NOTICE AT-A-GLANCE

Project ID: P508948

Project Title: Digital Eswatini

Country: Eswatini

Notice No: OP00381491

Notice Type: Request for Expression of Interest

Notice Status: Published

Borrower Bid Reference: SZ-MICT-513271-CS-QCBS

Procurement Method: Quality And Cost-Based Selection

Language of Notice: English

Submission Deadline Date/Time: Oct 23, 2025 00:00

Published Date: 03-Oct-2025

Description: Contract is to hire consulting services (“the Services”) for a Firm to develop a comprehensive Digital Eswatini roadmap, implementation plan and associated budget for the full digitization of approximately 200 priority services across Government.

Details:

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – FIRM)

The Kingdom of Eswatini

Digital Eswatini Project

Assignment Title: Development of an Implementation Plan and Budget for Government of Eswatini Digital Transformation

The World Bank group is supporting the Government of Eswatini on the implementation of ‘Digital Eswatini’ project (2025-2029). The Project aims to ‘increase access to high quality broadband internet services for government, businesses and citizens, and to improve the government's capacity to deliver digital public services’. Activities financed fall under two pillars: (i) Digital Connectivity, which aims to improve access and affordability to telecommunications across the country, particularly for underserved and rural communities, and (ii) Digital Services, which focuses on improving the digitization of public service delivery across government, ensuring that citizens and businesses can access public services more efficiently and effectively via digital platforms. The key implementing agency of the project will be the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology (MICT).

As part of the second project component, Digital Services, MICT is looking to hire consulting services (“the Services”) for a Firm to develop a comprehensive implementation plan and associated budget for the full digitization of approximately 200 priority services across Government, including the development of the foundational platforms required (such as Digital ID and data interoperability). The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment are attached to this request for expressions of interest.

Terms of Reference

Context

The Government of Eswatini (GoE), under the leadership of the Ministry of ICT (MICT), has developed an ambitious digital strategy to transform service delivery through the digitization of key public services across Government. This strategy is called Government in Your Hand (GIYH).

MICT will be delivering the first phases of this program under the Digital Eswatini Project, financed through the World Bank. This multi-year program will look to undertake the following:

1. Development and implementation of the key digital public infrastructure (DPI) required to support the digitization of core services across the Government. This includes, but is not limited to: Digital ID, data interoperability/exchange, social registries, single Government portal, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and payment platform.
2. Development of the standards and operational capabilities for the security and protection of public data and systems, including comprehensive data protection and cybersecurity capabilities.
3. Digitization of approximately 200 services across multiple Government ministries and departments, including MICT, Commerce, Education, Health, Finance and Home Affairs, amongst others.

The project is scheduled to last 5 years and will finance the majority of activities for objectives 1 and 2, with the delivery of a prioritized set of services under objective 3.

GoE wishes to hire a suitable Firm to develop the full implementation plan and budget for the program, for the entire scope of services (not just the scope under the World Bank-financed project). This will include a comprehensive current state assessment and development of a detailed costed, phased implementation plan that will underpin the activities required to deliver the program over the coming years.

I. Scope of Work

Note: The list of proposed services for inclusion in the digitization program specified in the scope of work below can be found in Annex A.

A. Current State Assessment

In conjunction with MICT, conduct a comprehensive assessment of the current state environment within the Government to enable the development of the implementation plan, including but not limited to the following key components:

• The current state of the ICT and information systems environment across Government that includes all major ministries and departments relating to the list of services in scope for digitization. This includes, but is not limited to: MICT, Commerce, Education, Health, Finance and Home Affairs, amongst others.
• The current state of foundational platforms and Digital Public Infrastructure within GoE, including but not limited to: Digital ID, data interoperability/exchange, social registries, single Government portal, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and payment platforms, amongst others
• The current state of the services and business process landscape pertaining to the services highlighted by GoE for digitization, including documenting all manual processes relating to those services.
• The current state of the change management landscape, including documenting the current governance and institutional arrangements in place to manage change across the ICT and service ecosystem within GoE.
• Any other aspects relevant to the development of the implementation plan and budget, as specified by MICT or from the firm’s previous experience.

In order to successfully map the current state environment, it is expected that the firm will engage across all relevant ministries and departments, taking the lead with support from MICT to convene relevant stakeholders. Resourcing for this exercise must take this into account.

B. Future State Mapping

In conjunction with MICT, develop a comprehensive view of the future state enterprise architecture, ICT environment and change management/institutional governance arrangements for the digitization program, which will include the following:

• Future state requirements for ICT and information systems architecture required to support the Government’s digitization program.
• DPI and foundational systems architecture required to support the digitization program and enable the GoE to continue to digitize priority services in the long term.
• Full service and business process catalog required to support the digitization program.
• Proposed governance and change management model required to support the digitization program, including all institutional all-of-government arrangements required to manage the program both during implementation phase and following implementation into a business-as-usual model in the long term.
• A full resource and organizational map of the human resources required to support the digitization program from the Government, including resources required for the implementation phase of the program, and the long term resource requirements post-program needed to support the new environment in the long term.
• Any other aspect relevant to the mapping of the appropriate future state environment pertaining to the GoE digitization program.

It is expected that the successful firm will also act as convener for the relevant governance and approval processes required to obtain approval for the proposed future state from relevant ministries and departments, with support from MICT. Proposed resourcing from the from the firm for this exercise must take this into account.

C. Development of Digitization Program Implementation Plan and Budget

Develop a comprehensive, detailed implementation plan and associated budget for the digitization program showing the delivery of the future state environment as outlined in the previous phase. This should include the following:

• All activities relating to the development of the ICT and information systems environment required to support the program, including all systems and data migration activities, hardware and software requirements, and proposed operational model for those systems and assets within Government.
• All activities required to develop, implement and operationalize the required Digital Public Infrastructure components needed to support the broader digitization program and ongoing digitization of services in the long term.
• Activities required to transition to the necessary all-of-government governance model, including all institutional changes required to support such a model.
• All activities required to digitize the proposed services, in a phased and prioritized manner which will take into account the following:
  • Government priorities for delivery of services to citizens and internal departments;
  • Ease of delivery and implementation to ensure that ‘quick wins’ can be realized early in the program while more difficult services are devliered in the longer term;
  • Alignment of services with the funding available under the Digital Eswatini project, which will not cover the full complement of services proposed under the digitization program.
• All resourcing required from Government ministries and departments to support the digitization program, as well as the transition to the business-as-usual future state.

It should be noted that the implementation plan and budget should be sufficiently detailed to support the immediate launch of the tender for a firm to manage the activities required for the implementation phase; it is not expected that further detailed implementation planning will be required following the completion of this engagement. This expectation of the deep level of detail required for the implementation plan must be taken into account in any technical proposals for this engagement.

II. Deliverables

III. Firm Qualifications

Mandatory Requirements

• Significant experience (at least 10 years) in the planning, design and execution of complex digital transformation programs within a Government setting, involving multiple stakeholders, environments and technologies;
• Significant experience of project and implementation management of complex digital transformation programs within a public sector context, involving multiple workstreams, stakeholders and implementing agencies;
• Deep technical expertise in the architecture, design and implementation of ICT systems and Digital Public Infrastructure platforms in a public sector context, including (but not limited to) the following:
  • E-Government services
  • Data Protection
  • Cybersecurity
  • Digital ID
  • Data interoperability and standards
  • Financial payment platforms
• Demonstrable experience of significant change management programs within the context of public sector digital transformation;

Additional Criteria

• Experience in Sub-Saharan Africa or in the Southern Africa region is preferred.
• Demonstrable ability to work with confidential and sensitive government data with discretion and professionalism.

Work Location, Travel and On-Site Requirements

The primary work location will be Mbabane, Eswatini. Due to nature of the assignment, that will require constant consultation and engagement with stakeholders across Government for both information gathering and governance purposes, it is expected that the successful firm will commit significant time in-country during the engagement. This will include the need for a near-constant presence from at least a subset of team members to ensure that activities move forward on the ground, particularly in the earlier phases of current state mapping and information gathering. Prospective firms must plan for this in the technical proposal for this engagement.

Future Tenders

The award of this engagement to a successful firm will not exclude that firm from bidding for any future phases of work under the Digital Eswatini Project, related to this activity.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Organization/Department: Ministry of ICT

Name: Sakhile Dlamini

Address: Mhlambanyatsi Rd, Mbabane, Eswatini Interministerial Building

City:

Province/State:

Postal Code:

Country: Eswatini

Phone: +268 7604 4813

Email: [email protected]

Website: