Amendment A0002 - Questions and Answers Part II.pdf

1131PL26R0002

Regional Sub-Saharan Africa: Digital Infrastructure Opportunities Desk Study Series

Amendment A0002

1. For past performance are we able to tie past performance to individuals at our company from each of their recent and former government and industry positions, rather than the company's past performance? We can easily provide that in our proposal.

Answer: Past performance will be considered relevant if the contract demonstrates relevant experiences that are similar in size, scope, and complexity to the effort described in the solicitation. The Government reserves the right to obtain past performance information from any available source, to include the U.S. Government’s Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) and may contact customers other than those identified by the Offeror when evaluating past performance.

2. For past performance information (page 39), can the offeror include at least one of the three required past performance contracts from a proposed subcontractor?

Answer: Past performance should be submitted for the offeror.

3. Will USTDA consider proposals that incorporate a local in-country Sub-Saharan African partner firm as a subcontractor, and if so, are there any specific requirements governing such arrangements beyond the 50% subcontracting limitation stated in the solicitation?

Answer: Award is limited to U.S. Firms or U.S. individuals. Contractor and U.S.

subcontractor employees used shall be either U.S. citizens or non-U.S. citizens lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States.

4. For offerors proposing a 1099 independent consultant rather than a formal subcontractor, does the less-than-50% subcontracting limitation apply to payments made to independent consultants, or only to formal subcontract agreements with other business entities?

Answer: Yes, the 50% limitation still applies.

5. I would like clarification on D.1.2 and the reference to "10" and "15" deliverables.

Can you please provide clarification?

Answer: The contractor shall review up to 10 initial project proposals and provide project reports for up to 15 activities including terms of reference and budgets.

6. The Project Reports require rigorous financial analysis, including the development of a financing plan, Life Cycle Cost Analysis, and sensitivity analysis of the return on investment. Does USTDA require key personnel to hold specific financial credentials or advanced degrees to satisfy these components, or will demonstrated equivalent analytical experience — including experience producing economic and financial assessments for infrastructure projects in emerging markets — be considered sufficient?

Answer: Please see Section E.6 Factors for Award

7. Section II: Continuation of SF1449 Is the Offeror required to complete the tables within this section?

Answer: Yes, please complete the table in the SF1449.

8. Section II: Continuation of SF1449 Could USTDA provide a definition for each of the deliverables listed in the SF 1449?

Answer: Please refer to the PWS with the scope of work for the deliverables.

9. The Contractor shall review up to 10 initial project proposals and provide Project Reports for up to 15 activities for USTDA funding consideration and one Final Report in cumulation to USTDA.

The PWS references up to 15 activities for Project Reports, while CLINs 0002 and 0003 show quantities of 10. Should offerors price their proposals based on 10 Project Reports or 15?"

Answer: CLINS 0002 and 0003 are for the initial preparation and the final Government Acceptance. CLIN 0004 is the title of the deliverable, Full Project Reports, and the breakout for price is CLIN 0005 and 0006 for the initial submission and the final Government Acceptance.

10. The solicitation states that “’The Public Market Report must conform to the outline found in Attachment II, "Desk Study Public Market Report Requirements,’” However Attachment II is the Impact on US Labor Statement.

Can USTDA share the Desk Study Public Market Report Requirements?

Answer: Yes, please see Attachment IV provided with this amendment.

11. The Contractor shall submit the Public Market Report under this Contract to the COR.

The PWS requires a Public Market Report as a distinct deliverable, but no CLIN exists for it in the Schedule of Supplies/Services. Should offerors price the Public Market Report within an existing CLIN, and if so, which one? Or should a separate CLIN be added?

Answer: The Public Market Report will be within an existing CLIN.

12. Can USTDA confirm that it is acceptable to submit both volumes in a single email as long as the attachments are clearly marked as separate volumes?

Answer: Yes.

13. Is there a key personnel requirement? If so, can USTDA provide details on the requirement?

Answer: There is no key personnel requirement, but USTDA will evaluate the regional sector experience as listed in Sub-factor 2.

14. Can the offeror submit an acronym list as part of the proposal that does not count against the 10 page limit?

Answer: Yes.

15. Would it be acceptable to submit a CPAR in lieu of a Past Performance Questionnaire?

Due to government reductions in force, many CO/CORs are no longer available.

Answer: Yes. Please also see Section E of the solicitation.

The Government reserves the right to obtain past performance information from any available source, to include the U.S. Government's Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) and may contact customers other than those identified by the Offeror when evaluating past performance.

16. Can USTDA confirm the date that PPQs should be received? The RFP says August 1, 2025.

Answer: This has been updated in the amendment. The PPQs are due March 20, 2026 at

1:00PM EST.

17. Offeror(s) shall complete and submit the Price Proposal spreadsheet workbook enclosed in this solicitation. RFP respondents shall submit a price proposal with breakdown in a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet or the attached Price Proposal Spreadsheet

Can USTDA please clarify if there is an independent Excel workbook that was meant to be included as an attachment to the solicitation as stated or if this statement refers to something else within the solicitation? If so, please cite the specific reference.

Answer: This requirement has been removed.

18. The solicitation mentions options. Can USTDA confirm that this scope includes a base and option period? If so, can USTDA provide more information on the period of performance for each?

Answer: There is no option period anticipated with this requirement.

19. Question: Can you confirm whether there are specific formatting requirements for the proposal (e.g., minimum font size, font type, margin size) if not otherwise specified in the solicitation?

Answer: Proposals formatting should be Times New Roman, Size 12 font.

20. Do the 3 page resumes/curriculum vitae for proposed personnel count toward the 10-page limit for the technical proposal, or may they be included as attachments outside of the 10 page limitation?

Answer: No, they do not count toward the 10-page technical proposal limit.

21. Can the three required past performance questionnaires also be included as attachments outside of the 10 page technical proposal page limit?

Answer: Past performance questionnaires must be completed by the POC providing reference to the solicitation. The POC should forward the completed questionnaire to USTDA via email to contractproposals@ustda.gov.

22. Could USTDA provide the estimated period of performance start date of this activity, for budgeting purposes?

Answer: The estimated period of performance is 24 months from date of award.

23. Could USDA please confirm the proposed contract type (Firm Fixed Price, Time and Materials, etc.)? Assuming this is FFP, please confirm that price reasonableness may be determined using previously established T&M labor rates.

mailto:contractproposals@ustda.gov

Answer: This is not a T&M type contract. Please provide fully burdened rates to include proposed mix of labor categories, labor rates and labor days needed to meet all the requirements of the PWS.

24. Page 38, Volume 1(a) Technical Proposal, subsections (b) and (c) state the Offerors shall provide a “proposed methodology and work plan” including a strategy for a “staffing approach”.

a. Please confirm that the staffing approach and key personnel will be evaluated under Factor 1- Technical, per Section E.6 Evaluation Factors for Award.

b. Would USTDA allow for a 2-page Work Plan to be excluded from the overall 10-page limit?

Answer: Yes, staffing approach and key personnel will be evaluated under Factor 1, Technical. Technical proposal shall not exceed 10 pages.

25. Page 39: “Resume/Curriculum Vitae (CV): Resumes/Curriculum Vitae (CVs) as part of the proposal, may not exceed 3 pages per person. Any additional pages shall not be reviewed.” Please confirm that only CVs of Key Personnel hall be submitted with the proposal, and not non-Key Personnel.

Yes.

26. Page 39: “Past Performance Information: Offerors shall submit a list of no more than three (3) most recent Government and/or commercial contracts in performance at any point during the three (3) years prior to the proposal submission date, which are relevant to the efforts required by this solicitation.” Would USTDA consider allowing past performance information for contracts performed during the last five (5) years prior to the proposal submission date, to allow for a greater pool of qualified bidders adding best value to the Government?

Answer: Past performance shall be no more than three (3) years.

27. For purposes of the Preliminary and Project Reports, does each “project” correspond to an individual digital infrastructure opportunity (e.g., a specific data center, telecommunications or digital infrastructure project funded by for example the World Bank or another donor or finance agency), or is the expectation that projects correspond to individual countries or markets?

Answer: “Project” corresponds to projects and not countries or markets.

28. On Page 39 the RFP states “The Government reserves the right to obtain past performance information from any available source, to include the U.S. Government's Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) and may contact customers other than those identified by the Offeror when evaluating past performance.”

We understand the PPIRS was merged in to the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System in 2019. Can we reference our CPAR performance appraisal reports in our technical proposal so you can find these on the CPAR system?

Answer: Yes. This has been corrected.

29. If we have three CPAR reports on-line for contracts performed within the last three years do you still require the past performance questionnaire for three contracts performed during the last three years?

Answer: No. The questionnaire is not required if it is available in the CPARS report.

30. Can you provide an estimate of the time to complete each of the 10 initial project proposal review reports and each of the 15 full project reports to inform the basis of our estimated costs?

Answer: The government is requesting offerors to propose how long it would take to complete each type of report. Timeline is determined upon award.

31. Please confirm that we do not need to budget for travel costs to Sub-Saharan African countries? Please also confirm if we may budget for US domestic travel costs to meet with USTDA and US companies who are interested in pursuing digital infrastructure feasibility study funding?

Answer: Travel is not required.

32. In time and materials budget build up please confirm that we may use our Negotiated

Indirect Cost Rate (NICRA) to apply to other direct costs, US travel costs, consultants and subcontractors.

Answer: This is not a time and materials type contract.