to be developed jointly by a Consultant with MSME-DA. Due to the limited duration of this assignment, this does not
necessarily mean, that all steps can be supported by this Implementation
Consultant already. |
Feb 24th, 2021 |
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16 |
TOR 3.2.1 and 3.3 |
ESMS |
In Chapter 3.2.1 and 3.3. it is specified that together with the
inception report also an operational environmental and social management plan
shall be prepared in collaboration with the PEA. Please clarify if there exists already a draft version of the operational
environmental and social management plan. |
To our knowledge, there does not exist a complete a draft of the
“Operational environmental and social management plan” as required above. However, a joint document of MSMEDA and KfW
identified priority ESM fields and activities. |
Feb 24th, 2021 |
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17 |
TOR 3.3 |
Inception Phase |
Please clarify how long the inception phase shall take, to allow us to
estimate how much time there will be effectively to work on these
deliverables. |
We have not defined a time for the inception period in the TOR to give
some flexibility. However, we expect a swift start and intense activities
from the very beginning. The inception report should be submitted not later than 4 weeks after
the start of the activities. |
Feb 24th, 2021 |
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18 |
TOR 3.2 |
Checklists and Tools for
the Credit Cycle |
Chapter 3.2 of the ToR state that MSME-DA
already has quite a number of checklists and tools in place for the credit cycle,and that the Consultant
shall support their further completion and optimization. Please specify
whether it is also part of the Consultants task to identify gaps and the need
for further improvement or if this has already been done. |
As stated in the TOR, generally the Consultant only has to support the
PEA in very selective further completion and optimization of such documents
and tools to harmonize them with guiding cooperation documents. If the Consultant would identify gaps and needs for further
improvement, it shall inform and discuss with MSME-DA accordingly. |
Feb 24th, 2021 |
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19 |
TOR 3.2.2 |
Electronic Platform in
MSME-DA |
Chapter 3.2.2 states that the Consultant will support the PEA in
compiling an electronic archive (handbook) of all relevant credit line policy
document and the forms and tools of the sub-loan credit cycle. Please clarify, if there exists already an electronic platform where
the electronic archive (handbook) will be made available or is the Consultant
supposed to develop it together with the PEA? |
Under
Clarification |
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20 |
TOR 3.2.4 |
Access to cooperation
documents between the PEA and KfW |
Chapter 3.2.4 states that the Consultant will monitor the approval of
sub-credits to PFIs and individual sub-loans to confirm that they comply with
regulations and requirements defined in the cooperation documents between the
PEA and KfW and the PEA’s promotion criteria. Will the Consultant have the insights in the content of the cooperation
documents between the PEA and KfW and the PEA’s
promotion criteria? |
Naturally, the contracted consultant, who will have to sign a
corresponding confidentiality clause, will have access to the relevant
information to execute such services, e.g. the corresponding
conditions in the Separate Agreement. |
Feb 24th, 2021 |
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CLOSED FOR CLARIFICATIONS |
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