AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK GROUP

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS & MEDIA CONSULTANT

The Africa Investment Forum at the African Development Bank hereby invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in providing the above-described services in the following Assignment : Strategic Communications & Media Consultant. Interested consultants shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to provide the services, as well as a proposed work program with timeline, their understanding of the assignment and the proposed way to approach the assignment (documentation, references for similar services, experience in comparable assignments, etc.).

The services to be provided under this Assignment are described below. The individual consultant in collaboration with the African Development Bank’s Communication and External Relations Department will work under the supervision of the Head and Senior Director of the Africa Investment

Forum with the aim to create a framework as part of the Forum’s Communications strategy.

The Africa Investment Forum is Africa’s investment market place – a multistakeholder, multi-disciplinary platform dedicated to advancing projects to bankable stages, raising capital, and accelerating the financial closure of deals. The Africa Investment Forum convenes investors interested in Africa, African investors, enterprises with concrete investment needs, and selected government leaders to work out ways to boost private sector investments in Africa.

“The Platform”  is  the  Africa  Investment  Forum’s  digital  marketplace  offering  investors,  project sponsors and transaction facilitators a live database of private/PPP projects and investment opportunities in Africa, as well as matchmaking capabilities, knowledge products and interactive engagement within communities of interest.

In light of the above, the Africa Investment Forum requires the services of a Consultant to assist the

Africa Investment Forum and Digital Platform teams in developing and delivering an effective communications, branding and media strategy that builds on the Forum’s vision, and utilizes web-based, social media, print and conventional media to reach the Partnership’s various target audiences.

The tasks of the Consultant is as follows :

1. Critical review of the Forum’s Communication Strategy and the related tools and guidelines and develop a Communications Strategy and related tools ;
2. Develop and Implement a Media and Public Relations strategy and plan, to increase and strengthen the brand awareness, brand experience, and development impact of the Africa Investment Forum ;
3. Develop tactical messaging and new channels to reinforce and maintain heightened presence of the Africa Investment Forum on offline and online platforms. Develop clear measurements, indicators, and benchmarking for results and impact of tools ;
4. Plan and develop pitch decks, op-ed placements, meetings, interviews, and events across traditional and Digital Channels. Proactively secure earned media opportunities ;
5. Lead the design of targeted communications plans for projects and events, including presentations, marketing materials and speech development, outreach/publicity and related activities ;
6. Ensure unified messaging and narrative for the Africa Investment Forum across all channels ;
7. Participate in strategic planning, and co-ordinate the development and implementation of special projects related to internal and/or external communications and/or public relations initiatives ;
8. Review and maintain up to date communication on the Africa Investment Fourm website. Assess information needs and recommend and implement changes following due clearance, where necessary ;
9. Benchmarking of existing framework, tools and guidelines against those being used by the other MDBs and DFIs ;
10. Develop detailed action plan aimed  at strengthening  external  communication  of the Forum’s Leadership and Management team, and their profile ;

11. Create and deliver compelling contents on the website and Digital Platform’s social media, namely, Twitter, Facebook Instagram and LinkedIn. The Consultant will manage the Forum’s social media publications, monitoring and reporting to identify opportunities and track communications impact ;
12. Liaise extensively with the Events Management counterparty in all marketing and communications activities in the build up to the Forum’s strategic events ;
13. Liaise with the Investment Operations team in developing short impact stories and interviews to showcase the development impact and results of the Africa Investment Forum on projects, project sponsors, Partners, Investors, Governments etc ;
14. Develop and execute strategic communication and Media training programs  for  the Forum’s Staff ;
15. Perform other duties and tasks as assigned by the supervisor.

The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short-list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the Bank’s Rules and Procedure for Acquisition of Consulting Services funded by the Administrative or Capital Expenditure Budget. Please, note that interest expressed by a Firm/Consultant does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include it in the shortlist.

The estimated duration of services is 6 months (based on the proposed detailed work program) and the estimated starting date is 20 January 2020. The position will be based in Abidjan.

Interested Individual Consultants may obtain further information at the email address below during the Bank’s working hours: from 08:00 HR to 18:00 hrs.

Expressions of interest must be received by email at the address above no later than Friday, 10 January 2020, at 17:00 hrs. Abidjan local time and specifically mentioning “Strategic Communications & Media”.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SHORT LIST

A shortlist of three to six individual consultants will be established at the end the request of expressions of interest. The consultants on the shortlist will be judged on the following criteria on the basis of their updated resume.