Steve Peacock's U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

USAID Seeks to Expand Nigerian Trade, Promote Economic Growth (NEWS BRIEFS)

The following news briefs involve some recent procurement actions of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

USAID awarded an $11.8 million contract to the Arlington, Virginia-based CARANA Corporation to carry out the Nigeria Expanded Trade and Transport, or NEXTT, Program, which seeks to expand domestic trade and to improve the Nigerian government’s efficiency “so that trade, particularly in agricultural products, can provide inclusive economic growth and development of Nigeria.” (Contract Award #AID-620-C-13-00002) (Solicitation #SOL-620-12-000001)

Deloitte Consulting LLP secured a contract capped at $15 million to provide service in USAID’s Catalyzing Clean Energy in Bangladesh, or CCEB, project. Deloitte will help “support energy sector development for energy security, economic growth, and climate change mitigation” over the next five years. Deloitte specifically will provide training to the Bangladesh Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources and other institutions to develop and implement the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, or BCCSAP. (Contract award #AID-388-C-13-00001) (Solicitation #SOL-388-12-000006).

USAID awarded a $6.8 million contract to Kimetrica, a Nairobi, Kenya- and Boulder, Colorado-based company, to provide project-management services in the Livelihoods Integration Unit – Enhancing Livelihoods Application (LIU-ELA) Project, which seeks to analyze food security issues in Ethiopia. (Contract Award #AID-663-C-12-00004) (Solicitation #RFP-663-12-00001).

USAID to Spend Tens of Millions Promoting Filipino Tourism, Agribusiness (NEWS BRIEFS)

The following is a quick rundown of several recently unveiled foreign aid contracts and projects through the U.S. Agency for International Development:

THE PHILIPPINES: USAID may spend up $43.5 million over five years to promote tourism and agribusiness in the Philippines. The Advancing Philippine Competitiveness, or COMPETE, Project seeks to "contribute to higher growth through the better provision of infrastructure, increased competitiveness of key industries, and increased access to credit," according to a modified solicitation released Sept. 21. The agency is accepting proposals through Nov. 2 (Solicitation #SOL-492-12-00001).

Separately the agency is looking for contractors capable of helping to strengthen "the capacity, legitimacy, and transparency and accountability of local governments " while also "increasing the involvement of youth and adults in governance processes" the largely Muslim Mindanao region of the Philippines. A five-year contract award valued at about $19 million is anticipated to carry out the Enhancing Governance, Accountability and Engagement, or ENGAGE, Project (Solicitation #SOL-492-12-000016).

UGANDA: Contracts worth upwards of $23 million dollars could be awarded to "sustainably increase the production and marketing of quality maize, beans, and coffee in Uganda" over five years, USAID said Sept. 21 in a modified solicitation (Solicitation #SOL-617-12-000020(1)).

VIETNAM: USAID awarded a $12.9 million contract to Little Rock, Arkansas-based Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development to help it “directly influence and catalyze investment in clean energy technologies, practices, and policies” in Vietnam (Contract award #AID-486-C-12-00008).

BANGLADESH: Chemonics International secured a $2 million noncompetitive contract extension to help promote the “global market competitiveness” of the horticulture, aquaculture, and leather products sectors in Bangladesh. USAID on Sept. 21 said in a Justification & Approval document that it raised the contract from about $11 million to $13 million as part of the Poverty Reduction by Increasing the Competitiveness of Enterprises (PRICE) initiative (Contract award #388-C-08-00021-00).

U.S. Census Bureau to Modernize eStatistics System -- in Bangladesh

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics is modernizing it computer-assisted data entry system -- and the U.S. Census Bureau of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce is paying for it. The Bureau on Sept. 7 announced via Solicitation #51-SO-BC-11-00082 that it intends to award a noncompetitive contract to the Greenbelt, Md.-based Jmat Systems, LLC, to support the project. It says the sole-source contract is justified because the company "is the only known source with the knowledge and experience needed to provide additional in-country deployment, setup, configuration, and disaster recovery services" for the Bangladeshi endeavor.

The Bureau, however, did not offer justification as to why U.S. taxpayers are paying for it.

U.S. Seeks New Means of Predicting Internet Growth Overseas, from Albania to Zimbabwe

The U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is looking for a contractor capable of developing a new analytical model to predict Internet usage and growth in thirty-two foreign nations, from "A" (Albania) to "Z" (Zimbabwe).

The agency, which runs U.S. government-funded international broadcasting systems such as Voice of America and Radio Sawa and Alhurra Television of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, said in a Statement of Work (Solicitation #BBG50-R-11-0020) that existing models for predicting growth are inadequate. The SOW said those models solely focus on specific technology sectors rather than the Internet in its entirety:

The ultimate goal is to estimate, using empirical data, the expansion of the number of unique individuals using the Internet on a weekly basis in these markets over the next five years. While various organizations have produced such estimates and prejections for sub-segments of the Internet market, such as mobile Internet use or fixed line broadband, BBG requires estimates of the growth of the entire Internet market, regardless of platform, including use via public access facilities.

Although the BBG attempted to justifiy why it wants a new predictive model, it did not specify why it needs -- nor what it intends to do -- with such a new mode of analysis. The agency said it would apply the model to Internet usage in the following nations: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam,  Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The BBG said the selected contractor should be able to complete the work within an eight-week period. It did not offer an estimated cost of the project.