EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development Department (AHHD)

Avenue Jean-Paul II, 01 BP 1387 Abidjan 01, Côte d’Ivoire

E-mail: To a.m.sylla@afdb.org, cc – n.gningue@afdb.org ; r.labelle@afdb.org

RECRUITMENT OF A KNOWLEDGE & CONTENT MANAGER SPECIALIZED IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN AFRICAFOR THE INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP LAB

1. The African Development Bank hereby invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in the following Assignment : Knowledge & content manager specialized in Entrepreneurship in Africa ;

2. In 2019, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab (The Lab) was set up to support Youth Entrepreneurship in Africa. The Lab is a technical assistance vehicle of the Jobs for Youth in Africa strategy (JfYA) that supports innovation and youth entrepreneurship in Africa through the following activities: i) Market studies & networking of entrepreneurs and of enterprise support organizations (ESOs); ii) Capacity Building; iii) A Knowledge Exchange Platform; iv) Financial Support for innovative startups; v) Innovation and incubation, promoting hardware entrepreneurship and the usage of 4th Industrial Revolution technologies and other innovations, tech, etc., and; vi) Communications activities to reach out to, engage and share with actors in support of the above and of entrepreneurship in Africa ;

3. The services to be provided under the Assignment include being part of the JfYA team and developing an evidence based and data driven understanding of youth entrepreneurship and of innovation in Africa. This will involve analyzing the entrepreneurship market in Africa and identifying, acquiring and managing information and data about the entrepreneurship environment in Africa, with a focus on youth entrepreneurs and young women entrepreneurs and startups especially and on the enterprise support organizations (ESOs) that support them. This position requires an understanding of innovation trends and drivers in Africa and beyond as this affects entrepreneurship ;

4. The Consultant will work closely with the Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy Team under the general guidance of the Director of the Human Capital Youth and Skills Development Department and the direct supervision of the Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy Coordinator in collaboration with the Lab’s Project Manager ;

5. The assignment duration is for a 12-month period, once renewable based on adequate performance, the Bank’s needs and budget availability. The consultant will be offered a lump sum contract ;

6. The AfDB invites individual consultants to indicate their interest in providing the above-described services. Interested individuals must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services based on: a) a CV; and b) a short motivation letter that refers to the relevant assignments undertaken / positions held that support the candidate’s submission, to be sent by e-mail to the addresses mentioned below, c) examples of similar projects/assignments led by the consultant with references ;

7. Eligibility criteria, establishment of the short-list and the selection procedure shall be in accordance with the African Development Bank’s Rules and Procedures for the Use of Corporate Consultants on the following criteria on the basis of the CVs and other documents received. Consultants should be a national of one of the AfDB’s 80 member countries (https://www.afdb.org/en/about-us/corporate-information/members).

8. The Bank is under no obligation to shortlist any individual who expresses interest ;

9. Interested Individual Consultants may obtain further information at the address below during the Bank’s working hours: from 09:00 to 17:00 Abidjan time ;

10. The total size of the email file transmitted must not be larger than 5 MB, and all documents must be transmitted in ONE (OR MAXIMUM) TWO FILES ONLY. The PDF format is preferred. Files containing malware will be deleted and the application rejected ;

11. Expressions of interest must be received at the email addresses below no later than September 13, 2021 at 23:59 GMT Abidjan time and specifically mentioning : Knowledge & content manager specialized in Entrepreneurship in Africa.

For the attention of :

Ms. Aida Mademe Sylla

Email: a.m.sylla@afdb.org

With copies to :

Ndeye Absa Gningue

Email : n.gningue@afdb.org

Richard Labelle

Email : r.labelle@afdb.org

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Knowledge & Content manager specialized in Entrepreneurship in Africa

BACKGROUND :

Established in 1964, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting the economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank delivers financial and technical supports to Regional Member Countries (RMCs) through transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty and bring inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In order to sharply focus the objectives of the Ten-Year Strategy (2013 – 2022) and ensure greater developmental impact, five priorities (High 5s) have been identified for scaling up and accelerate the Bank’s delivery, namely: Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Power Africa, Integrate Africa and improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.

THE COMPLEX :

The Vice Presidency for Agriculture, Human, and Social Development is a Sector Complex focusing on the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy High 5s priority of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”. The complex objectives are (i) to develop, policy and strategy; provide deep sector expertise to the Regions by gathering pool of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide sector expertise on complex transactions; (iii) develop new financing instruments; (iv) the Vice President will act as the spoke person to represent the Bank with external stakeholders on aspects of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.

THE HIRING DEPARTMENT :

The Human and Social Development Department spearheads the Bank wide Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy implementation coordination as well as the achievement of the High 5s “Improving the Quality of Life of People in Africa”, while contributing to the other High 5s. The Department supports scaling-up the Bank’s support to strengthening the Jobs for Youth Flagship coordination and education, skills, employment, health systems and nutrition programming for industrialization and economic transformation. The Department leads the Bank’s support to Africa’s economic transformation by: (i) developing and promoting the adoption of relevant policies and strategies; providing deep multi-sector expertise to the regional hubs by gathering a pool of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide technical advice on complex transactions (Communities of Practice); (iii) developing new financing instruments; and, (iv) fostering strategic partnerships to leverage resources into the human and social development sectors.

THE POSITION :

3.1. To improve the quality of life for the people in Africa, the Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy (JfYA) was approved in May 2016 with the objective to create 25 million jobs and equip 50 million young people with skills to enhance their employability and entrepreneurial success by 2025. The JfYA strategy will support countries in their efforts to strengthen youth entrepreneurship to stimulate youth employment and economic development with a focus on young women.

3.2. As part of these activities, the Bank launched the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab (IEL) in late 2018 under the Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development Department (AHHD) division. The objective of the Lab is to support youth employment and entrepreneurship in Africa by strengthening the capacity and operational reach of Enterprise Support Organizations (ESOs), i.e. business incubators and accelerators and financial intermediaries including fund managers operating at all stages of the startup investment cycle – from seed / angel to exit, and startups and various other intermediaries supporting entrepreneurship.

3.3. The Lab operates under 5 pillars: i) Market studies & networking of entrepreneurs and of enterprise support organizations (ESOs); ii) Capacity Building; iii) A Knowledge Exchange Platform; iv) Financial Support for innovative startups; v) Innovation and incubation to promotes hardware entrepreneurship and startups using 4th Industrial Revolution technologies and other innovative tech, etc. Communications activities are fundamental in the effort to reach out to, engage and share with actors in support of the above and of entrepreneurship in Africa.

3.4. The Knowledge & Content manager specialized in Entrepreneurship in Africa will be part of the Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy team and will be responsible for ensuring a data driven understanding that will drive Lab support for ESOs and startups in Africa.

4. PURPOSE AND DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT :

4.1. The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab (IEL) wishes to hire a Knowledge & Content manager specialized in Entrepreneurship in Africa with in-depth understanding of the African entrepreneurship and innovation environment and with superior digital and data management skills to join the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab Team of the AfDB.

4.2. The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab undertakes market research on youth entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa, with a focus on enterprise support organizations (ESOs) and on young men and women entrepreneurs and related actors. The objective of this research and data collection is to develop a data and evidence driven understanding of youth entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa with the primary goal of creating quality jobs for young people and young women to encourage inclusive economic, human and social development and the achievement of the Bank High Five development priorities.

The assignment :

The Lab Knowledge & Content manager specialized in Entrepreneurship in Africa will undertake the following responsibilities, tasks and activities :

4.3. Seeking, tracking, collecting and curating data and information on entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa and especially regarding the status and activities of enterprise support organizations (ESOs) and of entrepreneurs and startups and of innovation leaders across the continent. Advising the Lab team of options for managing the data in a secure way and working in consultation with appropriate Bank departments and data management staff and in respect of Bank data management rules and guidelines.

4.4. Sharing this information via the Lab online platform and other digital channels, including social media. For this, she/he will work closely with the Lab Digital Marketing & Communications Officer. Curating and managing the content on the Lab platform and other data repositories that the Lab may create that are related to entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa ;

• Working closely with Lab team members and other Bank colleagues in gathering and assembling the information and in keeping the ESO and entrepreneurship database up to date by modifying existing entries and by adding more entries and data and information containers and channels as required ;
• Ensuring that the data is shared with Bank staff and actors in the entrepreneurship market in Africa as required and in respect of prevailing Bank data sharing rules, regulations, and protocols ;
• Helping Lab team members and other Bank staff to develop projects to enhance understanding and data collected about youth entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa.

4.5. Market research is ongoing at the Lab and the data collected is being transferred to an online platform and a database of ESOs. The Business Analysist will be responsible for expanding data collection in response to demand from Lab clients, stakeholders and partners. He/she will advise of appropriate data management options for the Lab in consultation with the Lab Team and other Bank departments and in respect of Bank rules and protocols related to data management.

4.6. Tracking trends in innovation and developments in science and technology in Africa and beyond and have an expert understanding of opportunities that new technologies and practices, for example digital and 4th Industrial Revolution technologies, will offer to entrepreneurs and investors :

• Undertaking documentary research on entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa and beyond and producing regular updates on entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa for Bank staff and for dissemination through the Lab and usual Bank communication channels, including social media ;
• As part of this effort, track and understand innovations that present opportunities for African entrepreneurs to address the AfDB High Five development priorities ;
• Light and Power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa; and Improve the Quality of Life of Africans as well as other major challenges; and
• Opportunities Africa faces including responding to the digital transition, the climate transition, the energy transition, addressing environmental sustainability and the Covid 19 pandemic and other public health and development concerns ;
• This also includes addressing the job creating objectives set forth under the Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy of the Bank.

4.7. Proposing and developing appropriate Lab platform services and data management tools to enhance Lab service delivery as may deemed appropriate from time to time.

4.8. In collaboration with the Lab team, participating in the design, preparation, publication and administration of online surveys that will help to better understand ESOs and the entrepreneurship market in Africa

4.9. Working closely with the Lab Monitoring and Evaluation expert in measuring Lab impact including the impact of the Lab digital platform and data sharing channels.

4.10. Working with the Digital Marketing & Communications Officer to develop and share content for Lab outreach activities via the Lab social media and other communications channels and to measure the impact of digital outreach activities and communication channels.

4.11. Working closely with the Lab and Bank technical teams responsible for the management, operation, and maintenance of the Lab Platform to ensure the platform is functional and supports the data curation and data sharing ambitions of the Lab.

4.12. In charge of the Lab’s support to Regional Member Countries through the production of Economic and Sector Work (ESWs) : https://www.afdb.org/en/documents/project-operations/economic-and-sector-work and contributing to the preparation of reports and proposals that the Lab team will be called upon periodically to produce.

4.13. Other duties as may be assigned by the Jobs for Youth in Africa Coordinator.

5. ESSENTIAL SPECIALIZED SKILLS / COMPETENCIES :

The consultant to be recruited will be a national from a member country of the Bank with an M.Sc./M.A./MBA in business, engineering, science (including information and data sciences, in social sciences) or technology with at least 3 years of demonstrated experience in entrepreneurship and/or innovation in Africa.

The consultant will have the following profile :

1. IT Skills – since the responsibilities of the consultant will include data-entry in the Lab Platform ;
2. Experience working with the private sector including entrepreneurs, startups and early-stage SMEs and ESOs including investors in a developing / emerging market context ;
3. Working experience in Africa in entrepreneurship or with SMES ;
4. Experience working with the private sector including entrepreneurs, startups, and early-stage SMEs and ESOs including investors in a developing / emerging market context ;
5. Excellent analytical and project management skills. Strong information and data management skills. Ability to use and program data management tools and applications including database management systems, data collection apps, data analysis tools, etc. ;
6. Excellent project management skills ;
7. Experience working in international development including with Donor Agencies, International Organizations, Non-Profits, United Nations, Development Banks, NGOs, Academic or research organizations, etc. and/or experience working with international and/or transnational corporations ;
8. High level of skill in using office productivity software ;
9. Strong communication skills, including strong interpersonal communication skills ;
10. Excellent oral and writing skills in English or French ;
11. Results oriented, proactive, self-motivated and able to work both with autonomy and with a team in diverse national and cultural contexts. Excellent interpersonal and presentation skills. Gender sensitive ;
12. Ability to develop strong working relationships with colleagues and contribute to the creation of a positive team environment ;
13. Understanding information and data management and sharing rules and protocols, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and related regulations affecting privacy, protecting intellectual property, etc. ;
14. Possess a valid passport and willing and able to travel internationally when conditions permit.

The candidate will demonstrate appropriate qualifications and skills necessary meet the requirements of the assignment.