A 25 year PPP Concession Contract for the Bugesera International Airport, Rwanda

GOVERNMENT OF RWANDA

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

A 25 year PPP Concession Contract for the Bugesera International Airport, Rwanda

Introduction

The Government of Rwanda(GoR) has developed a strategy for active participation and involvement of the private sector in infrastructure development towards national growth, through Public Private Partnerships. In this regard, the Government intends to build a new airport - The Bugesera International Airport under a PPP contract. The Government now invites Expressions of Interest from qualified and reputable airport operators for a Design, Build, Finance, Maintain and Operate 25 year concession agreement.

Overview of Rwanda’s Economic

Rwanda has experienced considerable economic growth over the last few years. The annual growth in the total population stands at 2.8% since 2005 while the Rwandan economy has been growing at an annual average of 8.3% for the last 5 years.

Further, Rwanda made significant efforts to improve its business climate and was recognized as the second best reformer worldwide by the World Bank Doing Business Report 2010. Rwanda was ranked no. 58 in the world out of 183 countries for ease of doing business.

Levels of Foreign Direct Investment inflows have also been increasing and they reached USD 119 million in 2009 from USD 11.2 million in 2006.

The country’s leadership intends to keep the momentum and is committed to continue efforts to sustain this strong economic growth. The Bugesera International Airport project is one of the strategic projects that the Government seeks to implement in the coming few years in order to provide an efficient infrastructure underpinning the growth of various economic sectors.


Key Features of the proposed Bugesera International Airport

Bugesera International airport will provide a 21st Century airport for Rwanda. The airport will be a world class gateway, with the flexibility to expand and develop to become a key hub airport within the East Africa region.

Phase 1 of the development will involve the construction of passenger and cargo terminal buildings, 4.2km long runway (designed to handle the largest commercial aircrafts), airfield and other buildings and facilities meant to support the operation of an international airport, including air traffic control tower building and an airport rescue and fire fighting facilities. Phase 2-4 are provisionally provided for further expansions with the ultimate phase involving the construction of a 2nd runway and additional passenger and cargo terminals. The current procurement targets phase 1 only.

The new airport will be constructed in the Bugesera District 25km south east of the Rwandan capital city of Kigali. With an initial peak hour capacity of 450 passengers, the Bugesera International Airport is expected to handle more than 3 million passengers per year in 2030. The Government plans to have the new Airport operational by 2016.

The new airport will provide required air links underpinning high-value exports and Rwanda’s growing tourism and service sectors.

Procurement Process

The procurement process entails two consecutive stages, the current Pre-qualification Stage and the Request-for-Proposal (RFP) Stage. Pre-qualified Parties will be invited to enter into a consultative dialogue with the GoR after which the RFP will be finalized. Interested parties are now invited to submit an Expression of interest which should include the following information:

1. Confirmation of the firm’s interest to be considered for short-listing for the RfP stage

2. General information on the firm including main business, country(ies) of establishment and operation and duration of business activities

3. Technical capacity to design, construct, finance, maintain and operate a civil aviation airport. Interested bidders will need to demonstrate sufficient level of experience to operate the New Airport in addition to capabilities in airport design, construction, maintenance and operation of at least one airport of similar size.

4. Financial capacity to undertake this transaction

• The annual turnover of the firm in each of the last three financial years should exceed US$ 80 million (audited financial statements are required for the last three years).


• A signed statement by a duly authorized representative of the firm to the effect that the firm is in good financial order, is not bankrupt, is not having their affairs managed by a court, has not entered into an arrangement with its creditors, or has not suspended its business, or similar or related situations

Submission of Expressions of Interest

Firms may request to be qualified alone, or in consortium with other firms. If the Expression of Interest is from a consortium of firms, information on all firms making up the consortium must be provided. It must be clearly indicated which firm is the lead firm of the consortium. The nature of the consortium arrangement should be specified, including a consortium letter or agreement signed by all participating firms.

Expressions of Interest (in English) should clearly be marked “Expression of Interest - Bugesera International Airport” and submitted electronically. Electronic submissions in PDF format not exceeding 5 MB should be sent to procurement.bia@rdb.rw with a copy to the Transaction Advisers through: julius.ngonga@ke.pwc.com.
The EOIs must be submitted by 15:00 GMT, 7 October 2011.

For any further information, please contact the Transaction Advisers, PricewaterhouseCoopers Associates Africa Ltd on the address provided below:


PricewaterhouseCoopers Associates Africa Ltd

C/O PricewaterhouseCoopers, Rwanda 5th Floor, Blue Star House, Kacyiru

Email: julius.ngonga@ke.pwc.com