Invitation for International Competitive Bid for
Multimedia Studio Establishment

1. Background

Ethiopia has developed “Digital Ethiopia 2025” as a roadmap for the country’s digital transformation initiatives. In line with this strategy, the FDRE Ministry of Education (MoE) has recently approved the Digital Skills Country Action Plan (DSCAP) for 2020-
2030 (MoE 2030). The action plan shows five strategies to further the goals related to ICT in the sector. These are (i) Establishing enabling policies, digital skills framework, and digital skills assessment, (ii) Reform of digital skills programs, (iii) Enhancing the
use of technology in teaching and learning, (iv) Connecting educational institutions to high-speed broadband and improving campus network digital services and (v) Capacity building and process reengineering. The national digital education strategy is framed according to this roadmap and needs to be in line with other national and institutional policies.

Over the years, MoE and Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) have made investments aimed at building connectivity and enhancing the ICT infrastructure. However, the state of digital education, notably e-learning, remains limited due to many different factors of
which the absence of standard content production studios at the HEIs being one. The low penetration of e-learning has not only resulted in compromised quality, affordability, and accessibility of education but also made th e sector vulnerable to external shocks.
The latter was particularly pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic when all the HEIs were closed and unable to reach their students.

2. About e-SHE Partnership

In response to the broader strategy and lessons from the COVID-19 shocks, MoE and HEIs are scaling up their investments toward digital education. The e-Learning for Strengthening Higher Education (e-SHE) is one of the initiatives to complement these ongoing investments. It is a five-year plan implemented by the FDRE Ministry of Education in partnership with Mastercard Foundation, Arizona State University, and Shayashone PLC. The overall goal is to strengthen the higher education system in Ethiopia through the utilization of digital technology for teaching and learning and to equip youth with the skills needed for employment and entrepreneurship. The specific targets are:

1. Building multimedia centers at five cluster-lead universities that ultimately serve the 50 universities. These studios are anticipated to play a vital role in the production and deployment of high-quality digital content for online and/or blended education.
2.  Adopting and rolling out OpenEdx learning management platform and Student Information System (SIS) that supports Ethiopian Universities to deliver online education.
3.  Building capacities of 100 system administrators, 35,000 instructors, and 800,000 students in management, content development, and utilization of the envisaged Learning Management System (LMS).
4. Supporting institutionalization and scale-up of e-learning for higher education and beyond by (1) designing and enacting appropriate national policies and strategies and (2) putting the relevant organizational structure in place and embedding it within the institutions for sustainability.
5. Promoting e-learning across universities by creating high-standard model content that enables universities and instructors to benchmark.

3. Rationale and Purpose of the Multimedia StudiosThe proje

ct will invest in building the capacities of over 35,000 instructors in digital content development and delivery. Once teachers and instructors took e-course content development, a multimedia studio is needed for them to develop standard digital content. As such the project has targeted to establish high-standard multimedia studios at five cluster-lead universities. The envisioned multimedia studios with all necessary equipment and sufficiently trained staff will enable the instructors to produce (record, edit, and mix with different graphics) standard e-courses. The produced content will be accessed via the LMS platform currently under development as part of the e-SHE intervention. These multimedia resource centers (studios) will be linked to and work with broader ICT and other media infrastructures of the hosting universities.

4. Host Universities for the Multimedia Studios

The multimedia studios will be established at five cluster-lead universities; namely, Addis Ababa University, Bahirdar University, Jimma University, Hawassa University, and DireDawa University. These multimedia resource centers will serve the hosting universities and the other cluster member universities. The centers are intended to be a model for the Ministry of Education, universities, and partner organizations for future scale-up across the remaining 45 public universities.
Discussions with experts within the higher education community indicated that a single multimedia studio per university may not be adequate; implying a potential to replicate studios across campuses of the same university.

5. Scope of work and deliverables

The five host universities will avail the necessary facilities notably a standard room, an electric power source with backup, Internet, and LAN access points needed for the multimedia studio. The service provider has to assure the appropriateness of the facilities and can propose further adjustments to the project team so that the rooms become best fit for the intended purpose. The vendor shall supply multimedia studio equipment and execute related works as listed below:

1. Design and renovate the interior of Multimedia Studio Rooms at the five
   universities
2. Supply all Multimedia Equipment
3. Installation and Commissioning
4. Capacity building and after-sales support

The detailed scope of work with explanations of each of the above main deliverables is elaborated in the bid document which will be shared with interested potential bidders.

Shayashone Trading PLC now invites eligible bidders who fulfill the following requirements to submit sealed bids for the establishment of the above-mentioned multimedia studios.

1.  Legally established in Ethiopia or Abroad
2.  Renewed appropriate trade license for 2015 E.C.
3.  Renewed certificate of registration from the authorized body in the sector
4.  VAT registration certificate
5. Tax clearance certificate stating the bidder is eligible to participate in any public tender and valid at least at the deadline for submission of bids
6. Taxpayer registration certificate

Bidding will be conducted by means of the International Competitive Bidding procedure and with qualifications as specified in the standard bidding document to be provided to the potential bidders.

Bidders can get the complete set of bidding documents in 30 consecutive calendar days from bid floatation time and upon payment on deposit a non-refundable fee ETB 500.00 (five hundred birr only) or equivalent in a freely convertible currency (US$,
EURO, or Pound Sterling) to the nearby Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) referring the bid to Shayashone Trading PLC and shall email the scanned copy of the deposit slip to the email address indicated below. Interested bidders can seek bank details from
Shyashone Trading PLC through the addresses provided below.

All bidders are required to submit a bid bond ETB 500,000.00 (Five hundred thousand birr) or Equivalent in a freely convertible currency (US$, EURO or Pound Sterling), in the form of Unconditional Bank Guarantee, and without deviation as in the condition of tender documents. The submission of the bid security shall be in a separately sealed envelope.
Bidders are required to bring both the original and a copy of their bid document including the technical and financial offer in one sealed envelope. The sealed bid documents shall be returned to Shayashone Trading PLC no later than the stated date and time in the tender document. Bidders shall follow the Instruction to bidders with qualifications as specified in the Standard bidding document.

The bid will be opened at Shayashone PLC office in the presence of bidders or their representatives.

For further information, please contact the below address:
Shaya shone- e- SHE Project Manager
Bole Kifle Ketema, Woreda 3
Africa Avenue, Friendship Business Center
7th Floor (701/3), Addis Ababa
Meklit Mintesinot , email: recruitment@shayashone.com, + 251 911 59 50 63
Shayashone Trading PLC reserves the right to cancel or modify the tender partially or entirely.