CONSULTANCY FOR PAYMENTS & LOAN MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

1. INTRODUCTION

ABOUT US

Solidaridad Network is an international solution-oriented civil society organization working through eight regional expertise centres to transform markets to make them more sustainable and inclusive. Our eight regional expertise centres include Asia, Eastern and Central Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, Southern Africa, West Africa and our global Secretariat in the Netherlands.

Solidaridad East and Central Africa (“Solidaridad”) is one of the regional centres headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, with country offices and programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda. We bring together supply chain players and engage them with innovative solutions to improve production, ensuring the transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy that maximizes all benefits. We facilitate the strengthening of local capacity in developing countries, support the creation of enabling environments for economies to thrive, and improve market access.

CONTEXT

Climate change has become increasingly important over the past few decades. It is primarily caused by the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which leads to global warming and changes in weather patterns. As a result, small-scale farmers have been significantly impacted by these weather changes, resulting in decreased productivity and income.

In Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, Solidaridad has multiple agroforestry related initiatives aimed at empowering over 300,000 farmers, particularly those vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Solidaridad provides training, resources, and technical assistance. Consequently, these practices contribute to a reduction in farmers’ carbon emissions. In addition, to realize the full benefits of agroforestry and increase the number of carbon credits generated by the farmers, Solidaridad is providing the farmers with farm inputs.

To ensure a smooth, automated and efficient processing and management of the payments and input loans, Solidaridad is seeking a competent consultant to design, develop and deploy a responsive and resource-efficient system to facilitate the payments and manage the input loans given to the farmers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

1. SCOPE OF WORK
2. Functional System Requirements

• Farmer Profile Module: The system should have a basic and lean farmer profile/account/wallet with basic information on which payments and loan disbursement, reconciliations and reporting will be made. Farmer profiles will be created from an internal system using API calls or batch excel import. An API integration will be required.
• Payment Module: to be used to remit the carbon credit sales proceeds to all the farmers whose carbon credits have been sold. The system should support various mobile payment channels, especially instant mobile money transfers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania through platforms such as MPESA, Airtel Money, Vodacom’s M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa and Momo. The mobile money payment methods should be integrated into the system to enable instant transfers and settlements. The system should have a payment list download functionality that can be used for bank payments outside of the system for farmers with bank accounts. Should support batch payment verification, approval and processing. Should clearly show the status of each farmer payment done – successful, failed, and pending. The module should have an approval workflow with an initiator, reviewer and approver.
• Loan Management Module: this module should support the disbursement of various farm inputs such as fertilizers, improved seeds, tree seedlings, machinery and extension services to farmers as loan facilities. These loans are customized loan products, not the conventional ones in the market. The system should allow a user group and the admin to create loan batches, setting the input types, country, Solidaridad project under which the loan is processed, interest terms e.g., interest percentage and accrual terms and repayment terms as well as approval criteria for loan assessment. Farmers could have more than one loan at a time. The system should support batch processing of the loan processing, verifications and deductions. Should generate reconciliation reports based on the loan facilities and farmer profiles. The loan interest accrued should be calculated automatically by the system. Loan applications will be done in a separate internal system and only the approved applications will be posted to the loan management module via an API and batch upload using Excel for processing and record management. The approved loan records should be downloadable from the system depending on the project and regions/districts; to be shared with the service providers offering the various inputs and services on Solidaridad’s behalf.
• Farmer Payment Method Verification Module: Solidaridad pays most of the farmers using mobile money. There is always the risk of having outdated farmer phone numbers as they change or lose their mobile lines. The system should therefore support the verification of farmers’ existing phone numbers with the payment service providers before payments are made to ascertain that the phone numbers still belong to the initially registered farmers. Only phone numbers confirmed to be valid just before the payment should be included in the batch payment.
• Reporting Module: The system should have a comprehensive reporting and statistics module on aggregated payment and loans based on the loan facilities, input types, countries, project under which the loan is disbursed and farmer profiles over periods of time e.g. year, quarters and months. Should also include loan performance and recovery reports.
• APIs Module: Avail APIs through which reports on payments and loans disbursed can be pulled and accessed by other internal systems. The APIs will also be used to create and update farmer profiles/wallets and create farmer loan applications. The APIs should be secure to avoid unauthorized access to system data.
• Users Authentication and Authorization: provide a secure user authentication and authorization including user groups through which users will be given access to different system components. Should also include system-to-system users through which API communications will be authenticated and authorized.
• Notifications: Send SMS notifications to the farmers on loan approvals and payment processing informing them about the specific transaction details. Should also include other system transactional email notifications.
• System Audit Trail Module: the system should record users activities while using the system, most importantly, initiating, reviewing, processing and approving loans and payments. The system should log user logins including frequency, IP, timestamp and browser used. The logs should be backed up and readily available for regular audits.
• Backups Module: the system should automatically create daily and monthly database and configuration files backups. The backups should be easy to download and restore incase of any system compromise.
• Branding: The system should be branded with the Solidaridad logo and theme colors.

1. Non-functional System Requirements

• The platform should be compatible with common web browsers; Chrome, Firefox, Safari & Edge.
• Must be fully responsive and functional on medium and large devices.
• Scalable and able to handle up to multiple active users without performance deterioration.
• Robust security measures ensuring proper and secure authorization and authentication and data privacy and protection.
• Easy to backup and restore.
• Rich and engaging user interface & experience.
• Comply with data protection laws, financial regulations, and payments industry best practices and regulations.

1. Duration

This assignment is expected to be carried out for a period of not more than six (6) months starting latest 15 May 2024.

1. CONSULTANT’S RESPONSIBILITIES AND DELIVERABLES
2. Key responsibilities

• Initial assessment: Review and understand the current organizational process flow and existing dependent systems and needed integrations.
• System Design Development: Design of systems modules and functionalities, including both technical and system functionality mockups for the system. Should also include database designs.
• Testing and implementation: Develop the required functionalities and test the system (i.e., Beta and Alpha versions), bug fixing, and implementation.
• System deployment: Provide a ready to-go-live system version for final user testing and acceptance before going live.
• Training: Provide training on how to use and maintain the system.
• Documentation: Develop a concise user and technical manual of the system as applicable.
• Technical support: Provide close user and technical support for 6 months after deployment.

Throughout the assignment, the consultant agrees to co-design, co-develop, deploy and engage with the Solidaridad teams from various departments, gathering their feedback and making sure all system requirements are developed, deployed, and tested. Solidaridad shall provide an institutional GIT repository for the system development version control where necessary.

1. Key deliverables

Performance will be measured based on the submission of the below deliverables.

1. Deliverables – System Beta Version

   Description – The first version of the system, hosted in a test environment and tested by the users for feedback

   Format – System version and source code

   Timeframe – End of 3rd month

2. Deliverables – System Alpha Version

Description – A fully working, responsive, user-friendly and ready to be deployed to the production system.

Format – System version and source code

Timeframe – End of 4th Month

3 . Deliverables – System user manual

Description – Detailed document covering information related to the operations, standards and guidelines, troubleshooting guides, functionalities and more.

Format – A written documentation

Timeframe – End of 5th Month

4. Deliverables – User training manual

Description – Knowledge transfer through user training.

Format – Physical and/or virtual sessions.

Timeframe – End of 5th Month

5. Deliverables – System handover

Description – Knowledge transfer through system handover

Format – Physical and/or virtual sessions.

Timeframe – End of 5th Month

6. Deliverables – Technical documentation

Description – Technical documentation of the system, including used plugins, integrations, configurations, credentials, technology stack, etc

Format – A written documentation

Timeframe – End of 6th Month

7

Deliverables – System support

Description – Both user and technical support after system rollout.

Format – Bug fixes and user support.

Timeframe – 6 months

1. Technology knowledge:

The selected firm/ contractor will require knowledge of:

• Backend: Python/Java
• Frontend: ReactJS (recommended) or VueJS
• Database: PostgreSQL (main) plus any other databases for other purposes.

1. EXPRESSION OF INTERESTS
2. EOI format:

Expression of interests (EOIs) must include:

1. A profile of the firm/ contractor including a portfolio of relevant previous work.
2. Firm/contractor statement on the interpretation of the TOR.
3. A description of the methodology to be used to design, develop and deploy the system.
4. A detailed work plan for carrying out the assignment and detailed financial proposal.
5. Details of the infrastructure needed for the system including server specifications and approximate monthly/annual costs.
6. The firm shall present the CVs (max. 2 pages) and Github links of the individuals showing demonstrable experience.
7. At least three (3) references to similar or related assignments undertaken in the last 2 years with complete contact information.

Note: The EOI should be a maximum of 20-pages, excluding CVs and references which can be provided as an annex.

1. Desired skills and knowledge:

• Proficiency in bulk payment systems design and development.
• Proficiency in mobile money service providers integrations.
• A good understanding of loan management and check-off processes.
• Proficiency in web systems data visualization systems and technologies.
• Proficiency in systems integrations and APIs development.
• Proficiency in relational and non-relational databases design and development.
• A good understanding of Human Centered Design, Tests Driven and Agile Software Development.
• A good understanding of User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) design principles to create intuitive and user-friendly interfaces.
• Good planning and communication skills.
• Excellent communication and written skills in English.
• Working with NGOs, especially in supporting payments, is an added advantage.

How to apply

1. Submission details

The firm/contractor is required to submit the EOI detailing the approach and methodology, budget, and work plan by 29th April 2024 at 5:00pm (EAT).

Subject reference: Solidaridad Payments System – [insert firm/contractor name]

Email: Submissions are by email to procurement.eca@solidaridadnetwork.org while addressed to:

Attn: Managing Director

Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa Expertise Centre

Kilimani Business Centre, Kirichwa Road,

P.O. Box 42234 – 00100 GPO

Nairobi

1. Evaluation assessment

The firm/contractor should deliver a separate technical and financial proposal that will be assessed as follows:

• Technical proposal: 70 Points
• Financial proposal: 30 Points

Note: Canvassing will lead to automatic disqualification and only the successful candidate will be contacted.