Amendment 02 PATI RFP 7200AA21R00012 for posting.pdf

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

PAGE OF PAGES

1 6

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO.

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

See Box 16C

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO

5. PROJECT NO. (If applicable)

6. ISSUED BY CODE 7. ADMINISTERED BY (IF OTHER THAN ITEM 6) CODE

U.S.Agency for International Development

M/OAA

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, UA

Washington DC 20523-1000AA

Same as Box 6

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No., Street, County, State, and Zip Code)

To All Potential Offerors

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO. 02

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11) 01/29/2021

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

CODE:

FACILITY CODE:

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

The above numbered, solicitation is amended as set forth in item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers is extended is not extended.

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning 1 copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers, FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If Required)

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO., AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14

A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify Authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT

ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43,103 (b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is NOT is required to sign this document and return copies to the issuing office.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.

This is Amendment No. 02 for Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 7200AA21R00012 and:

(a) Amends relevant RFP sections; and

(b) Publishes the submitted questions from interested offerors and corresponding responses.

Details provided on pages 2 – 6 below.

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER

Suhaib A. Khan

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR 15C. DATE

SIGNED

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

16C. DATE

SIGNED

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer)

NSN 7540-01-152-8070 STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 10-83)

Previous Edition Unusable Prescribed by GSA FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

PART I – REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) AMENDMENT

1. Revise the Phase One Proposal Submission Due Date, from "February 3, 2021 3:00 pm ET" to

"February 8, 2021 10:00 am ET”.

2. On Page 68, Section J - Attachments, Add the following:

Attachment 10 - Local Compensation Plan (LCP) for South Africa 2017.

3. On Page 98, Section M.2, Evaluation Procedures (a, ii) delete the Factor “7 – (Organizational

Chart) and replace with “7 (Organizational Chart and Staffing Plan)”.

4. On Page 101, Section M.4, Phase Two, delete the “Factor 7 Organizational Chart” in the table and replace with “Factor Seven Organizational Chart and Staffing Plan”.

PART II – FOLLOWUP QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY INTERESTED OFFERORS AND

CORRESPONDING ANSWERS.

Q1. Would USAID kindly extend the Phase One submission date to February 10, 2021 to allow offerors time to adjust their proposals in line with responses to USAID’s follow-up Q&A?

A1. Most of the questions asked were in response to Phase Two and not the Phase One submission. However, we will extend the Phase One submission date to 10:00 am ET on February

8, 2021.

Q2. USAID’s Q&A #1 indicates that “start-up funds will be about $40 million.” Please clarify the following:

a. How does USAID expect the $40 million start-up funds will be allocated across the CLINs?

b. Is this $40 million expected to be the PATI’s initial obligation?

c. Does USAID already have any buy-ins lined up that are included in this

$40 million estimate or does this amount only include Africa and Middle

East Bureau funds for core activities?

A2. a. There is no set allocation of funds across the CLINs for the initial start-up funds.

b. Yes

c. The Africa and Middle East Bureaus obligated approximately $40 million in funds for this activity. There are no buy-ins lined up at this time.

USAID M/OAA

Request for Proposal (RFP) Solicitation No. 7200AA21R00012

Amendment No. 02

Q3. Would USAID please provide a conformed copy of the RFP that aligns to the Amendment 1 changes and Q&A responses? There are numerous changes in Amendment 1, Part II which are not reflected in the Part I amended language (e.g., to the presentation instructions). As these are numerous and throughout the document, a conformed copy of the RFP will allow offerors to assure consistency and compliance with USAID’s revised requirements.

A3. Please note that Amendment 01 includes both the changes made to the RFP and the Q&A. We do not update the RFP with clarification responses, and the Q&A remains part of the RFP amendment and is considered when doing the evaluation.

Q4. Follow-up to General Question-Q1/A1 and Section F-Q32/A32: In Amendment No. 01, USAID states that “Startup funds will be about $40 million.” To assist offerors in budgeting and staffing for the start-up period, does USAID anticipate that the awardee will manage a significant pipeline of trade, investment, and enabling environment activities in the first 90 days of the contract?

Alternatively, does USAID anticipate that most trade, investment, and enabling environment activity support will occur following the co-creation and annual workplan development process referenced in

Q32/A32?

A4. USAID is anxious to establish the activity and earn some quick wins as soon as reasonably possible. This will require some flexibility by the implementer to simultaneously develop a work plan, while also developing a pipeline of actionable trade and investment opportunities.

Q5. The response to Question 1 states that USAID estimates that about half of the TEC will be reserved for regional and bilateral buy-ins. Can USAID confirm that buy-ins may include support for the 20% core (management) budget as well as support for subcontracts/grants that fall under the 80% budget?

A5. Some of the buy-ins may include support for the core management budget as well as support for subcontracts/grants.

Q6. Amendment 1, Section B Question 3. asked: B.2-B4, page 2: Section B.2 calls for a CPFF

Term type of contract under which payment of fee is tied to LOE. Section B.4 Contract Budget includes three CLINs, CLIN 00001 Technical Assistance, CLIN 00002 GUCs and CLIN 00003

Subcontracts. Please confirm that, given instructions in L. 8(b)(iii) (page 89), offerors should include applicable fee (if any) on CLIN 00003 Subcontracts in CLIN 00001 Technical Assistance.

USAID responded at A3. Technical Assistance is for core services under CLIN 00001. Any indirect charges or fees to provide core services must be clearly shown. This would include the costs associated with making or managing a grant or subcontract. The GUCS CLIN will only include the funds released to the grantee, and the Subcontracts CLIN only the funds provided to the subcontractor.

USAID’s answer to Question 3 concludes that all indirect cost and fee for administering grants under contract and subcontracts must come from the CLIN 00001 line item. However, given the magnitude of the subcontracting and grant making under these CLINs and the indirect cost of administering this effort, as well as the risk taken on by the contractor, such limitation would reduce the CLIN 00001 budget for Core Activities by anywhere between 15%-30%.

For example, if a contractor has a minimal markup for indirects/fee on the Grants and

Subcontracts that amounts to 6% of the value of CLINs 00002 and 00003 this would equate to

17.62% of the budget for CLIN 00001. That does not leave enough remaining in CLIN 00001 to provide the LOE required.

USAID M/OAA

Request for Proposal (RFP)

$228,000,000

+145,000,000

$373,000,000

X 6%

$22,380,000/$127,000,000 = 17.62%

Forcing bidders to include all mark ups for CLINs 00002 and 00003 in CLIN 00001 while maintaining an arbitrary 20/80 ratio would unfairly bias the competition against competitors with

NICRAs that distribute more burden on subcontracts and grants than on labor, thereby limiting the pool of bidders who could bid on this solicitation. Generally, bidders are instructed to apply the mark ups in their budgets with the CLIN cost pools they are tied to. In addition, given the other administrative direct costs that must also come out of the CLIN 00001 budget (multiple office locations, management and administrative staff, core activities, etc.) there are not sufficient funds to provide the ODCs, the required LOE, and all mark ups in this CLIN.

Will USAID please reconsider allowing the indirects and fee associated with CLINs 00002 and 00003 to be included as part of those CLINs rather than including it in CLIN 00001?

A6. No. Per Page 14 of the RFP, “USAID estimates that roughly twenty percent of the total project budget could cover all core services, overhead and any associated costs to develop and administer subcontracts and grants.” This is an estimate only. We recognize Offerors will have different estimates based on their technical approach and costs. There is no arbitrary 20/80 ratio.

As on Page 89 of the RFP, Offerors are told “(iii) A plug figure is provided for both GUCs and subcontracts, based on government estimates, and do not include fees or pass through charges.

However, the offeror is able to adjust these estimates based on their own estimates as long as the line items do not include fees or pass through charges (when applicable, they must be shown on other line items). Such estimates shall be reflective of the breakdown between core and other services provided in the Oral Presentation.” The Offeror should adjust the line items as necessary per the RFP instructions.

Q7. Follow-up to General Question-Q11/A11: USAID states in the Amendment “delete first bullet of this section and replace with “Offerors must provide a list of up to ten relevant Federal Awards

(contracts or grants) or non-Government awards within the last three years that demonstrate impact across similar work as in Section C.” Please confirm that each Past Performance Information sheet/reference remains limited to no more than three pages, per page 86 of the original RFP.

A7. The past performance information sheet/reference for each award remains limited to no more than three pages.

Q8. USAID’s Q&A #18 implies that FFP subcontractor core work will count toward the 57,500 allotted core LOE days. Please confirm that FFP subcontractors doing core project work may do non-

LOE based work (such as deliverables or milestones-based work that will not be counted as LOE).

A8. FFP subcontractors that participate in core project activities may also compete for other subcontracts funded through the activity. Any non-core work performed by the FFP subcontractors will not count toward the estimated 57,500 allotted core LOE days.

Q9. The response to Question 18 confirms that “FFP subcontractor LOE” in support of CLIN

00001 should be included in the 57,500 days of PTLOE. Can USAID confirm that non-labor-based

FFP subcontracts, where the subcontractors are paid for specific non-labor deliverables (such as an off-the-shelf training program), would NOT count against the LOE?

A9. A deliverable that is always off-the-shelf will not necessarily count against the LOE. The offeror should provide the necessary documentation to support the type of contract contemplated.

USAID M/OAA

Request for Proposal (RFP)

Q10. To clarify USAID’s expectations regarding Q&A #22, please confirm that if an offeror’s

NICRA incorporates paid time off into its fringe rate, paid time off will not be inclusive of the LOE estimate.

A10. The government estimated technical specialties and LOE needed to perform PATI. LOE of

57,500 days is based on a full time equivalent (FTE) position of 250 working days a year out of 365 days. The Offeror must state their own assumptions in coming up with their own estimates regarding working days necessary.

Q11. Please confirm that CLIN 1 is intended to encompass all core costs, such as the core LOE, core subcontractors, ODCs for core implementation, and all indirect costs.

A11. Yes, CLIN 1 encompasses all core costs, including core LOE, core subcontractors, ODCs for core implementation and all indirect costs.

Q12. Regarding USAID’s Q&A #61, please confirm the following:

a. Any video, animation, or live demonstration must be included within the offeror’s 30 slides.

b. Included videos, animations, or live demonstrations must be presented live and will not be viewed by the Technical Evaluation Committee prior to the allotted oral presentation session.

c. Time for videos, animations, and live demonstrations will be considered part of the allotted 90-minute presentation time.

A12. Offeror presentations to USAID may include videos, animation and live demonstrations, however, the offeror can not exceed the overall 90-minute presentation limit. When submitting the

PowerPoint presentation to USAID, any videos/animation/live demonstrations are not required to be submitted with the PowerPoint presentation.

Q13 USAID stipulates in Q&A #75 that offerors may use any acronyms used in the RFP without definition. We request that this stipulation also apply for each of the 17 USG agencies participating in

Prosper Africa that are not referenced in the RFP. We also would appreciate confirmation that this also applies to any acronyms that USAID introduced in the RFP Amendments.

A13. Yes, any acronym introduced by USAID in the RFP solicitation and amendments, as well as acronyms used for the 17 USG agencies participating in the Prosper Africa initiative do not require definition.

Q14. Regarding Answer to Question 67, if a subcontractor is providing core services, should their

LOE also be listed if it is being used to respond to the program in ways that are not part of the

80%? For example, providing quality control on a service being provided by a subcontractor?

A14. Yes, all subcontractors that provide core services should be listed. Their LOE for core activities would be included in the estimated 57,500 LOE discussed on pages 23 and 24 of the RFP.

Q15. In response to Question 90, USAID provided LCPs for four mentioned countries. In order to comply with AIDAR 722.170, mentioned in H.3.b, would USAID please confirm that these are the most updated LCPs available, in particular South Africa’s from 2010, for example?

A15. There is a 2017 LCP for South Africa which should be used instead of the 2010 LCP, and is included with this amendment as Attachment 10.

USAID M/OAA

Request for Proposal (RFP)

Q16. Does USAID have any preference on a certain format for Factor 3, 4 and 5 (the three (3)

Business Scenarios)?

A16. USAID does not have a preference for the format used when responding to Factors 3, 4 and 5.

Q17. We have noted that there are no Small Business Set-Asides as per this phase of the RFP. Does this include the whole solicitations or will USAID consider Setting Aside part of the awards for Small

Businesses?

A17. There is only one contract expected to result from this RFP. There is no set aside. (This is not a multiple award IDIQ where small business set-asides might be incorporated).

Q18. Are Small Businesses encouraged to respond to this proposal as Primes?

A18. As per the cover letter, this solicitation is a full and open competition and uses procedures pursuant to Part 15 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), under which any type of organization is eligible to compete. Both small businesses and other than small businesses will need to use their own business judgement of whether it is in their interest to submit a proposal as a prime.

USAID M/OAA

Request for Proposal (RFP)