SUSTAINABLE GROWERS RWANDA
P.O BOX 864 Kigali, Rwanda
INVITATION TO BID
Title of Tender: Provision of Protocol and ushering services under framework agreement
Tender Reference Number: PT/PUS/08/2026
Procurement Method: Open Tender
Date of Issue: 2 Sept 2026
Submission Deadline: 12 Sept 2026
I. INTRODUCTION.
Sustainable Growers is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that specializes in innovative coffee cultivation training techniques for smallholder women coffee farmers, with the goal of increasing their visibility in the coffee supply chain. Bloomberg Philanthropies has supported Sustainable Growers since its inception. This partnership along with the commitment of the governments of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania has transformed the lives of over 77,000 women farmers, creating a secondary impact on over 341,000 family members.” As SGR grows its presence across the region and engages with international partners, government stakeholders, and the global coffee community, the availability of consistent, high-quality, and professionally produced video and photography content is critical to maintaining brand integrity, enhancing visibility, and strengthening organisational credibility.
It is in this perspective, Sustainable Growers is looking for potential qualified and reputable service providers to provide Protocol and Ushering Services during for a conference, under framework agreement.
II. GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIRED DOCUMENTS.
The objective of this tender is to identify a professional and experienced company to provide Protocol and Ushering Services during for a conference for Sustainable Growers Rwanda.
1.The bidder shall send the following documents:
- Detailed supplier profile highlighting experience in providing Protocol and Ushering Services
- Example of past work (portoflio) including list of clients and types of events covered (especially international or high-profile events)
- Team composition (list of key personnel), demonstrating individual prior experience in international conferences and corporate events
- All professional protocol team members should be at least 18 years of age and above
- Financial proposal
2.The following administrative documents should also be provided along with the requirements above mentioned:
- Registration certificate from RDB
- Valid tax clearance certificate from Rwanda Revenue Authority [RRA]
- Valid Social Security clearance certificate from RSSB, if applicable
- Must have an experience of not less than 3 years, at least (3) original or notarized references required
- A confirmation that the bidder has Electronic Billing Machine [EBM]
- A summary of the company profile and any standard certifications
3.Other Requirements:
- Detailed breakdown of prices must be provided in Rwandan Francs (RWF) and must include all taxes
- Prices shall not change for the duration of the contract
3. TERMS Of REFERENCE
Background
Sustainable Growers Rwanda (SGR) is organizing the Global Coffee Conference 2026 in Kigali from 23 to 25 September 2026 under the theme “Build Together. Lead Globally.” The conference will convene more than 250 delegates from Africa, Latin America, Europe, North America, Asia and beyond, including smallholder women coffee farmers and women-led cooperatives, government representatives, embassies, policymakers, coffee-sector institutions, buyers, exporters, roasters, researchers, development partners, financial institutions, investors and private-sector leaders.
To ensure an orderly, welcoming and internationally professional guest experience, SGR seeks a qualified service provider to deliver protocol and ushering services throughout the conference.
Objective of the Assignment
The objective is to provide coordinated protocol, reception, registration, guest guidance and ushering services that enable dignitaries, international delegates, speakers, partners and other participants to move through each activity smoothly, safely and respectfully.
- Scope of Services
- Participate in inception meetings, venue walkthroughs, programme reviews and a mandatory pre-event briefing or rehearsal arranged by SGR.
- Prepare a detailed protocol and ushering plan covering staff deployment, reporting lines, entrances, registration points, seating, stage access, dining arrangements, emergency routes and shift handovers.
- Receive and welcome delegates at designated entry points; confirm access, direct guests to registration, and assist with badges, event materials and information.
- Provide dedicated protocol support for government officials, diplomatic representatives, keynote speakers, sponsors, partners and other VIP guests, including arrival, holding-area, stage, seating and departure coordination.
- Guide delegates to conference rooms, breakout areas, networking spaces, dining areas, reserved seats, transport assembly points and other locations identified in the final programme.
- Support orderly guest flow before, during and after sessions; control access to reserved areas; manage queues; and promptly report congestion, safety concerns, lost property or incidents to the SGR focal person.
- Coordinate closely with SGR, venue teams, the event coordinator, security, transport, registration, master of ceremonies, interpretation, media and technical service providers.
- Support speaker and session movements, including calls to stage, escort to holding areas, microphone or presentation readiness checks with the technical team, and return to reserved seating.
- Manage guest reception, table guidance, reserved seating and dignitary movement during the welcome dinner at Kigali Serena Hotel.
- Provide daily staff briefings, punctual shift handovers and end-of-day debriefs; maintain an incident and action log throughout the assignment.
- Carry out any closely related protocol or ushering duty reasonably required for successful delivery of the approved programme.
4. Minimum Staffing and Deployment
The bidder shall submit a deployment plan suitable for an international event of more than 250 participants. The proposed team must include, at minimum:
| Position | Minimum Number | Primary responsibility |
| Team supervisor | 1 | Overall command, SGR liaison, briefings, deployment and incident escalation |
| Protocol officers | 2 | VIP, diplomatic, government, speaker and reserved-area coordination |
| Professional ushers | 15 | Reception, registration support, wayfinding, seating, room coverage, conference errands and guest flow. The service provider should consider gender balance |
All personnel must be available for the full deployment period assigned to them, report at least 60 minutes before each activity, and remain until participants have been safely cleared or the SGR focal person releases the team. SGR may request redistribution of personnel among stations to match the final programme.
5. Service Standards
Professional conduct: Staff must be courteous, discreet, proactive, calm under pressure and respectful of cultural and linguistic diversity.
Appearance: The provider shall supply clean, coordinated professional attire and visible staff identification, subject to SGR’s prior approval.
Communication: The supervisor and protocol officers must have reliable mobile communication throughout deployment. The provider shall propose practical communication arrangements for all stations
Confidentiality and safeguarding: Staff shall protect guest information, avoid unauthorized photographs or recordings, and comply with SGR’s safeguarding, anti-harassment, security and media instructions.
Continuity: The provider shall maintain qualified standby personnel and immediately replace any absent, unsuitable or underperforming team member at no additional cost.
Language: Team members must communicate clearly in English and Kinyarwanda. Additional working ability in French, Swahili or Spanish will be an advantage.
6. Deliverables and Schedule
| Deliverable | Due date |
| Inception meeting and confirmed focal person | Within 2 working days of contract award |
| Detailed work plan, staffing structure and preliminary deployment plan | Within 3 working days of contract award |
| Final duty roster, station map, VIP protocol plan, guest-flow plan and contingency arrangements | At least 5 calendar days before the first event activity |
| Attendance at venue walkthrough, briefing and rehearsal | On the date and time confirmed by SGR, expected on or before 22 September 2026 |
| Full protocol and ushering service | 23–25 September 2026, according to the final approved programme |
| Daily incident/action logs and debrief | At the end of each event day |
| Concise completion report, attendance by staff and incident summary | Within 2 working days after the conference |
7. Location and Duration
Services will be delivered at the following locations:
| Location | Date |
| Karongi district | 23rd Sept 2026 |
| Gakenke district | 23rd Sept 2026 |
| Kigali – Conference venue | 24th Sept 2026 |
| Kigali – Conference venue | 25th Sept 2026 |
| Kigali – Fundraising venue | 25th Sept 2026 |
Preparatory meetings, site visits and rehearsal will take place before the event as scheduled by SGR.
8. Required Qualifications and Experience
- A legally registered company or organization authorized to provide protocol, hospitality, events or related services in Rwanda.
- At least three years of demonstrated experience providing protocol and ushering services for conferences, diplomatic functions, corporate events or international gatherings.
- Evidence of at least three comparable assignments, preferably involving 250 or more participants and VIP or diplomatic guests.
- A qualified supervisor and experienced protocol personnel with strong coordination, problem-solving and customer-service skills.
- Ability to mobilize the required team, professional attire, communication tools, transport and operational supervision for all event activities.
- Valid registration, tax and other statutory compliance documents required for procurement in Rwanda.
9. Proposal and Quotation Requirements
- Bidders shall submit one clear technical and financial offer containing:
- Company profile, legal registration details and current statutory compliance documents.
- Proposed team structure, named supervisor and protocol officers, short profiles or CVs, and staffing by activity or shift.
- At least three relevant references, with client name, event description, date, participant scale and contact details.
- A detailed, all-inclusive financial quotation in Rwandan francs, showing the total package price, staffing costs by role and day or shift, preparatory costs, uniforms, communication, transport in Kigali, meals, overtime or extended-hour rates, taxes and any other charge.
- Quotation validity period, payment terms and clear confirmation of availability for the full assignment
Pricing instruction: The quotation must be complete and all-inclusive. Any assumption, exclusion or optional item must be stated separately. SGR will not accept unapproved hidden or post-award charges and will not cover any additional costs for the bidder.
III. STANDARD PROVISIONS
5.1. Guidelines, policies and ethics
All bidders must commit to the guidelines in the SGR Procurement Procedures Manual. The procedures followed by Sustainable Growers Rwanda in making any award and contract resulting from this tender, will be in accordance with the:
- SGR Procurement Manual,
- SGR Anti-terrorism and Anti-money laundering Policy
- SGR Anti-fraud, bribery and corruption Policy
5.2. Conflict of Interest and Disqualification Provisions
Bidders shall not have a conflict of interest, such as submission of more than one bid in the same process, except as alternative offers permitted under the rules; association with a staff member involved in the awarding of the bids and also a bidder must disclose any relation with a staff member.
Sustainable Growers Rwanda encourages all bidders to conduct themselves with integrity.
Sustainable Growers Rwanda will automatically disqualify the bidder that attempts to:
- Change or omit any information related to this RFQ
- Inappropriately influence this Procurement Process;
- Enter into an arrangement with any other party that such party shall refrain from submitting a tender response;
- Enter into any arrangement with any other party (other than another party that forms part of your consortium bid or is your proposed sub-contractor) as to the prices submitted
- Engage in direct or indirect bribery, corruption or canvassing by you or your appointed advisers in relation to this Procurement Process
- Obtain information from any of the employees, agents or advisors of the Sustainable Growers Rwanda concerning this Procurement Process (other than as set out in these RFQ Conditions) or from another potential supplier or another tender response,
Additionally, Sustainable Growers Rwanda will automatically disqualify the bidder that:
- Are currently blacklisted by the Rwanda Public Procurement Authority or Sustainable Growers Rwanda itself
- Have received corruption-related convictons in Rwanda or elsewhere
- Have unresolved disputes with previous service contracts
- Are in bankruptcy proceedings
- Are excluded under applicable regional or international conventions
- Is received after the submission deadline
- Contains omissions, gaps, misrepresentations, errors and/or uncompleted sections
- Contains handwritten amendments with no initial of the authorized signatory
- Contains ambiguous information that might mislead the tender evaluators
- Is not submitted in a manner consistent with the provisions set out in this RFQ
5.3. Evaluation Criteria and award
The agreement will be signed between Sustainable Growers Rwanda and the bidder whose offer follows the RFQ instructions, meets eligibility requirements, and receives the highest score out of a determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria. If required, the bidder will also present the samples of tools for evaluating that are complying with specification required.
The best bidder will be chosen through a quality acost-based selection method in accordance with SGR procedures. Sustainable Growers may conduct negotiations with and/or request clarifications from any offer prior to award.
Please note that if there are significant deficiencies regarding responsiveness to the requirements of this RFQ, an offer may be deemed “non-responsive” and thereby disqualified from consideration. It is anticipated that award will be made solely on the basis of the original proposals.
5.4. Withdrawal
Sustainable Growers Rwanda reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time and without notice and liability.Sustainable Growers Rwanda, reserves the right to accept or reject any quotation without being obliged to give any reasons in this respect.
5.5. Tender costs
You are responsible for obtaining all information necessary for preparation of your tender response and for all costs and expenses incurred in preparation of the tender response. Sustainable Growers Rwanda will not be responsible of any cost you incurred during the preparation of this procurement, irrespective of whether or not your tender response is successful.
5.6. Confidentiality and Information Governance
All documents related to this RFQ shall remain the property of Sustainable Growers Rwanda. Sustainable Growers Rwanda reserves the right to disclose all documents relating to this Procurement Process, including without limitation your tender response, to any employee, third party agent, adviser, or other third party involved in the procurement in support of, and/or in collaboration with Sustainable Growers.
5.7.Notification of tender award
In accordance with the evaluation criteria in this RFQ, all bidders shall receive formal notification of bidding outcomes. Successful bidders shall receive detailed award documentation.
5.8. RFQ Validity period
The bid validity period shall be 60 days.
IV. GUIDELINE FOR BID SUBMISSION
Interested and qualified companies must submit their bid documents electronically via: recruitment@sustainablegrowers.org not later than 12th September 2026 at 5:00 PM (17h00) local time. Late bids will be automatically rejected.
Questions regarding the technical or administrative requirements of this RFQ may be submitted by email to: recruitment@sustainablegrowers.org by 9th September 2026 by 05:00pm.
Only the written answers issued by Sustainable Growers Rwanda will be considered official and carry weight in the RFQ process and subsequent evaluation. Any verbal information received from employees of Sustainable Growers Rwanda or any other entity should not be considered as an official response to any questions regarding this RFQ.
Sustainable Growers Rwanda may at any time request further information from potential suppliers to verify or clarify any aspects of their tender response or other information they may have provided. In case you do not provide supplementary information or clarifications to Sustainable Growers Rwanda by any deadline notified to you, your tender response may be rejected in full and you may be disqualified from this Procurement Process.
Done at Kigali, on 2nd September 2026
Christine Condo
Chief Executive Officer - Sustainable Growers