Request for Proposals: Management and Administration of Working Capital Loan Facility Guarantee Financing Mechanism

Overview

Management Sciences for Health (MSH) is currently implementing the USAID-funded Health Systems for Tuberculosis (HS4TB) project, which seeks to transform the way leaders and managers understand and work toward TB control and elimination. HS4TB builds on efforts to increase investments from the public and private sectors to end the TB epidemic while building local commitment and capacity to put the world on track to ending TB by 2030. The project focuses on selected countries within USAID’s priority countries with high burdens of TB, helping them to increase domestic financing, use key TB resources more efficiently, build in-country technical and managerial competence and leadership, and support policy formation and dissemination.

To this end, HS4TB is implementing activities in India through MSH Inc.’s subsidiary, MSH India Health Management Limited, (MSH India). The Government of India has endorsed contracting Private Provider Support Agencies (PPSAs) as intermediaries providing various support activities to improve efficiency in the private provider ecosystem. PPSAs enter into contracts with State governments for the provision of services and receive payments on achievement of certain milestones defined in the contract. This contractual relationship often means that PPSAs face the following important issues:

• Need for initial capital funding (investment) for the provision of services under their contracts
• Lack of funding for operating costs related to the provision of services
• Delay in receipt of milestone payments from States, resulting in cash flow issues

HS4TB would like to pilot an initiative to provide bridge financing support to PPSAs to address in particular the second and third of these issues.

HS4TB evaluated various financing mechanisms including interest-free loans, returnable grants, invoice discounting and factoring, service level agreements and a working capital facility coupled with a guarantee. This last appears the most advantageous to PPSAs as it allows loans at a reasonable financing cost, development of relationships between PPSAs and commercial banks, and leverage which might permit lending of principal amounts requiring less than a full rupee for rupee guarantee.

HS4TB is seeking the services of a firm to act as the Operational Partner (OP) to work with MSH India to implement the Management and Administration of the Working Capital Loan Facility Guarantee Financing Mechanism. Specifically, the Operational Partner will work with Banks and/or non-banking financial companies (NBFC) and the PPSAs to secure loans.

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Estimated Timeline

Required Documents

• RFP: Working Capital Loan Facility Guarantee Mechanism
• Amendment One to RFP-HS4TB-2024-01
• Attachment A: Budget Template
• Attachment C: USAID Contractor Employee Biographical Data Sheet

Submission Requirements

• Only electronic responses are required. Receipt time is when the proposal is received by the MSH internet server. Hand delivered proposals (including commercial courier) and facsimile transmission will not be accepted. MSH is not responsible for any costs incurred by the Offeror for preparing, submitting, or revising the proposal.
• All communications regarding this RFP should be addressed via email: solicitations@msh.org and emacken@msh.org