TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR REVIEW AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN- RITCO LTD

1. BACKGROUND

Rwanda Interlink Transport Company Limited (RITCO Ltd), is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) venture between the Government of Rwanda and private investors. The company was established to provide a solution to the public transport challenges by providing safe, reliable, and improved public transport services to all Rwandans, especially in the rural and remotest areas across the country. 

RITCO was set up following the dissolution of a government public transport company, Office National de Transport end Commun (ONATRACOM) which was liquidated in 2016 owing to difficulties that barred the company from fulfilling its socio-economic mission. The company’s aspirations are to become the leading public transport service provider in the country, and significant progress has been made towards attaining this ambitious.

To cement the strides made towards attainment of the desired level of performance and ensure sustainable growth – RITCO Ltd elaborated a 5-year strategic plan that aligns its functional activities, as well as guiding discussions and decision-making to determine priorities, critical interventions, and resources and budget requirements to accomplish its strategic objectives.

The strategic plan spelled out a number of interventions designed to improve operational efficiency and Company performance; enhance human resource management and development; develop and expand RITCO business ecosystem; enhance use of IT in operational efficiency and service delivery; improve the company’s corporate image and the overall business outlook; and mainstream national policy programs in the Company’s short- and long-term plans.

Coupled with the efforts to achieve higher levels of performance and improved quality of service delivery, the 5-year strategic plan put forward other overlapping income-generating avenues designed to widen the company’s financial base and support the competitiveness of the mainstream public transport business. RITCO current Strategic Plan (2020-2025) will come to an end in June 2026, therefore a need to conduct a comprehensive review to assess achievements, identify gaps, and draw lessons learned. Based on this review, RITCO intends to update its Strategic Plan for the next five years (2026–2031), ensuring alignment with the national development agenda, sectoral policies, market trends, and emerging opportunities in the transport industry.

A new plan needs to be developed and approved by the Board no Later than March 2026. For this reason, RITCO seeks the services of an experienced and competent consultant or consulting firm to lead a facilitated and consultative process to evaluate implementation status of the strategic plan 2020- 2025 and develop the new Strategic Plan spanning the period 2026-2031.The new Strategic Plan (2026-2031) will adopt a forward-looking and transformational approach to ensure the competitiveness of RITCO as a leading and well competitively positioned Transport company It will also equip RITCO with clear and implementable roadmap to continuously be at the forefront of the Transportation and Regional economic marketplace.

2. OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The overall objective of the assignment is to:

• Conduct a comprehensive review and evaluation of the RITCO Strategic Plan (2020–2025), assessing its implementation, achievements, and challenges in relation to the set goals, targets, and key performance indicators.
• Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats affecting RITCO’s strategic positioning and propose a solution.
• Update and develop a new Strategic Plan for 2026–2031, including implementation frameworks and monitoring tools.

3 SCOPE

In light of the background and objectives provided, the review of the RITCO Strategic Plan (2020–2025) and the development of the RITCO Strategic Plan (2026–2031) will include the following key components:

Activity 1: Review and Analysis of Strategic Frameworks, strategic document and Operating Environment.

• Undertake a comprehensive review of RITCO’s vision, mission, core values, strategic priorities, and current strategic plans, assessing their alignment with the 2020–2025 Strategic Plan targets and evaluating the extent of their implementation.
• Review relevant national and sectoral policies and strategies including Rwanda’s Vision 2050, NST2, the National Transport Policy and Strategy, the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, the Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy, and other government transport sector roadmaps to identify opportunities that can strengthen RITCO’s business framework and inform its risk management approach

• Review international and regional transport frameworks, public service transport models, and industry trends relevant to RITCO’s market positioning.
• Assess the implementation of the RITCO Strategic Plan (2020–2025), identifying achievements, lessons learned, gaps, and challenges.

• Conduct a sufficient targeted stakeholder consultations with key public and private partners, including the Ministry of Infrastructure, Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority, city and district authorities, fleet partners, passenger associations, and logistics partners.

Activity 2: Review RITCO’s Operational and Organizational Model.

• Conduct a situational analysis covering SWOT, competitor analysis, organizational structure, fleet capacity, service routes, depot and maintenance operations, digital ticketing systems, branding, existing product and market segmentation.

• Recommend refinements to RITCO’s organizational operational framework to ensure alignment with strategic priorities and industry best practices.

• Review RITCO’s brand identity, including customer experience, marketing strategies, and public relations and propose improvement which support the strategic initiatives proposed for 2026 to 2031 to support targeted market development plan.

• Facilitate a series of at least three structured workshop sessions with RITCO management and key stakeholders to present, review, and refine the proposed Strategic Plan prior to its approval. These sessions should ensure that the strategy:
  • Looks ahead to anticipate and integrate possible future trends in transport, technology, regulation, and customer needs.
  • Considers multiple “what if” scenarios (e.g., fuel price fluctuations, electric bus adoption, new market entrants, policy shifts).
  • Tests the robustness of proposed strategies under various future conditions and financial scenarios.
  • Identifies, evaluates, and refines strategic choices to position RITCO for resilience and competitiveness in diverse potential futures.
• Identify capacity-building needs, including staff training in customer service, fleet management, transport logistics, and digital transformation and other product.

Activity 3: Competitive Benchmarking and Market Positioning

• Conduct a competitive benchmarking analysis of regional public transport operators, examining service models, fleet modernization, pricing structures, technology adoption, and operational efficiency, to generate insights that will inform RITCO’s Strategic Plan and strengthen its competitive positioning

• Identify emerging market opportunities in passenger, goods, and special services (e.g., cross-border transport, charter services, tourism-linked transport).
• Propose market positioning strategies tailored to RITCO’s strengths, brand promise, and competitive edge.

Activity 4: Strategic Plan Development (2026–2031)

• Develop a strategic plan aligned with RITCO’s vision, mission, and core values to reflect its aspirations for 2026–2031.

• Define key strategic pillars and priorities based on findings from Activities 3, Ascertain Integration of cross-cutting themes including but not limited to sustainability, growth, climate resilience, clean energy adoption, digitalization, safety, accessibility, regional connectivity, brand identity, and product diversification,scaling up or expansion, Risk and compliance into the Strategic Plan

• Develop SMART goals under each strategic pillar, supported by measurable KPIs.
• Define strategies for fleet expansion, route optimization, service diversification, Brand identity, Communication and customer engagement.
• Develop a risk management framework to address operational, market, and financial risks.
• Identify and map strategic partnership opportunities with key stakeholders including government entities, private sector players, financiers, and regional operators and provide recommendations on viable collaboration.
• Establish a monitoring and evaluation framework with clear metrics for performance tracking.
• Prepare a five-year implementation roadmap detailing KPIs, responsible units, timelines, sequencing, and required enablers.

4. DELIVERABLES

 The consultant will provide:

• Inception Report: Detailing the methodology, work plan, and timeline.

• Reviews, Surveys, and Evaluation Report: This will present insights gathered from the review of existing strategic documents and stakeholder consultations and their strategic plan, including interviews and surveys. It will also, Present findings on the implementation status of the 2020–2025 Strategic Plan, along with an assessment, ratings, opportunities lost and way, and actionable recommendations based on the review.

• A Draft Strategic Plan: A draft strategic plan 2026 -2031 for stakeholder review.

• Stakeholder workshop to Review and validate findings and collect feedback on the draft Strategic Plan.

• Final Strategic Plan and Consolidated Report: A comprehensive and validated 5-Year Strategic Plan for RITCO (2026–2031), incorporating all stakeholder feedback, Survey and reviews and covering RITCO’s organizational strategy, service delivery framework, and brand positioning, an implementation matrix, a Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) framework, Company Score Card and supporting documentation from stakeholder engagements.

All deliverables must be provided in English, in MS Word format, accompanied by an MS PowerPoint summary slide deck for each submission. The final documents will be presented for review and validation by RITCO management and relevant oversight bodies.

V. SELECTION CRITERIA

The selected consulting firm or individual consultant shall meet the following requirements:

• Extensive experience in organizational strategy development, operational planning, and branding/marketing within the public transport or logistics sector. A minimum of 5years of relevant experience, with at least 2–3 similar assignments completed in the last 2 years.
• Demonstrated experience working in transport and infrastructure, working with applicable government agencies, or transport authorities, including in emerging markets or developing countries.
• Proven knowledge and application of sustainability, climate resilience, and clean energy practices within transport or infrastructure sectors.
• Strong understanding of Rwanda’s national development priorities and the transport sector landscape is highly desirable.
• Lead consultant(s) with at least 5 years of relevant experience in strategic planning, organizational development, and sector-specific advisory services within transport, logistics, or public service enterprises.

• Proof of expertise and specialization in the following areas with at least 5 years of relevant experience:
  1. Strategic Planning and Corporate Strategy
  2. Organizational Systems and Process Optimization
  3. Transport Sector Development and Operations
  4. Branding, Marketing, and Customer Engagement in Transport Services
  5. Economic and Policy Analysis related to Transport and Infrastructure
  6. Research, Data Analytics, and Market Intelligence
  7. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)
  8. Communications and Stakeholder Engagement

VI.KEY ADMINISTRATIVE DOCUMENT

• Company registration documents (if applicable)
• Tax registration and clearance certificates
• Valid trading license.
• Profile of the consultancy firm or individual.
• CVs of the lead consultant(s) plus proof of competence indicated in the CV.
• Financial proposal with a detailed expense breakdown.

VII. TECHNICAL PROPOSAL EVALUATION

• Approach and methodology and proposed Timeline for executing the assignment (10%).
• Qualifications and expertise of additional team members (30%).
• Consulting firm/Individual consultant capacity and past performance (30%).
• Applicable administration Document /Pass and fail
• Financial Proposal, Breakdown of fees and disbursements 30%

VIII. REPORTING AND SUPERVISION

The consultant will report to The Chief Shared Services Officer and work closely with Finance and Internal Monitoring and evaluation team.

IX. APPLICATION PROCESS

Interested consultants must submit:

• Expression of interest to participate in this consulting assignment
• A cover letter detailing relevant experience.
• A technical proposal
• A financial proposal with cost breakdown.
• All supporting and other relevant document listed in this TOR

X. DEADLINE:

Interested companies or individuals should submit their applications to RITCO Head office Nyamirambo in working hours not later than 22^nd September of 2025 5:00PM.

Done in Kigali on 01/09/2025

NKUSI Godfrey

Chief Executive Officer