Expression of Interest (EoI) 

Consultancy Services for the Provision of IT Expert Pool to Support the implementation of Digital Solutions 

Transaction no.:7000005613

Project processing number:G-012508-001

Internal order:12508010000

Country: Rwanda 

0. Context

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federally owned international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations. The GIZ Office in Kigali covers GIZ’s portfolio in Rwanda and Burundi. GIZ Rwanda/Burundi implements projects on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Union and other commissioning authorities in the following priority areas: Sustainable Economic Development, Good Governance, Climate, Energy and Sustainable Urban Development, Digitalization and Digital Economy, Mineral Governance, Peace and Security in the Great Lakes Region.

GIZ is a German Federal enterprise headquartered in Germany with a vision to contribute towards a future worth living. With over 1,200 projects and activities in over 130 countries, GIZ prioritizes sustainable development. The GIZ Project in Kigali, Rwanda serves as a Key Account to coordinate GIZs portfolio with Smart Africa and currently counts 12 Projects in various areas of digital transformation

Smart Africa is a pan-African organization founded in 2013 by seven African Heads of State with a vision to create a single digital market by 2030. The Smart Africa Secretariat (SAS) is based in Kigali, Rwanda to strengthen and prioritize digital transformation in Africa. The Smart Africa Alliance (SAA) is composed of 42 Member States and various partner organisations from the Private Sector, Civil Societe Organisations, International Organisations and others. 

The GIZ Project “Acceleration of the Digital Transformation in Africa” (GIZ Project) funded and commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) collaborates with the Smart Africa Secretariat (SAS) on Digital policy in Africa. Both organisations are based in Kigali, Rwanda and work towards creating a Single Digital Market by 2030. In pursuing this, GIZ and SAS cooperate within the following five pillars:

• Development of Technical Advisory Products for SAS Member States 
• Strengthening Institutional Capacity of SAS
• Creating Smart Africahips and Joint Positions
• Advising on AI Policy 
• Formulating AI Use Cases

The Smart Africa Secretariat leads continental digital transformation initiatives, supporting Member States, coordinating multi-country programmes, and delivering digital solutions that improve connectivity, service delivery, and access to information. As the Secretariat’s digital portfolio expands, there is growing demand for high-quality, scalable, and secure IT systems capable of serving multiple stakeholders across diverse environments.

Traditional project-by-project procurement of IT services is slow and inflexible, limiting responsiveness and delaying delivery. To address this, GIZ seeks to establish a pooled contract of qualified IT experts who can be deployed on demand. This will provide rapid access to specialized skills, support agile development, enable timely piloting and scaling of solutions, ensure continuous enhancement of digital assets, and strengthen the quality, security, and sustainability of all systems—allowing the Secretariat to deliver efficient, modern, and impactful digital solutions across its initiatives

Within the framework of cooperation, GIZ seeks to contract an experienced IT consultancy firm to provide a pool of qualified IT experts in software development and architecture, UI/UX,Web Development to deliver services as needed.

Objective of this assignment

The objective of this assignment is to engage a qualified IT consultancy firm, to provide on-demand technical expertise required for the implementation of digital solutions.

1. Tasks to be performed by the contractor

The contractor will provide on-demand IT services through a pool of experts. 

The services shall cover the following expertise areas:

1. Software Development

• Backend and frontend development
• API development and system integration
• Platform prototyping, MVP development, and deployment

2. Web Development 

• Corporate and programme website redesigns and upgrades
• CMS development, migration, and configuration
• Performance, security, and accessibility optimization
• UX/UI improvements

3. UX/UI Design

• User flow mapping, wireframes, and interface design
• Prototyping and usability testing

4. M&E Systems

• Design and development of Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) systems
• Dashboards and reporting tools for real-time tracking of KPIs and impact
• Data visualization and analytics support

5. Support, and Capacity Building

• Provide post-pilot technical support and bug fixes.
• Conduct capacity-building sessions for administrators and technical staff.
• Prepare final documentation and handover package.

Assignment of Single Tasks

Under this contract, consulting services will be commissioned through individual call-offs issued by GIZ. Each call-off will define specific tasks, timelines, and deliverables based on the technical needs of GIZ and Smart Africa (e.g. Smart Africa Secretariat).

// call off might be 1) deliverables based, jointly scoped and to be delivered within a clear timeframe e.g. a more detailed analysis (e.g. 15 days of specific resource, until a certain date, including certain meetings/interviews and desk research based on input provided or to be researched), 2) staffing small teams to work on increments of agile development (e.g. 2 developers, 0,5 & of a project manager for 12 weeks to work in sprints to build out first version of the the MVP)

For every assignment, the Contractor’s experts will work directly with GIZ 

Call offs will relate to the following projects / initiatives that are implemented in parallel / sequentially 

• Website Redesign and Improvement
• MVP for a bulk procurement platform

other work streams can be added later, relying on the same expertise and delivery methodology.

At the end of each task, the Contractor shall submit a concise completion report (1–5 pages) summarizing:

• The key milestones completed.
• The approach, steps, and methodologies applied.
• Results and outputs achieved.
• Any next steps, recommendations, or dependencies.
• Best practices and lessons learned relevant for future assignments.

The Contractor’s employees or subcontractors shall not be integrated into GIZ’s work organisation and shall not be subject to any instructions from GIZ. The Contractor shall be solely responsible for the deployment of the employees it employs and for issuing instructions to them regarding the nature, specific timing, sequence and allocation of the work, and this responsibility shall remain with the Contractor. 

Period of assignment: From date of contract award until 30 May 2027. 

2. Concept

In the tender, the tenderer is required to show how the objectives defined in Chapter 2 (Tasks to be performed) are to be achieved, if applicable under consideration of further method-related requirements (technical-methodological concept). The concept must outline the tenderer’s approach for delivering flexible, on-demand IT services across identified digital initiatives ensuring quality, scalability, and timely response to assignment requests issued under the framework contract. In addition, the tenderer must describe the project management approach for service provision.

Note: The numbers in parentheses correspond to the lines of the technical assessment grid.

Technical-methodological concept

3.1. Strategy (1.1)

Interpretation of the objectives in the ToRs, critical examination of tasks (1.1.1)

The tenderer is required to demonstrate the understanding of the assignment and consider the tasks to be performed with reference to the objectives of the services put out to tender 

Description and justification of the contractor's strategy for delivering the services put out to tender(1.1.2)

The tenderer is required to present an explicit strategy outlining how it will deliver flexible, on-demand IT services across identified digital initiatives. The strategy will include how the tenderer will:

• Mobilize experts quickly for different call-offs.
• Work iteratively and efficiently within the time-bound nature of individual assignments

• Ensure high-quality design, development, deployment, of digital platforms.
• Apply sustainable, future-proof technical architectures aligned with GIZ and Smart Africa’s requirements.
• Work in an agile and iterative manner to accommodate evolving priorities.

3.2. Cooperation (1.2)

Presentation and interaction between the relevant actor in the contractor's area of responsibility (1.2.1)

The tenderer must describe the cooperation with GIZ as the contracting authority responsible for oversight and quality assurance, Smart Africa, and other partners outlining communication lines, feedback loops, and collaboration protocols for each engagement

Steering structure (1.3)

Approach and procedure for steering the measures with project partners (1.3.1)The tenderer is required to present and explain its approach to steering the measures with GIZ and partner (1.3.1) for each call-off, covering Kick-off discussions and clarification of scope for each assignment, Coordination routines (e.g., sprint reviews, check-ins), and Internal quality control before deliverables are submitted

The tenderer is required to describe the key processes for the services for which it is responsible such as:

• Internal workflows for receiving and responding to call-off requests,
• Procedures for rapidly mobilizing the appropriate expert(s) from the pool,
• Change-management and quality-assurance processes 
• Knowledge retention practices to ensure continuity between assignments.

Description of tenderer's contribution to results monitoring and the associated challenges (1.3.2)

The tenderer should describe how they will support results monitoring across all call-offs through both technical and analytical support. Challenges such as variability in monitoring approaches across call-offs and tight timelines for incremental delivery should be anticipated with proposed mitigation measures outlined.

Learning and Innovation (1.5)

The tenderer is required to describe how it will ensure consistent knowledge management for GIZ and partner (1.5.1) across call-offs, including: Maintaining documentation repositories, codebases, and configuration histories, ensuring proper handover, Supporting capacity-building of staff where relevant,

Project management of the contractor (1.6)

The tenderer shall present a clear and robust project management system demonstrating how the work under the different call-offs will be managed including the methods and tools for delivering the technical work.

Approach and procedure for coordination with/in GIZ project (1.6.1)

The tenderer must describe:

1. Coordination Approach with GIZ and partners

1. • How the tenderer will coordinate with the GIZ and partner teams for planning, executing, and reviewing individual call-offs.
   • Communication structures, focal points, escalation paths, and feedback mechanisms.
   • How the tenderer will ensure transparency on progress, risks, timelines, and deliverables for each assignment.
   • Procedures for integrating inputs and approvals from GIZ and Smart Africa 

Further requirements (1.7)

Not Applicable

3. Personnel concept

The tenderer is required to provide personnel who are suited to filling the positions described, based on their CVs (see Chapter 6).

The below specified qualifications represent the requirements to reach the maximum number of points in the technical assessment.

Team leader

Tasks 

• Provides overall technical leadership and quality assurance across all assignments
• Serve as the primary point of contact with Smart Africa and GIZ.
• Develop detailed project plan, including milestones, deliverables, and risk management.
• Coordinates the expert team and manages task allocation, timelines, and deliverables.
• Facilitate meetings, workshops, and presentations with stakeholders.
• Serves as main technical counterpart to GIZ and Smart Africa, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives.
• Oversees risk management, reporting, and communication with GIZ and Smart Africa.
• Ensures all solutions adhere to principles of scalability, interoperability, security, and sustainability.

Qualifications 

• Education/training (2.1.1): University Degree in Computer science, Information Systems, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or related field. 

• Language (2.1.2): C1-level language proficiency in English
• General professional experience (2.1.3): 7 years of professional experience in the ICT advisory,Digital Transformation. sector
• Specific professional experience (2.1.4): 7 years in Designing and developing enterprise level digital platforms
• Leadership/management experience (2.1.5): 5 years of experience managing multidisciplinary ICT teams delivering large-scale, complex, and enterprise-grade digital systems. Experience managing teams of diverse expertise.
• Regional experience (2.1.6): 5 years of experience in projects in East Africa of which 3 years in projects in Rwanda 

Expert 1- Full Stack Software Developer

Tasks 

• See the general scope stated in Section 2. The specific tasks and deliverables will be defined in the respective call-off assignment, depending on the technical requirements of the individual project

Qualifications 

• Education/training (2.2.1): University degree in Computer science, Information Systems, ICT Engineering, Software Engineering, or related field. 
• Language (2.2.2): C1 -level language proficiencyin English
• General professional experience (2.2.3): 5 years of experience in Software Engineering design,architecture and implementation
• Specific professional experience (2.2.4): 5 years of experience in developing complex, scalable, and interoperable digitalsystems. Experience building applications with multi-tenancy, subdomain, and multilevel user-access models. Prior experience working on regional digital platforms, digital government systems, or cross-border digital solutions 

Expert 2- CMS & WordPress Developer

Tasks 

• See the general scope stated in Section 2. The specific tasks and deliverables will be defined in the respective call-off assignment, depending on the technical requirements of the individual project

Qualifications 

• Education/training (2.3.1): University Degree in Computer science, Information Systems, ICT Engineering, Software Engineering, or related field. 

• Language (2.3.2): C1-level language proficiency in English
• General professional experience (2.3.3): 5 years of professional experience in designing, developing, and maintaining websites using WordPress CMS. 

• Specific professional experience (2.3.4): 5 years of experience in designing and developing enterprise-grade WordPress solutions, not simple websites and in building and customizing themes, plugins, and integrating external APIs and in multi-site management, sub-domains, hosting optimization, and content workflows.

 Expert 3- UX/UI Designer

Tasks 

• See the general scope stated in Section 2. The specific tasks and deliverables will be defined in the respective call-off assignment, depending on the technical requirements of the individual project

Qualifications 

• Education/training (2.4.1): University Degree in Computer science,Computer Engineering, Human-Computer Interaction, or relevant field
• Language (2.4.2): C1 -level language proficiencyin English
• General professional experience (2.4.3): 5 years of experience in UX/UI design for digital solutions
• Specific professional experience (2.4.4): 

• 3 years of experience designing interfaces that simplify complex workflows
• 5 years of experience creating wireframes, prototypes, and design systems using tools such as Figma
• 5 years of experience in designing visualization interfaces (charts, maps, KPI dashboards)

Expert 4- Data Engineer

Tasks 

• See the general scope stated in Section 2. The specific tasks and deliverables will be defined in the respective call-off assignment, depending on the technical requirements of the individual project

Qualifications

• Education/training (2.5.1): University Degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Data Science,Information Systems, or related field
• Language (2.5.2): C1 -level language proficiencyin English
• General professional experience (2.5.3): 5 years in data architecture, database design, or data engineering
• Specific professional experience (2.5.4): 

• 5 years of experience in designing and implementing data architectures that support large-scale, multi-country, or enterprise-level digital platforms.
• 5 years of experience in building scalable and secure data pipelines capable of integrating data from multiple systems, ministries, agencies, or external Smart Africa.
• 3 years of experience working with relational and non-relational databases, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, or similar.
• 5 years of experience building data layers and backend services that enable analytics dashboards, M&E systems, and reporting tools .

Expert 5- System Architect 

Tasks 

• See the general scope stated in Section 2. The specific tasks and deliverables will be defined in the respective call-off assignment, depending on the technical requirements of the individual project

Qualifications 

• Education/training (2.6.1): University Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering,Cloud Computing, IT Infrastructure
• Language (2.6.2): C1 -level language proficiencyin English
• General professional experience (2.6.3): 7 years of experience in Software Engineering, Systems Architecture, or ICT solution design.
• Specific professional experience (2.6.4): 

• 5 years of experience in designing or architecting Enterprise level systems, M&E systems, data collection platforms, or similar digital solutions.
• Hands-on experience with at least one modern technology stack
• 5 years of experience transforming business requirements into technical specifications and supporting development teams through implementation.

Expert 6- DevOps/Cloud Infrastructure Engineer

Tasks 

• See the general scope stated in Section 2. The specific tasks and deliverables will be defined in the respective call-off assignment, depending on the technical requirements of the individual project

Qualifications 

• Education/training (2.7.1): University Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering,Cloud Computing, IT Infrastructure
• Language (2.7.2): C1 -level language proficiencyin English
• General professional experience (2.7.3): 5 years managing cloud infrastructure and DevOps 
• Specific professional experience (2.7.4): 

• 5 years of experience hosting, and operating enterprise-level digital systems, including websites, portals, and integrated web applications
• 5 years of experience deploying and managing systems on AWS, Azure
• 5 years of experience managing domains, subdomains, and scalable hosting infrastructures 
• Familiarity with backup strategies, high availability, and disaster recovery

Expert 7-M&E Systems Specialist

Tasks 

• See the general scope stated in Section 2. The specific tasks and deliverables will be defined in the respective call-off assignment, depending on the technical requirements of the individual project

Qualifications 

• Education/training (2.8.1): University Degree in Data Science, Statistics, Information Systems, or similar field.
• Language (2.8.2): C1 -level language proficiencyin English
• General professional experience (2.8.3): 5 years of experience in designing or developing digital M&E systems. 
• Specific professional experience (2.8.4): 

• 5 years of experience building data-driven dashboards, analytics platforms, or KPI tracking systems.
•  5 years of experience working with M&E frameworks, results-based management, and institutional reporting.
• 3 years of experience integrating data from multiple sources using APIs, ETL pipelines, or data warehouses.
• Strong knowledge of data visualization tools (Power BI, Tableau).
• 5 years of experience in designing scalable, interoperable M&E systems for governments or organizations.

Soft skills of team members

In addition to their specialist qualifications, the following qualifications are required of team members:

• Communication & Stakeholder Engagement
• Collaboration & Teamwork
• Problem-Solving & Analytical Thinking
• Quality Orientation
• Efficient, partner- and client-focused working methods 

Soft skills will not be evaluated.

4. Costing requirements

Assignment of personnel 

The financial proposal must be structured entirely around expert-day rates for all expert categories included in the Expert Pool. All costs for the delivery of services under this framework contract will be calculated based on actual expert days consumed per call-off assignment.

Please note: only services that were commissioned by GIZ and rendered by the contractor will be remunerated. We would also like to point out that it may not be necessary to make use of the total number of proposed expert days.

Specification of inputs

Fee days	Number of experts	Number of days per expert	Total	Comments
Team Leader	1	150	150
Full Stack Developer	1	150	150
CMS & WordPress Web Developer	1	100	100
UI/UX Designer	1	90	90
DevOps & Cloud Infrastructure Engineer	1	50	50
M&E Systems Specialist	1	50	50
Data Engineer	1	50	50
System Architect	1	60	60
Other costs	Number	Price	Total	Comments
Flexible remuneration	1	20.000.000 RWF	20.000.000 RWF	A budget of 20.000.000 RWF is foreseen for flexible remuneration. Please incorporate this budget into the price schedule. Use of the flexible remuneration item requires prior written approval from GIZ.
Workshops	4	2.500.000 RWF	10.000.000 RWF	The budget contains the following costs Cost for venue for training sessions for Smart Africa technical team and Member states focal persons.
Hosting infrastructure	1	3.300.000 RWF	3.300.000 RWF	Temporary hosting for development, staging, or testing environments
Translation English - French	3	840.000 RWF	2,520,000 RWF	Translations services during engagements
Software tools	2.500.000 RWF

Travel 

Travel expenses budget : N/A

5. Requirements on the format of the tender

The structure of the tender must correspond to the structure of the ToR. In particular, the detailed structure of the concept (Chapter 3) should be organised in accordance with the positively weighted criteria in the assessment grid (not with zero). The tender must be legible (font size 11 or larger) and clearly formulated. It must be drawn up in English

The complete tender must not exceed 10 pages (excluding CVs). If one of the maximum page lengths is exceeded, the content appearing after the cut-off point will not be included in the assessment. External content (e.g. links to websites) will also not be considered.

The CVs of the personnel proposed in accordance with Chapter 4 of the ToRs must be submitted using the format specified in the terms and conditions for application. The CVs shall not exceed 4 pages each. They must clearly show the position and job the proposed person held in the reference project and for how long. The CVs can also be submitted in English.

6. Submission of the offers

Please submit your self-declaration of eligibility using the designated form and your technical and financial bids by23.04.2026 in English only to RW_Quotation@giz.de.

The offer must be submitted in 2 separated emails in PFD format. The email subject line should be in the form of:

• 7000005613 -TECHNICAL OFFER This includes eligibility documents and technical proposal in two separate PDF files
• 7000005613 - FINANCIAL OFFER in the format of price schedule provided 

Details of our submission requirements are explained in the enclosed terms and conditions for application. Tenders which are submitted after the deadline, or which do not comply with the terms and conditions for application, will not be considered.

By submitting your tender, you accept GIZ’s General Terms and Conditions of Contract (in the currently valid version).

The tender documents listed below must be submitted in full and as separate documents:

• Completed self-declaration and annexes
• General administrative documents (RDB registration certificat, Tax clearance certificat and VAT certificat)

• Financial bid in the format provided (price schedule)
• Technical bid, including an up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV) for each expert and concept 

When preparing the financial bid, you must adhere to the requirements of the specification of inputs as set out in the Terms of Reference. The tenders received will be subject to a technical evaluation based on the CV and the concept in accordance with the technical assessment grid (see annex). Only tenders that score over 500 points in the technical evaluation will be accepted for the financial evaluation. Technical bids that fail to reach this cut-off point will be regarded as unsuitable. The technical bid is weighted at 70% and the financial bid at 30%.

Sustainability

We have developed a Guide for Practising Corporate Sustainability (GPS) so that our contractors can learn about corporate sustainability at GIZ. We encourage all tenderers to complete the GPS online course and obtain the certificate.

Completing the GPS will not influence the award decision in this procedure. However, we would very much welcome your participation: https://gps.giz.de/en/.

7. Annexes

1. High Level SoW „Website Redesign & Improvement”
2. High Level SoW “Development of the MVP for the BPMP Smart Hub”(The two annexes provide the high-level scope for the two projects. Detailed Scope of Work will be defined during individual call-offs).
3. Application requirements of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH for the award of contracts for services and works 
4. General Terms and Conditions of Contract for Supplying Services and Works 
5. Technical proposal template 
6. Assessment grid for the technical evaluation of tenders
7. Self-declaration of eligibility
8. Eligibility assessment grid
9. Price schedule

8. List of abbreviations

AG                              Commissioning party

AN                              Contractor

AVB                            General Terms and Conditions of Contract for supplying services and work

FK                              Expert

FKT                            Expert days

KZFK                         Short-term expert

ToRs                          Terms of reference

SAA                           Smart Africa Alliance

SAS                           Smart Africa Secretariat

AI                              Artificial Intelligence

UI/UX                       User Interface/User Experience

M&E                         Monitoring and Evaluation