Solicitation spotlight: Group Life Insurance for locally employed staff (U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa)

Executive takeaway

The U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa is seeking an insurance company to provide group life insurance for approximately 1,018 locally employed staff. The solicitation indicates a fixed-price approach with an economic price adjustment (FFP-EPA) construct, with premium rates quoted in USD per $1,000 of annual salary. If you’re an insurer that can price and administer life, AD&D, and disability coverage for a large employee group (and can move quickly), this is a credible near-term bid with a base year plus four option years (if exercised).

What the buyer is trying to do

The requirement is to put a group policy in place for locally employed staff at U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa. The premium is described as being calculated in USD and scaled to salary, using a rate per one thousand dollars of annual salary. The coverage is expected to include:

• Life insurance
• Accidental death coverage
• Dismemberment coverage
• Partial disability coverage
• Total disability coverage

The government notes it may award based on initial offers without discussions, which increases the importance of submitting a complete, compliant initial proposal.

What work is implied (bullets)

• Underwrite and propose a group life insurance solution for roughly 1,018 locally employed staff.
• Provide pricing as a premium rate in USD per $1,000 of annual salary.
• Include coverage components: life, accidental death, dismemberment, and partial/total disability.
• Support a contract structure described as firm-fixed-price with economic price adjustment (FFP-EPA), with firm fixed-price task orders.
• Operate across a multi-year horizon: base year with four one-year option periods (if exercised).
• Prepare an initial submission strong enough to win without discussions (the embassy signals this is possible).

Who should bid / who should pass (bullets)

• Bid if: you are an insurance company experienced in group life products and administering AD&D and disability coverages at scale, and you can price cleanly on a per-$1,000-of-salary basis in USD.
• Bid if: your team is comfortable with a firm-fixed-price with economic price adjustment approach and can support the documentation and administration typically implied by a U.S. Government embassy contract.
• Pass if: you cannot offer one or more of the required coverage components (life, AD&D, dismemberment, partial/total disability) as part of the premium structure described.
• Pass if: your organization cannot support a group size of ~1,018 employees or cannot align your pricing to the stated “per $1,000 of annual salary” model.

Response package checklist (bullets; if unknown say “verify in attachments”)

• Completed proposal/quotation responding to the attached RFP (verify in attachments).
• Premium rate in USD per $1,000 of annual salary, as requested.
• Description of coverage terms for life, accidental death, dismemberment, and partial/total disability (verify required format in attachments).
• Acknowledgement of the anticipated performance period (base + four option years) (verify in attachments).
• Acceptance of (or detailed exceptions to) firm-fixed-price with economic price adjustment and task order approach (verify in attachments).
• Any required forms, certifications, or submission instructions contained in the RFP (verify in attachments).

Pricing & strategy notes (how to research pricing; do not invent pricing numbers)

The solicitation itself gives a key pricing lever: the premium is quoted in USD per $1,000 of annual salary. That suggests a rate-driven evaluation where clarity and comparability matter. Practical steps to build a defensible price:

• Use your existing group-life pricing models to structure a single, auditable rate basis that maps directly to “per $1,000 of annual salary.”
• Review the attached RFP for any constraints on rate adjustments (since the contract is described as FFP with an economic price adjustment requirement). The details of the adjustment mechanism likely drive risk and margin decisions (verify in attachments).
• Assume the government may award on initial offers without discussion; make your initial price/terms internally approved and final-ready.
• Validate how disability elements are priced/packaged in your approach (embedded in the same premium vs. separately stated), based on what the RFP requests (verify in attachments).

Subcontracting / teaming ideas (bullets)

• If you are the prime insurer, consider teaming with an administrator/claims support partner if the RFP implies specific reporting or servicing expectations (verify in attachments).
• If you are not an insurer but support benefit administration, claims processing, or employee communications, this is more likely a subcontracting role under an insurance prime (the buyer explicitly seeks “an insurance company”).

Risks & watch-outs (bullets)

• The government may award based on initial offer without discussion—missing items or unclear terms could be fatal.
• The contract is described as fixed-price with an economic price adjustment requirement; the adjustment rules (index, triggers, caps, timing) are not in the snippet—treat this as a major diligence item (verify in attachments).
• Coverage details are referenced as being in the attached RFP; do not assume standard terms are acceptable—align the proposal to stated requirements (verify in attachments).
• The premium is tied to annual salary; confirm how salary changes are handled over time and how that interacts with the EPA approach (verify in attachments).

Related opportunities

• Death in Service Insurance Cover (U.S. Embassy London)
• Life Insurance for Local Staff of the U.S. Embassy Baku, Azerbaijan

How to act on this

1. Open the notice and pull the attached RFP; extract the exact coverage, eligibility, and submission requirements (verify in attachments).
2. Build pricing in the required format (USD rate per $1,000 of annual salary) and align it to the requested coverage components.
3. Finalize a submission that can win without discussions (complete, compliant, and internally approved).

Need a faster path from notice to compliant submission? Federal Bid Partners LLC can help you interpret the attachments, map requirements to a response outline, and pressure-test your initial-offer strategy.

View the opportunity on BidPulsar