INVITATION TO TENDER

TENDER TITLE:MAINTENANCE AND CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT OF DATA CENTER AND DISASTER RECOVERY INFRASTRUCTURE

Tender Reference: ASARW/PROC/DC-DR/001/2026
Procurement Method: Competitive Tendering
Number of Lots: One (1) Indivisible Lot
Procuring Entity: ASA International (Rwanda) Plc
Location: Kigali, Rwanda, and designated Disaster Recovery site(s)

1. BACKGROUND AND INVITATION

ASA International (Rwanda) Plc invites eligible and qualified Rwandan registered companies with demonstrated experience in enterprise IT infrastructure to submit bids for the maintenance and capacity enhancement of its existing Data Center and Disaster Recovery infrastructure.

The objective is to enhance system capacity, performance, reliability, security, and business continuity through the supply, installation, and configuration, integration, testing, commissioning of compatible infrastructure components, software licences, and associated technical services. The assignment shall also cover applicable manufacturer-backed warranties, technical support, documentation, knowledge transfer, and post-implementation support.

The procurement consists of one indivisible lot. Bidders must submit a complete proposal covering all mandatory equipment, components, licences, and services required by the tender specifications. Detailed technical requirements, quantities, contractual conditions, and evaluation criteria shall be provided in the tender document.

2. SCOPE OF WORK

The successful bidder shall undertake the following activities:

2.1. Assessment and enhancement: Assess the existing server, storage, virtualization, backup, and related infrastructure, as applicable; identify capacity constraints and compatibility requirements; and recommend the necessary enhancements.

2.2. Supply and installation: Supply and install the specified enterprise-grade equipment, components, accessories, and connectivity items. All supplied equipment shall be genuine, compatible with the existing environment, and supported by the relevant manufacturer.

2.3. Software licences Supply, renew, activate, or configure the required operating system, database, virtualization, backup, and other software licences expressly identified in the tender specifications. Bidders shall specify license quantities, versions, duration, and renewal requirements.

2.4. Configuration and integration: Configure and integrate the enhanced infrastructure with existing systems. Where migration is required, the bidder shall implement an approved migration plan, data-protection measures, backup arrangements, and rollback procedures to minimize operational disruption.

2.5. Warranty and support: Provide or activate the specified manufacturer-backed warranty and technical support, including applicable onsite support, spare-parts arrangements, service coverage, escalation procedures, and verifiable warranty registration records.

2.6. Testing and commissioning: Perform appropriate hardware health checks, compatibility and performance tests, redundancy and failover tests, and backup and recovery validation, as applicable. Disaster Recovery testing shall be coordinated with and approved by the Company.

2.7. Documentation and handover: Deliver as-built infrastructure diagrams, equipment inventories, licence and warranty records, configuration documents, test reports, operating procedures, and training for designated IT personnel. The bidder shall rectify implementation defects attributable to its work before final acceptance.

3. ELIGIBILITY AND QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Participation is open on equal conditions to eligible companies that meet the following mandatory eligibility and experience requirements. Bidders must provide evidence of:

1. a) A valid company registration certificate and current tax clearance certificate.
2. b) Proof of status as a Dell Authorized Partner for Rwanda.
3. c) A valid Manufacturer Authorization Form (MAF) or Manufacturer Authorization Letter issued by Dell or an authorized Dell distributor in Rwanda for the proposed equipment, components and support services.
4. d) A minimum of five (5) years of demonstrated experience in IT Data Center infrastructure. Bidders with up to ten (10) years or more of relevant experience will be considered favorably during the technical evaluation.
5. e) Evidence of at least three (3) successfully completed similar assignments for financial institutions, supported by contracts, purchase orders or award letters and corresponding certificates of completion or satisfactory performance.
6. f) Qualified and certified technical personnel with relevant expertise in enterprise servers, storage, operating systems, databases, migration, integration and technical support.
7. g) Demonstrated ability to provide manufacturer-backed warranty, onsite technical support, spare parts and escalation services.
8. h) Any additional references and supporting documents specified in the tender document

Failure to satisfy any mandatory eligibility or experience requirement may result in disqualification in accordance with the tender conditions.

4. TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL PROPOSALS

4.1. Technical proposal

The technical proposal shall include the bidder's understanding of the assignment, proposed solution, technical compliance matrix, equipment and software schedules, implementation methodology, project schedule, migration and rollback arrangements where applicable, testing and commissioning procedures, warranty and support arrangements, and relevant experience and personnel credentials.

All deviations from the specifications must be clearly identified and explained. Bidders shall demonstrate how their proposals will deliver a complete, secure, compatible, and operational solution.

4.2. Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall provide an itemized breakdown of equipment, components, software licences, installation, configuration, integration, migration, testing, commissioning, warranty, technical support, training, transportation, and other applicable costs.

Applicable taxes and statutory charges shall be clearly identified. The bidder shall state the total price in Rwandan francs (RWF), unless another currency is expressly permitted in the tender document. All mandatory costs required to complete the assignment must be included.

5. OBTAINING THE TENDER DOCUMENT

Interested bidders may request the complete tender document by email to rwandatendercommittee@asarwanda.rw , and attaching proof of payment of the non-refundable tender document fee of RWF 10,000 (ten thousand Rwandan francs).

Payment shall be made to the following account:

• Account Name: ASA International (Rwanda) Plc
• Bank: Bank of Kigali (BK)
• Account Number: 100010197273
• Amount: RWF 10,000

The request shall state the bidder's registered company name, contact person's details, and tender reference. Upon verification of the request and payment, the tender document shall be shared electronically.

6. CLARIFICATIONS AND BID SUBMISSION

Requests for clarification shall be submitted in writing to rwandatendercommittee@asarwanda.rw no later than the deadline indicated in the tender timetable. The subject line shall state: Clarification Request – Data Center and Disaster Recovery Infrastructure – [Tender Reference].

Bidders shall submit separate technical and financial proposals in accordance with the instructions, format, number of copies, and submission method specified in the tender document.

Where physical submission is required, bids shall be delivered to:

ASA International (Rwanda) Plc
Head Office, Gisozi, Kigali, Rwanda
Attention: Procurement Committee

The final submission address and any electronic submission instructions shall be confirmed in the tender document. Each proposal shall be properly signed, labelled, and submitted before the deadline. Late bids and bids submitted through unauthorized channels shall be rejected in accordance with the tender conditions.

7. BID OPENING AND EVALUATION

Bids shall be examined and evaluated in accordance with the procedures and criteria disclosed in the tender document. The evaluation may include:

1. a) Preliminary examination: Verification of timely submission, signatures, and mandatory administrative documents.
2. b) Qualification assessment: Review of legal eligibility, relevant experience, technical personnel, manufacturer authorization where applicable, and financial and operational capacity.
3. c) Technical evaluation: Assessment of compliance with specifications, compatibility, implementation methodology, delivery schedule, warranty, support, and other stated technical criteria.
4. d) Financial evaluation: Examination and comparison of financially qualified bids in accordance with the disclosed evaluation methodology, including applicable taxes and arithmetic correction rules.

The contract shall be recommended for award in accordance with the evaluation criteria specified in the tender document and subject to the required approvals and contractual formalities.

8. IMPLEMENTATION, BID VALIDITY, AND RESERVATION OF RIGHTS

Bidders shall provide a realistic implementation schedule covering assessment, procurement, delivery, installation, configuration, testing, commissioning, and handover. The successful bidder shall not make changes to production systems or interrupt business-critical services without prior authorization from the Company.

Bids shall remain valid for sixty (60) calendar days from the submission deadline, unless otherwise stated in the tender document.

ASA International (Rwanda) Plc reserves the right, in accordance with its applicable procurement procedures and the tender conditions, to accept or reject bids, verify submitted information, request clarifications, reject all bids where justified, or cancel, suspend, or amend the tender process where lawfully justified. Publication of this notice does not constitute a commitment to award a contract or reimburse bid preparation costs, except where required by applicable law.

9. TENDER TIMETABLE

All times shall be interpreted as Rwanda local time (CAT). The approved timetable and any amendments shall be communicated through the designated procurement channels.

10. AUTHORIZATION

Done at Kigali, Rwanda, on this ______ day of __________________ 2026.

For and on behalf of ASA International (Rwanda) Plc

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Christian Salifou

Chief Executive Officer