Amendment 0002 - 95332419N0001 APS MCC Responses to Questions.pdf

NOFO #95332419N0001 - Partnerships with MCC Program

Reference Industry Question MCC Response

1 General

Do we need a U.S.-based partner organization to respond to these opportunities?

No, you do not need to partner with a U.S.-based organization to be eligible to apply. Please refer to Section C.1 -- Eligible Applicants of the NOFO for additional information on eligibility. Note that Section C.1 has been updated in

Amendment 0002 (v3).

2 General

Can you tell me how many concept papers were received the last time this call was done and how many concept papers ended up in a partnership with

MCC as a result?

MCC's previous Partnerships APS (95332418N0002) was open from November

2017 through November 2018. MCC published 9 different partnership opportunities (termed "Technical Areas" in the previous APS) and received 53 different concept papers across those 9 opportunity areas. As of May 2, 2019, MCC has awarded 9 partnerships via APS 1.0 and has several more pending finalization of co-creation and/or award. MCC published the names and contact information in Grants.gov of all the organizations that submitted concept papers under the previous APS, as well as those receiving awards.

3 General Are there examples of past partnerships available for viewing?

MCC profiles several of its current partnerships on mcc.gov at https://www.mcc.gov/work-with-us/partnerships. MCC and partners may also jointly decide to issue a press release or other form of announcement at the start of a partnership; such as the one MCC and Bechtel released at the launch of the national infrastructure master planning partnership

(https://www.mcc.gov/news-and-events/release/release-092818-mcc-bechtel-new-partnership).

4 General

Ref: Section C.1 - eligibility criteria and in particular the eligible applicants.

Could you please specify whether a government entity (i.e., a public agency) could be an eligible applicant, either as Prime or as a consortium member? If eligible, what would be the co-funding requirements for a government entity?

U.S. Government agencies (Federal, state and local) and host country government entities are not eligible to apply for MCC funding under this APS, neither as a prime nor as a consortium member. Furthermore, cost applications may not contain level of effort or other related costs for host country government staff. See Amendment 0002 (v3) of the NOFO for associated edits to Section C.1.

5 General

Is it possible to eliminate the 1:1 cost share requirement for a small business for-profit company?

No, the cost share requirement for for-profit companies will not be changed based on the size of the business. Small businesses may consider consider teaming with other organizations (e.g., other small businesses, large companies, non-profit entities, etc.) in order to better manage their cost share commitments.

6 General

What type of paper is required? I have a journalism-styled report. Would

MCC still be interested in the material?

Please refer to Section D of the NOFO for all submission requirements. Section

D.3 covers the formatting and content requirements for the Phase I -- Concept

Paper submissions.

Reference Industry Question MCC Response

General/

Opportunity

Statement #3

We seek clarification regarding what is meant on page 14 of the NOFO

Version 1: "MCC expects to work collaboratively and co-creatively with qualified applicants to co-design partnership activities that leverage the unique capabilities of each organization and that achieve outcomes around aligned goals." Do collaboratively and co-creatively mean that there is no requirement to co-fund this opportunity should the firm be selected/ awarded as there appears to be with Opportunity #1 and some of the other opportunities? In other words is a financial contribution expected for this opportunity, and what would be considered co-creation if not financial contribution?

Yes, a financial (cost-sharing) contribution is required for all partnership opportunities. Please refer to section C.2 of the NOFO for additional information about required cost sharing contributions. Co-creation does not refer to a financial contribution; please see Section A.5.2 in the NOFO for a detailed explanation of the co-creation process.

Opportunity

Statement #3

The NOFO states that: "MCC is currently developing compacts in Lesotho, Tunisia and Timor-Leste. All three have identified barriers to women’s economic empowerment and seek to promote sustainable women’s entrepreneurship as part of their approach to promoting economic growth and poverty reduction." Is the analysis on these barriers to women's economic empowerment available for applicants to review?

No additional information is available at this time, but MCC will provide additional relevant information during partnership co-creation for organizations that are invited to that stage.

Opportunity

Statement #4

Is there a possibility for a deadline extension on Partnership Opportunity 4:

Collaborative for Data Science in Africa?

The deadline for Concept Papers for Partnership Opportunity #4: Collaborative for Data Sciences in Africa remains May 15, 2019. This deadline will enable MCC to make partnership awards using FY19 funding. Note that if a concept paper passes the Phase I evaluation, partnership aspects will continue to develop/evolve through the co-creation process.

Opportunity

Statement #5

What is the geographic focus of Partnership Opportunity #5, “Geospatial and

Earth-Observation Analyses for Africa”? Could you kindly clarify if this partnership opportunity applies to African countries without an active compact or threshold program, or is it only for those with an active program?

Opportunity Statement #5 in the APS states, "MCC would like to establish one or more partnerships to improve innovative use of earth observation and geospatial data to support priorities in African partner countries such as Cote d’Ivoire or Lesotho." The geographic focus of Partnership Opportunity #5 woud include all African MCC partner countries with a compact or threshold program currently under development or implementation (i.e., not "Closed"). You can learn more about active country portfolio using the Where We Work site on mcc.gov (https://www.mcc.gov/where-we-work).