RFP: Tracking Impact in Nigeria’s River Basin

General Instructions

A.Water.org requests proposals from river basin specialists to propose cost-effective, scalable methodology for tracking and quantifying people reached with safe water and sanitation and volumetric water benefits (VWBs) generated by Water.org partners across Nigeria’s river basins, with a particular focus on the Ogun-Osun River Basin This work supports regional operations and aims to enhance geographic granularity of impact reporting.
B.The firm is expected to facilitate and coordinate with Water.org staff and partner microfinance institutions for data collection along the Ogun-Osun River Basin. The project requires the firm to submit the deliverables outlined.
C. Invoicing will occur upon completion and approval of the deliverables outlined
D.Water.org is not liable for any expenditure incurred by responding firms prior to the issuance of an executed contract with Water.org.
E. Submissions must be typed and submitted only by email and must follow the format of the requests for information
F.Submissions Requirements. Unless agreed upon with Water.org, no changes or corrections to a response will be allowed after the deadline.

Proposed schedule:
06th June 2025– RFP submissions due by 5:00 PM BST.
15th June 2025 – Results announced
1st July 2025 – Contract begins
31st August 2025– Contract ends
G. The proposal must contain a technical proposal and a financial proposal.

Scope of work

Overview
For 30 years, Water.org has been at the forefront of developing and delivering sustainable solutions to the
global water crisis. Water.org pioneers innovative, community-driven and market-based solutions to provide universal access to safe water and sanitation, giving women hope, children health and communities a future. To date, Water.org has positively transformed millions of lives around the world, ensuring a better life for generations ahead.
Through its flagship WaterCredit model, Water.org provides financial and technical assistance to local institutions (primarily microfinance institutions), building their capacity to offer affordable financing for water supply and sanitation services (WSS) to customers at the base of the economic pyramid (BOP).

These financial products are designed based on an analysis of local market demand. Philanthropic resources provide the up-front technical assistance financial institutions need to develop these new loan portfolios. The end result: more people empowered with safe water and toilets and a sustainable, local market built for those at the BOP. WaterCredit has reached more than 79 million people across 13 countries through 17 million microloans. The average size of a WaterCredit loan is US$367, and the global average repayment of a WaterCredit loan since 2003 is 98 percent. Further, more than 87 percent of borrowers are women. More details can be found on the organization’s website.

In Nigeria (a new operating country for Water.org), Water.org has partnered with local microfinance institutions (MFIs) to develop and scale sustainable financial products that empower those at the base of the pyramid (BOP) to invest in their own water and sanitation needs. This includes the construction of water improvements and/or toilets within their homes.

Water.org is conducting a pilot project to develop a measurement system to track people reached and water volume provided at the river basin level in Nigeria. The pilot will particularly focus on the Ogun-Osun River Basin. As Nigeria is a new country where Water.org operates, we have a unique chance to establish partnerships and impact reporting from the ground up. This allows us to integrate the river basin
measurement requirements from the beginning.

To this end, Water.org seeks proposals from river basin specialists to help Water.org determine the level of information needed to track impact by river basin and to ensure the geographic location of the Ogun-Osun River Basin is correct. If the location is determined as incorrect, the consultant will locate and map out the correct location and advise on methods for collecting and reviewing geographic information from Water.org’s partner reporting.

Objectives of the study
The selected consultant will work with Water.org staff and its database developers, and other stakeholders to complete the following objectives:

Establish a standardized and replicable methodology to track people reached through household water loans and the volume provided within the Ogun-Osun River Basin. We do not anticipate that financial institutions can track the loans by GPS so other types of geographical information will need to be used, such as state and municipality information.
Establish an efficient and scalable river basin measurement system and practices that will allow Water.org to track impact by river basin in Nigeria and expand to other countries and river basins in the future.

Activities and deliverables to be completed by project end

Confirm river basin Ogun-Osun is defined correctly (geographically)
For Ogun-Osun River basin:
-Provide or confirm the GIS / Shape file for overall shape/boundaries of the basin
-Provide or confirm the GIS / shape file for the rivers within the river basin
For all other river basins in Nigeria
Provide or confirm the GIS / Shape file for overall shape/boundaries of the basin
Provide or confirm the GIS / shape file for the rivers within the river basin
Review Water.org’s administration regions (in its database) for Nigeria and how they align with river basins
Provide report and consultation on how the river basin are organized within Nigeria. Are they nested within other river basins, do they overlap?
Provide consultation and/or identify the data points that we need to collect from our financial institution partners to report impact at the basin level
Provide consultation to ensure we are set up to track impact by river basin correctly
Provide recommendations on best practices for visualizing river basin data
Obtain any applicable government/regulatory approval related to this project from the relevant government/regulatory authority and shall bear all costs or any other resource required to achieve this.
Out scope:Water.org has its own management of information system. This project will not develop a separate system but rather ensure the outputs of the project function well within the existing system.
Submission requirements
To be considered under this RFP, please submit the following:
Proposal
A narrative proposal (no more than 5 pages excluding annexes) should include the following sections:
a.Approach for the assignment (include a brief background of river basins in Nigeria)
b.Relevant Experience: Provide details of projects of similar scope, complexity and nature you have worked on previously.
c.Specific Expertise: Describe your expertise specific to river basins
d.Key Personnel and Staffing: Describe the key personnel and a staffing plan for the project. Include CVs (no more than 2 pages each and attached as an annex) of key personnel who would be part of the proposed plan.
e.Timeline and budget: Include a detailed timeline of key activities.Criteria for submission
Applicants may be individuals, groups of individuals with a designated team leader, or firms.Applicants must have the following qualifications:
•Demonstrated experience in river basins and analysis
•Education: A degree in fields such as Water Resources Management, Hydrology, Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Geography/ GIS or related disciplines.
•Hydrology, Integrated Watershed Management, or River Basin Management can be advantageous
•Regulatory Knowledge: Understanding of Nigerian water laws and environmental regulations.
•Project Management: Proven track record in managing water-related projects, including planning, implementation, and monitoring phasesSelection process
All proposals submitted by the deadline will be carefully reviewed by the Selection Committee based on established selection criteria. The selection process may involve interviews with applicants. The final decision will be based on the overall quality of the technical proposal and value for money. The Selection Committee reserves the right to reject or cancel any submission at any time prior to the agreement if it is in the best interests of Water.org.