Request for Quotation – Road transportation
Item Detail
RFQ reference KC-PROC-RFQ-TRN-2026-01
Issuing company Kivu Choice Ltd, Rwanda
Date of issue Wednesday, 28thOctober 2026
Deadline for clarification questions Wednesday, 4thNovember 2026
Submission deadline Friday, 13th November 2026
Expected contract start Tuesday, 1st December 2026
Submit to kc.procurement@kivuchoice.com
Enclosures Annex A – Bid Declaration Form (this document); Annex B – Price Schedule (Excel workbook)
1. Introduction
Kivu Choice Ltd operates a tilapia aquaculture business on Lake Kivu, Rwanda. Fish feed is sourced from producers in Kenya, Uganda and overseas through the port of Mombasa or Dar es salaam and trucked to our farm operations in Nyamasheke District, Western Province, Rwanda.
Kivu Choice invites qualified transport companies to submit quotations for the road transportation of bagged fish feed from the origins listed in Section 2. Transporters that currently hold contracts with Kivu Choice are welcome to bid and will be evaluated on the same basis as all other bidders.
2. Scope of Services
The service covers road transport of bagged fish feed, in either 10kg/bag or 25kg/bags, from the loading point to the Kivu Choice delivery site in Nyamasheke, including all transit, border and road-user costs to delivery, unless explicitly excluded in the bidder's Price Schedule.
2.1 Routes
# Origin Loading point / notes Destination
Bidders may quote for all routes or for selected routes only. Kivu Choice may award routes to different transporters and may split volume on a route between more than one transporter.
2.2 Unit of service
- One unit = one truck carrying one closed 40ft container with a payload of 25 MT - 28 MT of feed.
- Inland Routes (1–3): the transporter provides the truck and a closed, clean, dry 40ft container.
- Port Routes (4–5): cargo moves in the shipping line's 40ft container. The rate must include haulage from port/ICD to Nyamasheke and return of the empty container to the depot nominated by the shipping line.
3. Estimated Volumes
The forecast below is based on Kivu Choice's feed consumption plan. Volumes are indicative, are not a purchase commitment, and will be updated monthly. Our production is scaling up, so volumes after January 2027 are expected to be at or above the January level.
The split of volume between Routes depends on sourcing decisions and will vary month to month. Rates must therefore be quoted per truck per Route, independent of the volume allocated to each Route. Bidders are invited to offer volume-based discounts in Annex B.
4. Technical and Operational Requirements
4.1 Trucks and containers
- Closed container only. Open trucks, tarpaulin-covered trailers and flatbeds are not acceptable.
- Containers must be clean, dry, odor-free, free of holes and rust damage, with a working door seal. Containers previously used for chemicals, fuel, fertilizer or other contaminating cargo will be rejected.
- Trucks must be roadworthy, legally licensed and insured in all transit countries, and loaded within legal axle load limits on each corridor.
- Every truck must carry a working GPS tracker; Kivu Choice must be given live tracking access or daily position reports.
4.2 Cargo care
- Feed must be always kept dry. Water damage, contamination, torn bags and shortages are the transporters’ liability (see Section 6.6).
- No co-loading of other cargo with Kivu Choice feed.
- Containers are sealed at loading; seal numbers are recorded on the waybill and checked at delivery. 4.3 Order, placement and transit
- Kivu Choice will issue transport orders per truck or per batch. Trucks must be placed at the loading point within 72 hours of order confirmation (bidders to state their committed placement time in Annex B).
- Bidders must state committed transit time per Route in Annex B. This commitment will form part of the contract KPIs.
- Loading and offloading free time: 72 hours at loading and 72 hours at Nyamasheke. Detention beyond free time, if caused by Kivu Choice or its supplier, is charged at the daily rate quoted in Annex B.
- For port Routes, the transporter is responsible for any shipping-line container detention or demurrage caused by its own delay beyond the committed transit time.
4.4 Documentation and customs transit
- The transporter must be able to move goods under customs transit (bonded transit) through Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, including compliance with electronic cargo tracking requirements where applicable.
- Customs clearance is handled by Kivu Choice's nominated clearing agent. The transporter must cooperate with the clearing agent and not release, divert or transload cargo without written instruction.
- Proof of Delivery (POD) signed and stamped by Kivu Choice stores staff, with seal number, bag count and condition noted, is required for every truck.
4.5 Safety and conduct
- Drivers must hold valid licenses, follow site safety rules at loading and offloading points, and must not be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
- Incidents (accidents, theft, border holds, delays over 24 hours) must be reported to Kivu Choice within 4 hours.
5. Service Levels (KPIs)
The following KPIs will be included in the contract and reviewed monthly.
Repeated failures against KPIs may lead to reduced volume allocation, deductions as agreed in the contract, or termination.
6. Commercial Terms
6.1 Pricing basis
- Rates in USD per truck (25-28 MT, one 40ft container), per Route to Nyamasheke, using the Annex B Price Schedule. Do not change the structure of the Price Schedule.
- Rates must include fuel, driver costs, road tolls, border and transit charges, bonds, insurance, tracking and, for port Routes, empty container return. Any excluded cost must be listed explicitly in Annex B; unlisted costs will not be accepted later.
- Bidders must state whether rates are inclusive or exclusive of VAT. Kivu Choice will apply any withholding taxes required under Rwandan law.
6.2 Rate validity and fuel adjustment
- Quotations must remain valid for 90 days from the submission deadline.
- Contracted rates are fixed for the contract period. A fuel adjustment may be applied only if the diesel pump price moves by more than ±10% against the price at the submission deadline. The adjustment applies only to the fuel share of the rate, which the bidder must declare in Annex B. Adjustments work in both directions.
6.3 Payment terms
- Kivu Choice's preferred payment term is 30 days from receipt of a correct invoice supported by signed POD(s). • Payments will be made in RWF at an agreed conversion rate
- Invoicing is consolidated monthly (or per batch if agreed), in USD, to Kivu Choice Ltd.
- No advance payments. Bidders may propose alternative terms in Annex B; longer credit terms will score higher in the evaluation (Section 8).
- Invoices must meet Rwandan tax invoicing requirements where applicable (e.g. EBM invoices for Rwanda registered transporters).
6.4 Contract duration
The contract will run for 12 months from the start date, with an option to extend by mutual agreement subject to satisfactory performance.
6.5 Insurance
- Goods-in-transit insurance covering the full value of the feed on board, with a minimum cover of USD 30,000 per truck.
- Third-party and motor insurance valid in every transit country.
6.6 Liability
The transporter is liable for loss of, damage to, or contamination of cargo from loading until the signed POD, valued at the invoice value of the feed plus freight paid. Short-delivered or damaged bags will be deducted from the transporter's invoice unless otherwise settled.
- Eligibility and Required Documents
Each submission must include the following. Missing mandatory documents may lead to disqualification.
8. Evaluation and Award
Evaluation is carried out in two stages.
Stage 1 – Compliance (pass/fail). Submissions must meet the mandatory documents in Section 7 and the closed 40ft container requirement. Non-compliant bids are not evaluated further.
Stage 2 – Weighted scoring, applied per Route:
For existing Kivu Choice transporters, recorded performance on Kivu Choice loads will be used under "Transit time and reliability". For new bidders, reference checks will be used.
Kivu Choice may invite shortlisted bidders to a clarification or negotiation round and to submit a best and final offer (BAFO). Kivu Choice may verify fleet and facilities before award.
Kivu Choice reserves the right to award by Route, to award to more than one transporter, to accept any quotation in whole or in part, or to cancel this RFQ without award and without liability to bidders.
9. Timeline
Activity Date
Kivu Choice may amend these dates by written notice to all bidders.
10. Submission Instructions
- Submit by email to kc.procurement@kivuchoice.com with the subject line: "KC-RFQ-TRN-2026-01 – [Company name]".
- Attach: (1) the technical and company documents in PDF; (2) Annex A signed and stamped in PDF; (3) Annex B in its original Excel format.
- Late submissions will not be considered.
- Clarification questions must be sent in writing to kc.procurement@kivuchoice.com before the clarification deadline. Questions and answers will be shared with all bidders without identifying who asked.
- Bidders must not contact other Kivu Choice staff about this RFQ during the process.
11. General Conditions
- Confidentiality: all information in this RFQ and all bids are confidential. Kivu Choice will not share one bidder's prices with another.
- Costs: bidders bear all costs of preparing their submission.
- No commitment: this RFQ is not an order or contract. A contract exists only when signed by both parties.
- Integrity: any offer of gifts, payments or favors to Kivu Choice staff, or any collusion between bidders, will lead to disqualification. Bidders must disclose any relationship with Kivu Choice staff.
- Existing contracts: current transport contracts remain in force under their own terms until expiry or replacement. Participation in this RFQ does not change them.
Authorized Signature and Company Stamp