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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

Tax Systems Transformation Programme (TSTP)

Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office · compiled

Tender information last checkedLast checked 30 Sept 2026, 10:17.

Opportunity overview

FCDO intend to extend an existing contract with Cowater International to continue to assist the Government of Ethiopia raise tax revenues in a responsible and equitable way. The procurement was originally run in 2018 receiving 4 bids via a Restricted procedure then subsequently the contract was started on 13 March 2019.

Awarded to

Amounts belong to published awards or contracts. Where several suppliers share one value, it is labelled as shared and is not a supplier-specific allocation.

Contract value
£27.2m
Awarded
Not supplied
Contract signed
13 Mar 2024
Award ID
061833-2025-1
Status
active
Location
Ottawa, CA, ON KIN 5M5, Canada

Classification

  • CPV75211200 — Foreign economic-aid-related services

Lots

  • This notice is to indicate that the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) proposes to extend the contract with the named supplier for the Tax System Transformation programme (TSTP) operating in Ethiopia in a manner that is necessary to support Ethiopia’s tax reform programme. The contractual extension would run for 24 months from its current proposed end date of 13 March 2026 up to 13 March 2028. The anticipated expenditure in the period between 13 March 2026 and 13 March 2028 will be up to £4,843,000 (which therefore falls within the contract’s financial headroom, with FCDO having spent only £18,005,643 of the £27,167,193 value of this contract to date). This notice constitutes a Voluntary ex ante notice under regulation 99 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The Authority considers that the award of this contract modification is permitted under regulation 72(1)(b) of those Regulations, and therefore subject to publication of a notice under that provision, however the Authority also intends to observe a 10 day standstill period under regulation 99(3)(c). Further details are provided later in this notice. The purpose of the Tax Systems Transformation Programme (TSTP)is to assist Government of Ethiopia raising tax revenues in a responsible and equitable manner. The objective of this contract for services is to manage the Accelerated Delivery component of the overall programme on three outcomes: an equitable and business friendly tax environment; improved voluntary compliance; increased GoE revenues. Accelerated Delivery translates political will at the highest level into coordinated and technically sound reform of Ethiopian tax systems. The TSTP contract brings together ‘delivery’ and technical tax expertise from specialist consultancy, UK HMRC, and other development partners to support Ethiopia in meeting the financing needs of its 10-year prosperity plan, macroeconomic reforms, and supporting an eventual exit from aid. It provides a blend of long-term embedded advisers and short-term experts to deliver improved business processes, enhanced administrative capabilities, improved IT, reformed tax policy, and lower compliance costs for taxpayers. A TSTP extension would enable 24 months of continuous outputs/deliverables to existing activities supporting Government of Ethiopia ministries such as the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Revenue. To continue to assist the Ethiopian Government raise tax revenues in a responsible and equitable way with areas of activity during the extension period will potentially include; Continue embedded technical assistance and specialist consultancy across core MOR Directorates; Implementation of the revenue administration reform roadmap, with monitoring routines institutionalised; Strengthened donor coordination and delivery alignment; Knowledge transfer with phased drawdown of embedded advisers; Transfer of donor coordination responsibilities to create ownership, tools, and coordination structures; Continue systematic monitoring, evaluation and learning to sustain performance and course correction; Plan and deliver a sustained exit strategy aligned with the requirement of NMTRS. Additional information: The extension does not increase the value of the contract.Value not stated

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
8325
Status
complete
Procurement Method
limited
Main Procurement Category
services
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Why this procedure was chosen
Extension of the contract beyond the advertised scope without prior publication of a call for competition The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) intends to award a 24 month extension to the TSTP contract with Cowater International. This amendment is made under Regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, which permits modifications because additional services by the original contractor have become necessary where a change of contractor cannot be made for economic or technical reasons and such change would cause significant inconvenience of substantial duplication of costs for the contracting authority. The modification does not exceed 50% of the original contract value. The original contract allowed for a 24 month extension to 13 March 2026 which is currently being used. The extension to 13 March 2028 is necessary to support the Government of Ethiopia to complete its vital macro-economic reform programme and additional services are necessary to ensure continuity of support to deliver its reforms. Delivery of the original contract has been delayed at various points by a number of events beyond control of the Authority, Conflict Covid, & recent disruption to wider reforms. This extension will allow continuity of support to deliver the reforms. The success of this project is a key element of the British Government’s foreign policy in this region. A change of contractor cannot be made for economic and technical reasons related to interoperability with the existing services. The current contractor (Cowater) holds contracts with a number of personnel (embedded advisers) who are indispensable to the success of the programme. There is no guarantee that the embedded advisers would be prepared or obliged to transfer to a new provider, if that were possible, and given their indispensability to the success of the programme that is not a tolerable risk for the Authority. These advisers have in-depth experience and knowledge of the revenue programme to date, and relationships and skills which are indispensable in terms of working on implementation with the national Government and the international financial institutions whose support is key to the programme. The programme has to be delivered at speed, and there is an onerous 3 monthly reporting requirement to the international institutions involved without which the wider funding flow is at risk. It would therefore be wholly unrealistic to attempt to insert new individuals into such roles in the remaining 2 years of the project, given the time required for them to get up to speed on the projects against this background, and inherent risks. This would undermine effective delivery, which is fundamentally important in the particular political context in Ethiopia. A change in contractor would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs Any new personnel would need a substantial handover involving significant knowledge transfer, in particular in a context of running another 2 years (as extended) and given the ongoing 3 monthly reporting regime on top of the need to progress the project itself with speed. That would require the Authority to pay for the existing supplier to handover in parallel with the new contract for some time, which would increase, and duplicate costs, of up to £500k over a significant handover period. The extension does not increase the original contract value by more than 50%. For the reasons above the Authority considers that regulation 72(1)(b) of PCR 2015 applies to this contract modification. Whilst that provision does in fact require publication of a transparency notice, the Authority is additionally observing a 10 day standstill period aligned to regulation 99 (3) before concluding the modification with Cowater, and in the event of a claim under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 will rely on these circumstances in relation to the first ground of regulation 99, should it be applicable.

Covered By

GPA

Legal basis

Id
32014L0024
Scheme
CELEX

Classification

Id
75211200
Scheme
CPV
Description
Foreign economic-aid-related services

Procedure reasons

Entry 1
Id
D_OUTSIDE_SCOPE
Scheme
TED_PT_AWARD_CONTRACT_WITHOUT_CALL
Description
The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Has Options
Yes
Description
This notice is to indicate that the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) proposes to extend the contract with the named supplier for the Tax System Transformation programme (TSTP) operating in Ethiopia in a manner that is necessary to support Ethiopia’s tax reform programme. The contractual extension would run for 24 months from its current proposed end date of 13 March 2026 up to 13 March 2028. The anticipated expenditure in the period between 13 March 2026 and 13 March 2028 will be up to £4,843,000 (which therefore falls within the contract’s financial headroom, with FCDO having spent only £18,005,643 of the £27,167,193 value of this contract to date). This notice constitutes a Voluntary ex ante notice under regulation 99 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The Authority considers that the award of this contract modification is permitted under regulation 72(1)(b) of those Regulations, and therefore subject to publication of a notice under that provision, however the Authority also intends to observe a 10 day standstill period under regulation 99(3)(c). Further details are provided later in this notice. The purpose of the Tax Systems Transformation Programme (TSTP)is to assist Government of Ethiopia raising tax revenues in a responsible and equitable manner. The objective of this contract for services is to manage the Accelerated Delivery component of the overall programme on three outcomes: an equitable and business friendly tax environment; improved voluntary compliance; increased GoE revenues. Accelerated Delivery translates political will at the highest level into coordinated and technically sound reform of Ethiopian tax systems. The TSTP contract brings together ‘delivery’ and technical tax expertise from specialist consultancy, UK HMRC, and other development partners to support Ethiopia in meeting the financing needs of its 10-year prosperity plan, macroeconomic reforms, and supporting an eventual exit from aid. It provides a blend of long-term embedded advisers and short-term experts to deliver improved business processes, enhanced administrative capabilities, improved IT, reformed tax policy, and lower compliance costs for taxpayers. A TSTP extension would enable 24 months of continuous outputs/deliverables to existing activities supporting Government of Ethiopia ministries such as the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Revenue. To continue to assist the Ethiopian Government raise tax revenues in a responsible and equitable way with areas of activity during the extension period will potentially include; Continue embedded technical assistance and specialist consultancy across core MOR Directorates; Implementation of the revenue administration reform roadmap, with monitoring routines institutionalised; Strengthened donor coordination and delivery alignment; Knowledge transfer with phased drawdown of embedded advisers; Transfer of donor coordination responsibilities to create ownership, tools, and coordination structures; Continue systematic monitoring, evaluation and learning to sustain performance and course correction; Plan and deliver a sustained exit strategy aligned with the requirement of NMTRS. Additional information: The extension does not increase the value of the contract.

Options

Description
The original contract included an option to extend the contract by 2 years to 13 March 2026 and an increase in contract value by an additional £10 million. A contract amendment in February 2024 applied the advertised 2-year extension option and reduced the value of the contract from £27, 167,193 to £18,005,643. The reduction in budget was as a result of FCDO Business Panning adjustments. The scope and objectives remained the same but in line with the flexible and adaptive approach some activities were scaled back. This modification will extend the contract for a further two years from 13 March 2026 to 13 March 2028 but remain within the original contract value of £27,167,193

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Delivery Location

Description
Ethiopia

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
ET

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Id
GB-FTS-131
Name
Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office

Roles

buyer

Address

Region
UK
Locality
London
Postal Code
SW1A 2AH
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
King Charles Street

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Id
MINISTRY
Scheme
TED_CA_TYPE
Description
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
Entry 2
Id
01
Scheme
COFOG
Description
General public services

Identifier

Legal Name
Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office

Contact

Telephone
+44 1355844000
Organisation 2
Id
GB-FTS-162904
Name
Cowater International

Roles

supplier

Address

Region
CA
Locality
Ottawa
Postal Code
ON KIN 5M5
Country Name
Canada
Street Address
4-109 Murray St, 2nd Floor

Details

Scale
large

Identifier

Legal Name
Cowater International
Organisation 3
Id
GB-FTS-51841
Name
FCDO

Roles

reviewBody

Address

Locality
London
Postal Code
SW1A 2AH
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
King Charles Street

Identifier

Legal Name
FCDO

Award information

Award 1
Id
061833-2025-1
Status
active
Has Subcontracting
Yes

Suppliers

Supplier 1
Id
GB-FTS-162904
Name
Cowater International

Related lots

1

Contracts and changes

Entry 1
Id
061833-2025-1
Status
active
Award ID
061833-2025-1
Date Signed
13 Mar 2024, 00:00

Value

Amount
27,167,193
Currency
GBP

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · London · UK · SW1A 2AH · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · ET

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. ocds-h6vhtk-05a719-2025-10-02T15:24:00+01:00compiled ·