REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (REOI)

Title of the tender: Consultancy Services for National Digital Readiness Assessment
Tender No.: 1100019

1. Introduction

Irembo Ltd is a technology company in the gov-tech and fin-tech spaces that designs and develops digital products focused on users in Africa, starting with Rwanda. Our aim is to create an interconnected continent by bridging the digital divide, increasing access to essential services, and promoting inclusive economic growth. Formerly known as RwandaOnline, Irembo started operations in 2014 with a mission to lead the digitization of government services in Rwanda and today offers two flagship products - IremboGov and IremboPay. 

Irembo Ltd intends to conduct a National Digital Readiness Assessment for some African partner countries to establish a comprehensive baseline of the country’s digital ecosystem. The assessment will inform the development of policies, strategies, and investment priorities to advance national digital transformation.

Irembo Ltd now invites eligible and qualified consultancy firms to indicate their interest in providing the required services.

2. Objectives of the Assignment

The main objective of the assignment is to assess the country’s level of digital readiness and provide recommendations to strengthen digital development. Specifically, the assessment will:

• Benchmark digital readiness against international indices and best practices.
• Identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities across the digital ecosystem.
• Recommend actionable measures to accelerate inclusive and sustainable digital transformation.

3. Scope of Services

3.1 Baseline Assessment & Diagnostics

• Review existing national ICT and digital policies, strategies, and legal frameworks.
• Map ongoing and planned digital initiatives across government, private sector, and development partners.
• Assess digital infrastructure, including connectivity, devices, citizen capacity, and digital literacy.
• Evaluate foundational systems such as digital ID, registries (civil status, land, vehicle, tax), interoperability frameworks, PKI, and government portals.
• Analyze transactional and payment systems, including fintech ecosystems, mobile money, banks, government payment gateways, and regulatory frameworks.
• Review data infrastructure and management, including data centers, archiving systems, cybersecurity, and privacy frameworks.
• Document current service delivery and business processes, including manual workflows for priority services, and identify opportunities for Business Process Reengineering (BPR).
• Assess the technology and innovation ecosystem, including capacity for homegrown solutions and existing gaps.
• Evaluate financial models and the sustainability of service delivery, including charging models, costs, and revenue opportunities.

3.2 Institutional & Governance Review

• Analyze institutional arrangements for digital transformation, including mandates, leadership, and coordination mechanisms.
• Propose strengthened governance and change management models, including all-of-government arrangements to manage transformation both during implementation and long-term sustainability.
• Assess policy and regulatory frameworks for enabling innovation, financial inclusion, data protection, and transparency.
• Service identification, process mapping, and service documentation 
• Facilitate multi-stakeholder workshops to gather requirements and validate recommendations.
• Identify local champions and institutional anchors to drive implementation.

3.3 Digital Maturity & Benchmarking

• Apply international frameworks (UN EGDI, GovStack, AU–EU D4D Hub, ITU indices) to measure maturity.
• Benchmark against regional peers and global leaders, drawing on Rwanda’s and other best-practice models.
• Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks across infrastructure, identity, payments, data, services, governance, and leadership.

3.4 Future State Mapping

• Develop a comprehensive future state enterprise architecture, covering ICT systems, DPI, and interoperability.
• Define the future state of the government ePortal, including expansion of online services, user experience optimization, and technical/security upgrades.
• Create a catalog of services to be digitized, aligned with priority use cases 
• Ensure proposed services adhere to digital by design, secure by design, once-only, and inclusive by design.
• Propose governance, resourcing, and institutional arrangements for implementation and sustainability.
• Estimate post-implementation benefits, including cost savings, improved service accessibility, financial inclusion, and citizen satisfaction.

3.5 Strategic Recommendations & Roadmap Development

• Develop an actionable, phased roadmap (short-term quick wins, medium-term, long-term).
• Provide detailed guidance for developing and scaling e-services, with specifications for functionality, security, interoperability, and inclusiveness.
• Provide indicative costing and a detailed budget framework sufficient to support the launch of implementation 
• Propose a digital sustainability model, ensuring scalability, flexibility, and adaptability to evolving needs.

3.6 Capacity Building & Knowledge Transfer

• Conduct skills assessments and design training programs for government IT staff and end-users.
• Provide training on building blocks, sandbox usage, system maintenance, and user support.
• Deliver leadership training for digital transformation governance.
• Ensure knowledge transfer to build in-country ownership and reduce reliance on external expertise.

3.7 Validation & Communication

• Present findings and future state models in national validation workshops.
• Facilitate alignment across ministries and secure approvals for implementation.
• Ensure broad stakeholder communication, including citizens and businesses, to promote adoption and trust.
• Document all processes, frameworks, and systems, and provide comprehensive reporting for government use.

4. Qualification Requirements

Interested firms must provide information demonstrating that they are qualified to perform the services. Shortlisting will be based on the following criteria:

4.1 Digital Government Strategy and Implementation

• Direct experience advising governments on national digital transformation strategies, policies, and frameworks.
• Proven ability to translate strategies into operational programs and digital platforms with measurable impact.
• Experience working at the highest levels of government (Chief Digital Officers, Heads of State, Ministers). 

4.2 Foundational Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)

• Design and implementation of core DPI (digital ID, registries, interoperability, PKI, government portals, and national payment systems).
• Experience integrating DPI into citizen-facing services across government agencies.

4.3 Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and Service Digitalization

• Strong background in analyzing and re-engineering manual workflows to streamline government operations.
• Track record of developing and onboarding priority e-services through government portals and mobile channels.
• Expertise in designing services that are digital by design, secure, once-only, inclusive, and user-centric.

4.4 Data, Security, and Infrastructure

• Expertise in developing national data centers, cloud-native hosting, and archiving systems.
• Strong capabilities in cybersecurity, compliance, and data protection frameworks.
• Proven ability to safeguard government records and ensure interoperability across systems.

4.5 Governance, Change Management, and Capacity Building

• Experience establishing all-of-government digital governance models and institutional arrangements.
• Demonstrated capacity in change management to embed reforms sustainably.
• Experience delivering digital leadership programs, ICT skills training, and knowledge transfer.

4.6 Proven Track Record of Delivery

• Successful digital transformation projects with demonstrable results.
• Relevant experience in the African context or other emerging markets.
• Capacity to provide end-to-end expertise: assessment, strategy, prototyping, costing, implementation planning, and sustainability modeling. 

5. Submission Requirements

Expressions of Interest must include the following information:

• Profile of the consultancy firm, including core business and years of operation.
• Description of relevant assignments undertaken in the last five (5) years, including client name and scope of work.
• Summary of technical and managerial capacity.
• List and qualifications of key experts (team composition) (do not include CVs at this stage).
• Contact details.

6. Selection Process

A shortlist of consultancy firms will be established based on the above criteria. Shortlisted firms will be invited to submit detailed Technical and Financial Proposals.

Note: Only shortlisted consultancy firms will be contacted.

7. Submission Details

All qualified and interested consultancy firms should submit their proposals electronically through Irembo’s e-procurement portal no later than 24/10/2025 at 5 PM. consultancy firms will be required to sign up or register via this link under the Area (s) of Expertise: “Consultancy Services”.

After registration, your profile will undergo a review by our team. You will only be allowed access after your account has been approved. Upon successful login, navigate to “Tenders” and locate Tender Number: 1100019. More guidelines can be found on the signup page: https://procure.iremboinc.com