Amendment 0001 to RFQ 95332420Q0019 (Signed).pdf

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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.

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NSN 7540-01-152-8070

Previous edition unusable

Regina E. Maxwell Contracting Officer

06/24/2020

Amendment 1

Question and Answer Document

RFQ #95332420Q0019 – Randomized Controlled Trial on Interventions to Increase Electricity Grid

Connections in Urban Burkina Faso

# Question MCC Response

1 May tables and charts be included at Times

New Roman 10-point?

Yes, tables and charts may use Times New Roman 10-point font.

2 Can MCC provide a budget ceiling for this evaluation?

MCC will not provide a total budget ceiling for this requirement. However, as stated in Section B of the RFQ, MCC has provided plug numbers for direct intervention costs ($405,000) and data collection ($777,861), as well as an estimate for the Level of Effort (LOE).

3 On page 9, the RFP states that MCC anticipates the level of effort for this requirement to be approximately 1,000 hours across the entire period of performance. Can MCC kindly clarify which specific tasks are covered by this

1,000 hour level of effort?

These hours include the LOE of both the Key personnel and non-key personnel and are not specific to any tasks.

The estimate excludes labor that is directly related to treatment intervention (covered in the intervention cost plug number) and data collection (covered in the data collection plug number).

4 The two areas mentioned are Bobo-

Dioulasso and Ouagadougou and the total sample size is 2000-4000 households. Can

MCC provide an estimate of the split in the anticipated households in these 2 regions?

MCC will leave it up to the offeror to propose a sample size split between Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso.

Please use population data and electricity consumption data from the two cities to make that decision. While

Bobo-Dioulasso is considered as the industrial capital, Ouagadougou consumes most of the electricity in the country.

5 Will it be a conflict of interest if the

Electricity Connection Expert currently works in SONABEL?

No, as MCC plans to establish a working relationship between the selected contractor, MCC, MCA/UFC, and the SONABEL distribution division.

6 Would MCC consider a Supervisory

Economist with a PhD in fields related to

Economics such as International Relations or Political Science?

Per the language in Section H.16.2 of the solicitation, a

Master’s degree in Economics, Public Policy or other related field is required, and a PhD in Economics is preferred. Therefore, a proposed Supervisory Economist with a PhD in a related field would be considered to meet the minimum education requirement of the position, but would not have the preferred qualification.

7 Can the qualifications of two people be combined to meet all the requirements of the supervisory economist position? That is, can we propose two people for the position of the supervisory economist?

No, each Key Personnel position must be filled by one person only and the qualifications of multiple people may not be combined to meet the required qualifications. Note that qualifications listed as “required” must be met, while those listed as “preferred” are optional.

8 On page 11, section C.2 Scope, the RFQ notes that the experiment will result in a research publication. Does MCC’s standard publication of evaluation reports on the MCC Evaluation Catalog fulfill this requirement, or would this be a separate deliverable from the evaluation report

MCC initially considered that a potential research publication that could arise from this experiment.

However, such a publication, if it is generated, will not be required under this contract and may be competed as a separate requirement if the Government sees fit. The final report from this RCT will be published on the Burkina

Faso country team website and may or may not be published in the MCC Evaluation Catalog (note that the meant for publication in a scientific journal?

catalog mostly features independent evaluations, which this is not). The language under C.2 will be revised to clarify this point.

9 Page 32, H.16 Team and Key Personnel

Qualifications: Is the “lead field work” component of the Field Work Manager’s role expected to cover data collection alone, or implementation of the treatment interventions (Task 8) as well?

The data collection will be the main task of the Field

Work Manager. If the offeror believes that the person has the necessary capabilities and bandwidth to also support the implementation of the treatment, they can use them as well

10 Is it acceptable for the Field Work

Manager role to be filled within a data collection subcontractor (not the prime as in #3 in Section B.4) and for their labor to be covered within the data collection plug figure?

Depending upon the offeror’s technical approach, it may be possible for Key Personnel to serve in both the prime/subcontract role, as applicable. If the Field Work

Manager will be directly involved in the data collection, they should separately charge their hours for data collection activities under the data collection plug number

(e.g., if staff will be in the field collecting data, that falls under data collection, but if they provide oversight from the home office, that would fall under the 1,000 hours).

11 Page 12, section C.4 Tasks: The description of Task 2 indicates that “The

Contractor shall submit an experiment design proposal to MCC and GOBF for review and approval before proceeding.”

However, there is no evaluation design report deliverable listed in section F.3

(page 17). Can MCC confirm if this is an error, or otherwise if the experiment design proposal is included in the “draft questionnaire and experimental protocol” deliverable? If so, will this deliverable be materially different from the evaluation design reports that MCC typically expects?

The third deliverable listed in Section F.3.3. has been renamed to “Experiment design proposal (including draft questionnaire and experimental protocol)” to clarify what is expected.

12 Page 10, section C.2 Scope: The RFQ notes, “The contractor is free to choose the additional treatment(s) out of the remaining four options as they feel appropriate…” Please confirm that the contractor may not present an alternative option not listed, or recommend a combined treatment group

Do not present an alternative not listed. However, a combined treatment is not discouraged.

13 Page 10, section C.2 Scope: The RFQ notes, “In addition, [to the interventions above] all households in the experiment will receive information about the benefits of connecting to the electricity grid.” Can

MCC confirm if this will include control households and if the Contractor will be responsible for this intervention as well?

This will include control households. Yes, the contractor is responsible for this and can consider using flyers, radio advertisement, or any other means to meet this requirement.

14 Will MCC or UCF be contributing financially to SONABEL to support any extra institutional effort or resources required to implement the treatment interventions? If not, will the contractor be permitted to designate some of the plug figure for implementing treatment interventions for this purpose?

SONABEL and UCF will provide all necessary supportive data and information to ensure success of the study. The offeror should designate figures for implementation treatment and may utilize some of the plug figure for reimbursement or financial support to SONABEL as required by their technical solution. MCC will not be directly providing financing to SONABEL as part of this contract.

15 Page 9, section B.4 Labor Rates and Other

Direct Costs (ODCs), states, “MCC anticipates the level of effort for this requirement to be approximately 1,000 hours across the entire period of performance”. Would MCC please clarify that the 1,000 hours of level of effort are specific to the treatment injection and data collection?

The estimated 1,000 hours include hours across the entire period of performance for the key personnel and their supportive staff. If the key personnel will be directly involved in the data collection, they should separately charge their hours for data collection activities under the data collection plug number (e.g., if staff will be in the field collecting data, that falls under data collection, but if they provide oversight from the home office, that would fall under the 1,000 hours). Examples of activities that may be counted under the 1,000 hours include management and oversight of the study, data analysis, writing reports, etc. Note that the 1,000 hours is an estimate for the level of effort and the offeror is free to propose variances if they deem necessary, but must clearly explain the rationale in their quotation.

16 We understand from the ToRs (C.2. Scope, p.10) that the baseline will be carried out in areas covered by the grid, but with households not yet connected. The ToRs specify that the contractor "will collect data on households' enrollment for grid connections". Can you please clarify this point? Does it mean that the RCT will target households that were initially enrolled, or both enrolled and not enrolled households?

This study will target households not connected to the grid who live in connected areas, regardless of enrollment status.

17 Concerning the enrollment, does it mean that enrolled households are already in a process of being connected, or does it mean that they simply expressed their willingness to be connected at the time of the baseline survey?

The key distinction is whether a household has their home connected to the grid. We encourage the offeror to learn more about these nuances within the Burkina Faso context to make a distinction between enrollment and connection.

18 Is there an expectation of testing a combination of treatment arms, or just the independent effect?

There is no requirement to combine treatments. All that is required is that at least three interventions are proposed, with the first two treatments listed in Section C.2 of the solicitation included. However, combining treatments is not discouraged.

19 Will the SONABEL coverage regions be available before quote submission?

This information will be disclosed after award to the selected contractor. However, offerors may do their own research prior to quote submission to learn more about

SONABEL coverage.

20 Will there be delays in the start date due to

COVID-19?

There is still a lot of uncertainty, so it is hard to predict what will happen. The performance period dates in the solicitation are estimates and are subject to change.

Additionally, Section C.1 contains language allowing for potential changes due to COVID-19. MCC will not approve travel to Burkina Faso until the country re-opens and travel restrictions are eased.

21 Is the midline survey expected to be completed one month after the completion of the implementation of the intervention?

The firm will design the intervention and midline survey and should propose in their workplan the timing that will make the most sense.

22 Can past performance questionnaires be provided after the quotation due date?

As stated in Section L.8.8 of the solicitation, past performance questionnaires must be submitted by the quotation due date. Questionnaires received after the due date may not be considered; however, MCC reserves the right to accept and consider them if it is determined to be in the best interest of the Government.

Amendments to Solicitation Language (Note: All changes shown in red text)

1) The last paragraph in Section C.2 is amended as follows:

Further detail regarding the expected content of the experiment is to be developed in cooperation with

MCC and the GOBF. This experiment may result in a report/research publication co-authored and co-branded with MCC and GOBF, which is not included as an activity under this requirement but may be competed separately.

2) The Deliverables table in Section F.3.3 is amended as follows:

Deliverable Estimated

Due Date

(months after award)

Place of Performance

Contractor’s travel scope of work Before each mission to

Burkina Faso

No specific location

BASE PERIOD

Workplan, including outlining a security plan

(Task 1)

3 months No specific location

Experiment design proposal (including draft questionnaire and experimental protocol) (Tasks

2-3)

4 months No specific location

Final questionnaire and experimental protocol

(Tasks 5-6)

6 months Piloting to take place in Burkina Faso

Cleaned baseline dataset and random assignments

(Task 7)

8 months Data collection: On-site in Burkina Faso

Data cleaning: No specific location

Baseline survey report (Task 7) 8 months No specific location

OPTION PERIOD 1

Mid-line dataset (Task 9) 14 months No specific location

Interim report (including impact of treatment on adoption) and presentation (Task 10)

14 months Report: No specific location

Presentation: Location TBD

OPTION PERIOD 2

Final dataset (Task 11) 25 months No specific location

Final report (including impact of treatment on household welfare variables and business creation) and presentation (Task 12)

25 months Report: No specific location

Presentation: Location TBD

Implementation recommendation report (Task

13)

25 months No specific location

3) Section L.3 is amended as follows:

The quotation due date is July 6, 2020 at 11:00 am Eastern Time. All quotations must be provided in electronic format to guoc@mcc.gov and maxwellre@mcc.gov.

4) Section L.6 is amended as follows:

• Files shall be formatted to print on 8.5 x 11 inch paper, with the exception of charts, such as

MS-Project, that can be presented on 11 x 17 inch pages.

• Single-spaced typed lines, including figures and glossaries.

• 1-inch margins.

mailto:guoc@mcc.gov mailto:maxwellre@mcc.gov

• Times New Roman font, no smaller than 12-point for text.

• Times New Roman font, no smaller than 10-point for spreadsheets, tables, and charts, and any font size for graphics as long as they are legible.

• Submission format: PDF, Microsoft Word and/or Excel (Note: Price tables must be submitted in Excel format).

• All quotation pages must be numbered.

1) Provide the Question and Answer document and update Sections C, F, and L of the solicitation accordingly;

2) Attach the webinar presentation slides and webinar attendee list; and

3) Extend the quotation due date FROM July 3, 2020 at 11:00 am Eastern Time TO July 6, 2020 at 11:00 am Eastern Time.

Please see continuation page for more details.

Millennium Challenge Corporation, Contracts and Grants Management Division, 1099 Fourteenth St NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC, 20005-3550, US