Consulting firm to conduct Analyzing the Total Cost of Ownership, Sustainability, and Cost-Effectiveness of the Integrated REACH Project Services

1. About Amref Health Africa:

Amref Health Africa is the largest African-based and led international health development organization serving over 30 million people annually across 35 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Strategically engaging with communities, governments, and local partners for the past 65 years, we work through our European and North American network of sister organizations on program implementation, advocacy, fundraising and partnership. Our subsidiaries include Amref Flying Doctors, Amref Enterprises Limited, and the Amref International University.

Our organization is driven by its vision to bring lasting health change in Africa and its mission to catalyze and drive community-led and people-centered health systems while addressing social determinants of health. Amref believes that the power to transform Africa’s health lies within its communities and therefore strives to ensure that health systems are functioning at an optimal level and communities are empowered to hold these systems accountable for the delivery of high-quality and affordable health care.

Amref has been active in Ethiopia since the 1960s and became fully operational as of 2002. We have been partnering with the Ethiopian government and local communities to co-create solutions and implement diverse health and development project portfolios throughout the country for over twenty years. Aligning with the national Health Sector Transformation Plan II (HSTP II), we work to ensure health equity by serving women and children, reaching the most disadvantaged, inaccessible communities including pastoralist communities and placing an emphasis on youth development.

Our programs are designed to support community level interventions while strengthening health systems at the regional and national levels. With an integrated and multi-sectoral approach, Amref strategically addresses cross-cutting issues through these programmatic focus areas.

1.1 Background:

This study aims to conduct a rapid but rigorous analysis of the financial investment and sustainability prospects of the REACH project’s integrated services (WASH, SRH, MHM, Nutrition). The research will quantify the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), model the financial sustainability for the next 2-3 years, assess community ownership, and provide an initial assessment of cost-effectiveness. The findings are intended to inform strategic decision-making for current and future programming, ensuring resources are used efficiently and services can be sustained beyond the project lifecycle.

Research Objectives

1. To calculate the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Determine the full financial investment in establishing and delivering the REACH project’s integrated services, encompassing all capital and recurrent costs across all sectors.
2. To forecast sustainability and assess ownership: Project the operational and maintenance costs for the next 3-5 years and evaluate the capacity and willingness of the community and local government to absorb these costs.
3. To conduct a preliminary cost-effectiveness analysis: Relate the total costs to key output indicators to provide an initial measure of the investment required to achieve results.

3. Methodology

The consultant should propose scientifically sound and mixed-methods, retrospective cross-sectional study with a prospective financial modelling component. This design is chosen for its feasibility within the 45-day constraint in Jimma and Borena zones.

4. Expected Deliverables

• Final Comprehensive Report: Including executive summary, methodology, findings for each objective, detailed recommendations, and a sustainability action plan, datasets and codebooks/dofile.
• Sustainability Financial Model: A simple Excel-based tool that allows project planners to update assumptions and see the impact on the financial gap.
• Policy & Practice Brief (4 pages): A summary of key findings and actionable recommendations for donors and policymakers.
• Presentation Deck: A PowerPoint summarizing the study for internal and external stakeholders.
• Datasets used and codebook

Total Duration: Approximately 6 weeks

5. Specific tasks to be done by the consultant

• Deliver a complete research protocol aligned with the three objectives.
• Meet with Amref Health Africa in Ethiopia (Jimma and Addis offices) to present the work plan, refine tools, and agree on the methodology.
• Obtain approval from Amref M&E and research departments on study tools, frameworks, and methods prior to implementation.
• Secure ethical clearance from an accredited institutional review board (IRB).
• Identify and engage key partners (government, schools, TVETs, youth groups, MFIs, WASH actors) for interviews and FGDs.
• Recruit and train qualified data collectors with experience in mixed-methods research, and pre-test data collection tools.
• Coordinate field data collection, supervision, and daily quality checks in Jimma and Borena zones.
• Manage data processing, entry, cleaning, and analysis (quantitative and qualitative).
• Conduct inception and debriefing meetings with Amref and stakeholders at the start and end of fieldwork.
• Integrate findings from different methods and prepare policy-relevant recommendations.
• Develop and submit the draft and final report, including datasets, annexes, and a dissemination slide deck, incorporating feedback from Amref Health Africa Ethiopia.

1. Required Experience

• The team will consist of professionals in the fields of health economists/ Health Economist/Public Finance Specialist, data scientist, public health and Social Science with a minimum of Masters degree. Very good professional diversity is an advantage in related areas. In addition, to the above requirement, a consultancy firm or team is required to meet the following minimum requirements in order to qualify for the submission of its proposal:
• Significant Previous experience in similar tasks or consultancies specifically in research publications and policy development; previous experience in similar tasks or consultancy.
• Previous outstanding research and publication in reputable journals.
• Ability to effectively coordinate with government, NGO, and local stakeholders’ essential, an understanding of sectors coordination mechanisms an asset.
• Analytical and conceptual ability demonstrated understanding of livelihoods programs and research methods to understand the impact of service integrations.
• The consultant should have experience of using digital data collection tools /technologies (ODK, big data analysis and others).
• High quality English report writing and proofreading.
• The consultancy firm should be a registered firm and whose license has been re- registered and renewed for the current Ethiopian fiscal year.

Eligibility Requirements and Technical Specifications

Any interested bidder, shall provide, in its submission in response to this TOR, sufficient documentary evidence of adherence to the eligibility and minimum qualification criteria detailed below. Amref Health Africa will assess the documents submitted by the applicants in response to this TOR;

1. Preliminary Evaluation Criteria

Bids will be evaluated based on the below criteria.

Bids lacking any of the documents below will be considered as non-responsive and therefore will be eliminated at this stage.

Note: Bids missing any of the 4 mandatory requirements above will be considered as non-responsive bid and therefore will be eliminated at this stage.

2. Technical evaluation criteria