Organization: HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation
Country: Tanzania
Reference number: PRF – 1154/RFP/001
Project: Youth Employment through Skills Enhancement (YES) Project
Contract type: Service contract/agreement
Submission language: English
Submission email:

About HELVETAS

HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation is a Swiss non-governmental organization working in development cooperation. HELVETAS has been active in Tanzania since the 1980s and operates in both mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.

In Tanzania, HELVETAS works under three thematic areas:

• Water, Food, and Climate (WFC)
• Skills, Jobs, and Income (SJI)
• Voice, Inclusion, and Cohesion (VIC)

HELVETAS Tanzania operates its country programme under the framework of its current Country Strategy Programme (CSP 2023–2027). The strategy focuses on Water, Food and Climate; natural resources management using a landscape approach; Voice, Inclusion and Cohesion; Skills, Jobs and Income; development of partnerships with the private sector; policy and advocacy for systemic change; and resource mobilization for programme development.

Vision of the organization

HELVETAS envisions a just world in which all men and women determine the course of their lives in dignity and security while using environmental resources in a sustainable manner.

Mission of the organization

HELVETAS supports poor and disadvantaged women, men, and communities in developing and transition countries in their efforts to improve their living conditions.

Background of the YES Project

HELVETAS Tanzania has been implementing the Youth Employment through Skills Enhancement (YES) Project since 2018. The project has demonstrated strong results in improving employability, self-employment, and income opportunities for economically and socially disadvantaged youth through market-relevant skills development and stronger linkages with the private sector.

Following previous achievements, lessons learned, and evidence generated, HELVETAS Tanzania has launched a new YES Project phase running from January 2026 to December 2029.

This new phase places stronger emphasis on:

• Demand-driven, market-led skills development
• Private sector engagement and co-creation of training programmes
• Transition from training to decent wage employment or sustainable self-employment
• Skills that contribute to environmental sustainability and green economic growth

Project locations

The project will be implemented in selected locations, including:

• Dodoma City
• Singida Municipal Council
• Singida District Council
• Manyoni District Council
• Kondoa District Council
• Chamwino District Council

Purpose of the call

HELVETAS Tanzania invites eligible and experienced vocational training institutions, agribusiness service providers, entrepreneurship organizations, and business support organizations to submit proposals for delivering short-term, market-led training programmes under the new phase of the YES Project.

The purpose of this call is to identify partners capable of designing and implementing high-quality training programmes that respond to current and emerging labour market needs and lead to measurable employment, self-employment, or income outcomes for youth.

Scope of training services

Selected service providers will be expected to design and deliver one or more of the following training areas:

• Market-relevant vocational skills training
• Entrepreneurship and business development training
• Agribusiness and agri-enterprise skills development
• Green and environmentally sustainable occupations that contribute to climate resilience, natural resource conservation, or low-carbon development

Training programmes must:

• Be based on evidence from local labour market and value chain analysis
• Integrate practical, work-based learning, including internships, apprenticeships, and on-the-job training
• Include mechanisms for job placement, enterprise start-up, or market linkage
• Align with results-based financing principles, where payments are linked to verified outcomes
• Demonstrate positive environmental outcomes, such as waste reduction, energy efficiency, sustainable production, or environmental protection

Provisional contract start date

The provisional commencement date of the contract is 01 July 2026.

Initial period of execution

Services are expected to be provided between 01 July 2026 and 30 June 2027.

Tender timetable

• RFP announcement: 08 June 2026
• Deadline for written enquiries: 12 June 2026 at 11:00 hrs EAT
• Last date for HELVETAS to issue clarifications: 16 June 2026 at 16:00 hrs EAT
• Deadline for submitting offers: 19 June 2026 at 17:00 hrs EAT

Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

Eligibility requirements

Interested organizations must demonstrate the following:

• Organizational or company profile
• CVs of at least three key technical staff relevant to the proposed training
• Capacity to train a minimum of 20 trainees and a maximum of 100 trainees per batch
• Proven experience in delivering vocational training, entrepreneurship training, and/or agribusiness training, with supporting evidence

Required eligibility documents

Bidders must have the following documents available:

Legal registration in Tanzania

Required evidence includes:

• Certificate of registration from relevant authority bodies, such as BRELA or NACTVET
• Business licence
• Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) certificate
• VAT Registration Number (VRN) certificate, if the fee is inclusive of VAT

No open legal or insolvency proceedings

The bidder must have no open dispute, execution procedure, reorganization, bankruptcy, or insolvency procedure.

Required evidence:

• Valid proof issued by a competent judicial or administrative authority, not older than six months

Tax compliance

The bidder must show that all taxes have been paid.

Required evidence:

• Valid tax administration certificate issued in the same month in which the bidder submits the bid

For consortiums, every consortium member must sign a separate eligibility statement as part of the application.

Consortium eligibility

A consortium may be either:

• A permanent, legally established grouping; or
• An informal grouping formed specifically for this tender procedure

All members of the consortium, including the leader and all other members, are liable to HELVETAS. The consortium leader takes lead responsibility.

Consultants included in one offer cannot be part of another bidder’s offer. If the same consultants appear in multiple offers, they will be excluded from the procedure without further evaluation.

Civil servants and persons elected or appointed to public functions are not eligible to participate as consultants in this tender procedure. Any offer containing such persons will be excluded without further evaluation.

Sub-contracting

Sub-contracting services to another legal person is not allowed.

Costs for preparing offers

Costs incurred by bidders in preparing and submitting offers are not reimbursable. These costs are the responsibility of the bidder, including costs incurred during negotiation and interview processes.

Evaluation process

Each offer will be evaluated according to eligibility, technical, and financial criteria. For consortiums, the criteria will apply to the consortium as a whole.

The evaluation procedure is confidential. Purchasing Panel decisions are collective, and deliberations are held in virtual sessions. Evaluation reports and written records are for official use only and will not be shared with bidders or any party outside HELVETAS.

Only bidders that pass eligibility requirements and achieve the minimum technical threshold will proceed to financial evaluation.

Technical evaluation criteria

Bidders must pass the eligibility criteria and score “yes” on all required eligibility points. They must also achieve at least 70% of the technical evaluation score to proceed to financial evaluation.

Technical evaluation requirements include:

• Organizational or company profile
  • Evidence required: brochure or link to the company website
  • Score: 10 points
• CVs of at least three key technical staff relevant to the proposed training
  • Evidence required: copies of CVs with certificates, diplomas, or references
  • Score: 20 points
• Proposed geographic area or areas
  • Evidence required: document specifically proposing the geographic area, with visible maps
  • Score: 10 points
• Training methodology and approach
  • Evidence required: specific document explaining the methodology and approach in detail
  • Score: 20 points

Financial evaluation criteria

The financial offer must follow the instructions provided in Part 2 of the RFP document.

Financial evaluation requirements include:

• Financial offer in Tanzania Shillings (TZS)
• Financial offer score: 40 points

The contract will be awarded to the economically most advantageous offer. The overall award assessment is based on technical quality and financial offer, with technical quality carrying 70 points and the financial offer carrying 30 points.

HELVETAS reserves the right to contract only part of the required services or cancel the tender procedure if it is not satisfied with the quality of offers.

HELVETAS may also award one service provider to deliver all training courses or award several service providers to deliver selected training courses.

Selection criteria

Expressions of Interest will be assessed based on:

• Technical capacity and experience
• Financial criteria
• Experience in or readiness to implement results-based or performance-based financing mechanisms

Submission requirements

Offers must be submitted electronically by email only and must be sent in two separate files using the standard forms provided by HELVETAS.

The two files are:

• Technical offer/proposal documents
• Financial offer documents

Technical offer requirements

The technical offer must include:

• Signed Eligibility Documentation Form
• Technical proposal
• Required documentation listed in the Terms of Reference, including:
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Copy of contract, client reference letter, or completion certificate

The technical offer file name should include:

• Bidder’s name
• RFP reference number
• RFP name
• The phrase “Technical offer/Proposal documents”

Example file name:

XYZ COMPANY_1154RFP001_SHORT TERM MARKET LEAD TRAINING PROGRAMME_technical offer documents

Financial offer requirements

The financial offer must include:

• Signed Financial Offer Form
• Financial offer presented in Tanzania Shillings (TZS)

The prices must be all-inclusive. The supplier or contractor will cover all costs needed to perform the assignment, including:

• Office accommodation
• Transport
• Internet access
• Equipment
• Administrative and secretarial support
• Interpretation
• Other related costs

HELVETAS is not exempt from VAT, so the price offered should be VAT-inclusive. However, if during the contract period there are project activities exempted from VAT, HELVETAS will provide the bidder with an exemption certificate issued by the revenue authority.

The contractor is responsible for all other taxes and duties in compliance with the legislation of Tanzania.

The financial offer file name should include:

• Bidder’s name
• RFP reference number
• RFP name
• The phrase “Financial offer documents”

Example file name:

XYZ COMPANY_1154RFP001_SHORT TERM MARKET LEAD TRAINING PROGRAMME_financial offer documents

Any financial offer not submitted in the format described in Part 2 of the RFP document will not be considered.

Financial offer structure

Each applicant can apply for a maximum of five courses.

The financial offer structure must not be changed. Applicants are required to fill in:

• Duration of the course
• Course or occupation to be trained
• Number of youth to be trained
• Training fee per youth for the training duration in Tanzania Shillings (TZS)
• Total amount in Tanzania Shillings (TZS) per youth for the training duration

The financial offer should cover fees to train youth for classroom training and one month of field attachment.

Email submission instructions

Offers must be submitted exclusively to:

The email subject must contain only the RFP reference number and RFP name.

Example email subject:

1154RFP001-SHORT TERM MARKET LEAD TRAINING PROGRAMME

Any bid submitted with an email subject that does not follow the required format will not be considered.

The body of the email must include:

• Bidder’s official name
• Address
• Telephone number

Bidders will be informed in advance once the evaluation date is confirmed. They must remain reachable on that date to provide passwords for the submitted files. During the evaluation process, the designated purchasing panel member will email or call the bidder and request the passwords immediately.

If the bidder is not reachable by phone during the evaluation process, the offers will not be considered for evaluation.

Alteration or withdrawal of applications

Candidates may alter or withdraw their offers by written notification before the tender submission deadline.

No offer may be altered after the deadline.

HELVETAS retains ownership of all offers that have not been withdrawn. Bidders do not have the right to have submitted offers returned to them.

Validity of offers

Bidders are bound by their tenders for 90 days after the deadline for submission.

In exceptional cases, before the validity period expires, HELVETAS may ask bidders to extend the validity period for a specific number of days. The extension may not exceed 40 days.

Contract signing

Within two days of receiving the contract already signed by HELVETAS, the selected bidder must sign and date the contract.

Failure to comply may result in HELVETAS annulling the award decision. In such a case, HELVETAS may award the tender to another bidder or cancel the tender procedure.

The contract will come into force upon signature by both parties.

Terms of payment

HELVETAS is a payer of value added tax (VAT). Prices submitted in the application must include all expenses.

Payment will be made by bank transfer to the winning bidder in Tanzania Shillings within 30 calendar days from the date of completion of the assignment or acceptance of the goods/services.

Cases of non-performance and their legal consequences will be addressed separately in the contract.

Terms of cooperation

If contracted, the parties must perform according to the agreed timeline and in accordance with the HELVETAS supplier purchase order or HELVETAS service provider contract.

HELVETAS reserves the right to:

• Increase or decrease the number of ordered items
• Choose a supplier or implementer at its own discretion based on submitted offers
• Reformulate the RFP at its own discretion if additional items are needed
• Terminate the contract unilaterally in case of failure or non-compliance with contractual obligations, without incurring legal obligation

The applicant is responsible for being familiar with all instructions, forms, and requirements mentioned in the RFP documents. Submission of the offer in accordance with these requirements is entirely the applicant’s responsibility.

Negotiations

HELVETAS reserves the right to enter into negotiations with all or part of eligible bidders to amend and/or complete their original offers.

Negotiations may cover:

• Technical aspects
• Financial aspects
• Legal aspects
• Other aspects of the contract

Ethics and corruptive practices

Bidders making false declarations may be subject to financial penalties representing 10% of the total value of the purchase order or contract being awarded. This may increase to 20% in the event of a repeated offence.

Any attempt by a company or organization to obtain confidential information, enter into unlawful agreements with competitors, or influence the Purchasing Panel or HELVETAS during the process of examining, clarifying, evaluating, and comparing offers will result in rejection of the offer and may lead to penalties.

Companies or organizations must not have any conflict of interest with other bidders or parties involved in the project.

HELVETAS reserves the right to suspend or cancel the RFP procedure, purchase order, or contract if corrupt practices are discovered at any stage of the award process or during contract execution.

Contracts may be terminated if unusual commercial expenses are found. These include:

• Commissions not mentioned in the main contract
• Commissions not based on a properly concluded contract
• Commissions not paid in return for an actual and legitimate service
• Commissions remitted to a tax haven
• Commissions paid to an unidentified payee
• Commissions paid to an organization appearing to be a front company

HELVETAS may also suspend or cancel the procedure if substantial errors, irregularities, or fraud are discovered before or after the contract award.

Operational language

All written communications for this tender procedure and purchase order or contract must be in English.

Additional information

The conclusion of the tender and award of any purchase order or contract are subject to the availability of funds.

HELVETAS reserves the right to annul the tender procedure at any time without liability.

Based on quotations received, HELVETAS may:

• Award one successful bidder to provide training for all courses; or
• Award several successful bidders to provide selected training courses

RFQ/Tender Information and Attachments

For comprehensive information regarding this RFQ/tender, we invite you to download the attachments provided below. These documents contain all the necessary details, including specifications, requirements, and submission guidelines. Please review them carefully to ensure you have all the pertinent information needed to participate.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

DOWNLOAD THE FULL TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR)

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