Terms of Reference
Deadline: Friday 21 Nov. 2025
1. Background
Wala is a social enterprise working to improve livelihoods and strengthen climate resilience through sustainable agriculture and inclusive technologies. Our operations combine access to productive equipment, financial inclusion, and data-driven impact measurement.
To enhance these efforts, Wala seeks to develop a bespoke digital platform that integrates operational management, customer relationship management (CRM), data analytics, and AI-supported decision tools. The platform will consolidate key business, impact, and field data to support effective delivery, monitoring, and scaling of Wala’s work.
2. Purpose of the Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to design, develop, and deploy a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) of Wala’s digital platform, with capabilities to:
- Manage customer relationships and related credit-based sales processes.
- Track operational data on customers’ activities, impact and outcomes.
- Provide data analytics and dashboards to guide management decisions.
- Incorporate early-stage AI-driven insights for forecasting and program design.
- Establish a scalable foundation for future enhancement and integration.
The MVP will later undergo field testing, refinement, and optimization in collaboration with Wala’s team, leading to a full-scale rollout.
3. Objectives
The contracted team will:
- Design and develop a secure, scalable, and user-friendly MVP platform tailored to Wala’s operational needs.
- Integrate key business functions including CRM, data analytics, and equipment management.
- Enable structured data collection and analysis on livelihood outcomes and production activities.
- Develop an adaptable architecture that can evolve with future AI, climate, and geospatial components.
- Support field deployment, training, and iterative improvements.
4. Scope of Work
The assignment will include, but not be limited to:
- Conducting a discovery phase to understand Wala’s data and operational workflows.
- Designing the platform’s functional architecture and user experience.
- Developing and deploying the MVP platform (digital with web and mobile-friendly components).
- Integrating key operational modules including CRM, impact data, production tracking, equipment management, and basic analytics.
- Implementing a secure database and cloud infrastructure.
- Providing training, documentation, and user support.
- Supporting field testing, troubleshooting, and refinements post-deployment.
Detailed functional specifications will be shared with the selected team under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).
5. Expected Deliverables
- Inception Report detailing understanding, methodology, and work plan.
- System Design & Prototype including architecture overview and UI mock-ups.
- Functional MVP Platform deployed in a secure cloud environment.
- User Manual & Training Materials for users.
- Field Testing Support and iterative refinement as needed.
- Final MVP Package including source code, documentation, and scaling recommendations.
6. Required Team Composition and Skills
The assignment requires a multidisciplinary team with demonstrated experience in designing and deploying digital systems for data-driven organizations.
Key Expertise Areas:
- Full-stack software development (e.g., Python/Django, Node.js, React, PostgreSQL).
- Data architecture and analytics.
- AI and machine learning (forecasting, risk modelling, impact analytics etc.).
- UI/UX design (for user-centric and field-friendly interfaces).
- Cloud deployment and cybersecurity.
- Experience in agri-tech, impact measurement, or climate adaptation (highly desirable).
Indicative Team Roles:
- Technical Lead / Solution Architect
- Full-Stack Developer(s)
- Data Scientist / AI Specialist
- UX/UI Designer
- Project Manager / Scrum Lead
- QA and Security Specialist
7. Duration and Level of Effort
The total estimated duration for the MVP phase is 6–8 months, including design, development, deployment, and pilot refinement. The selected team is expected to remain available for ongoing support and scaling preparation after the MVP phase.
8. Application Process
Interested firms or consortiums are invited to submit:
- Brief Technical Proposal (max 5 pages) summarizing:
- Understanding of the assignment and proposed approach.
- Relevant experience with similar platforms.
- Composition of the proposed team.
- Links or references to prior work.
- Company/Team Profile including (1 page max) bios of each key experts.
- Financial Proposal (max 1 page).
Only shortlisted applicants will receive the full Scope of Work and technical details upon signing an NDA.
9. Evaluation Criteria
EOIs will be evaluated based on:
- Demonstrated understanding of the assignment.
- Technical and methodological approach.
- Team qualifications and relevant experience.
- Experience with AI, data systems, or similar impact platforms.
- Cost realism and scalability considerations.
- References from comparable projects.
10. Submission Details
Applications should be sent electronically to:
hr@walacleanenergy.com
Deadline for submission: Friday 21 November 2025
Subject line: “EOI – Wala Digital Platform Development ”
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
11. Confidentiality
All information shared by Wala during this process is considered confidential and proprietary. Applicants are expected to treat any materials received as such and refrain from sharing or using them for other purposes.