The Grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the “Proposal”) from interested U.S. firms that are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to execute a feasibility study (“Study”) for Fly Zipline Ghana Limited (“Zipline Ghana” or “Grantee”) that would support the expansion of healthcare logistics services provided by unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, in order to improve access to healthcare for communities (the “Project”) located in the Republic of Ghana and the Federal Republic of Nigeria ( the “Host Countries”). The submission deadline is Friday, December 9, 2022, at 1 p.m. EDT / 5 p.m. GMT with deadline for questions on Friday, December 2, 2022, 1 p.m. EDT/ 5 p.m. GMT. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $1,261,768 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.
About the Grantee
Fly Zipline Ghana Limited was incorporated in 2019 and has established four hubs and successfully delivered healthcare supplies across Ghana. In December 2021, Zipline Ghana received the U.S. Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence in Health Security. The award was presented by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and honors Zipline Ghana’s work in improving health security, access, and equity across the country.
Project Background
Zipline Ghana seeks to lead the expansion of Zipline’s Ghanaian and Nigerian operations by scaling into new geographies as well as launching new business models beyond their B2G public health sector model. Zipline estimates that they have realized just 60% of estimated value potential in Ghana (servicing 18 million of the 31 million citizens) and 5% of its value potential in Nigeria (servicing 10 million of the 206 million citizens). Zipline seeks to establish ten additional Hubs – four in Ghana and six in Nigeria to serve new public health sector government customers, while at the same time launching new business models beyond the B2G public health model to capitalize on existing or new Hub infrastructure.
About the Study
The Study will address two markets as it will leverage the foundational expertise of Zipline Ghana’s operations to further both Zipline Ghana and Zipline Nigeria’s operations. The Study would focus primarily on Zipline’s public health service expansion but will also assess a private sector model to support expansion into areas such as e-commerce, postal, and agribusiness services. The Study would select prospective geographic locations for market expansion and provide recommendations for the technical and economic requirements to implement expansion activities; identify a minimum of ten new Hub sites across Ghana and Nigeria and assess the feasibility and risks of each expansion site, including commercial issues in transporting products to customers. After identifying the recommended sites, the Study would provide the necessary inputs and assess the business and financial models required for the expansion and investor decision making. Complementing these analyses, the Study would include U.S. supplier, environmental, and developmental impact-related analysis, and coordination. The Study would include two stakeholder workshops – one in Ghana and one in Nigeria – to support drone regulation and market operations. The Study would also include an implementation plan that would develop a comprehensive roadmap for Project implementation that would be presentable to potential investors.