REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK Avenue Joseph Anoma, 01 B.P. 1387, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire Africa Investment Forum – PAIF

E-mail  : o.nicol@afdb.org

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR A COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT FOR THE AFRICA INVESTMENT FORUM

1. The African Development Bank (AfDB) hereby invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in the following Assignment: Communications Consultant for the 2021 Africa Investment Forum market days ;

2. Established by the AfDB and seven founding partners in 2018, the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) is Africa’s investment marketplace – a multi-stakeholder, 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 AIF aims to reduce intermediation costs, improve the quality of project information and documentation, and increase active and productive engagements between African governments and the private sector as well as between investors and project sponsors. The AIF offers investors access to a structured platform offering bankable, de-risked projects within an enabling environment ;

3. In light of the above, the Africa Investment Forum requires the services of a Consultant to provide support in developing and delivering an effective communication, branding and media strategy that builds on the AIF’s vision, and utilizes web-based, social media, print and conventional media to reach the partnership’s various target audiences. The role requires dexterity and flexibility, and the ability to support a wide array of the Forum’s needs.

The role will entail working closely with the Bank’s Communications and External Relations Department as well as the AIF Investment Operations and Partnership teams. The Consultant will report to the Senior Director, AIF.

4. The Africa Investment Forum invites individual consultants to indicate their interest in providing the above-described services. Applicants shall provide information on their qualifications, 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.) ;

5. The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the African Development Bank’s “Rules and Procedure for the Use of Consultants” May 2008 Edition revised October 2015, which is available on the Bank’s website. Please, note that interest expressed by a Consultant does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include it in the shortlist ;

6. The work assignment, under this term of reference, will involve full-time consultancy services for a period of six (6) months and may be extended based on the performance of the retained Consultant, availability of budgetary resources and as may be determined by the Bank. The successful Consultant will be expected to start in October 2021 upon completion of the selection process and upon signature of the contract. The position will be based in Abidjan ;

7. Interested Individual Consultants may obtain further information at the email addresses below during the Bank’s working hours: 0800hrs to 1700hrs ;

8. Expressions of interest with an updated Curriculum vita (CV) must be received at the email addresses below no later than 9^th October 2021 at 1700hrs Abidjan Time and specifically mentioning Communications Consultant for the Africa Investment Forum.

E-mail : o.nicol@afdb.org

For the attention of : Mrs Onike Nicol-Houra

Africa Investment Forum

African Development Bank

6, Avenue Joseph Anoma

01 B.P 1387

Plateau, Abidjan

9. Establishment of the Shortlist: A shortlist of three to six individual consultants will be established once the expressions of interest and updated CVs are received. The consultants on the shortlist will be invited to submit a proposal and comment on the Terms of Reference (attached as an annex). The proposals shall be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria¹:

• The weighted coefficients for these criteria may be adjusted to reflect the type of service required.

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR A COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT FOR THE AFRICA INVESTMENT FORUM

1. BACKGROUND :

African Development Bank Group :

Established in 1964, the African Development Bank Group (“the Bank” or “AfDB”) is the premier Pan-African development institution promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 81 Member States, including 54 from Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through 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 major areas (High 5s), all of which will accelerate the Bank’s delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely; Light Up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa. The Bank co-operates with a large network of international development partners and has two official languages: English and French.

Africa Investment Forum :

The vision of the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) is to become a leveraging platform that will tilt the balance of capital towards Africa’s critical sectors to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the African Development Bank’s High 5s and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. This goal translates into three reinforcing objectives, which include: (a) Advancing projects to bankable stage, by more effective project preparation as well as advisory support that advances deals in the AIF pipeline; (b) Raising capital by partners, lenders and investors, for increased co-financing for bankable projects; and (c) Accelerating financial closure of deals through this coordinated approach.

The AIF’s modus operandi spans four (5) pillars which include :

1. The Platform: activities involving deal origination and structuring, as well as the management of a digital portal ;
2. The Market Place: activities involving sponsorships, partnership onboarding, regional investment roundtables, investor facilitation and matchmaking, as well as serving a vibrant community of active AIF members ;
3. The Market-Days: an annual 3-Day event convening investors and lenders, project sponsors, key government stakeholders, transaction facilitators and entrepreneurs around specific private (Boardrooms, Bilateral meetings) and public sessions (initiatives, pitching sessions, plenary sessions) ;
4. The Deal Tracker: post-Boardroom activities involving the monitoring of AIF Boardroom deals and facilitating their progress towards deal closure ;
5. Knowledge/Policy Environment: seeks to foster investment friendly regulation, a pro-investment climate to remove bottlenecks to deal closure, as well as disseminate knowledge products.

2. PURPOSE OF THE CONSULTANCY :

The purpose of the consultancy is to provide active support to the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) in developing and delivering an effective communication, branding and media strategy that builds on the AIF’s vision, and utilizes web-based, social media, print and conventional media to reach the Partnership’s various target audiences. The role will entail working closely with the Bank’s Communications and External Relations Department as well as the AIF Investment Operations and Partnership teams.

3. SCOPE OF SERVICES :

The specific duties of the consultant will be 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. Draft press releases, success stories and other relevant content connected to the upcoming event ;
5. Plan and develop pitch decks, op-ed placements, meetings, interviews, and events across traditional and Digital Channels. Proactively secure earned media opportunities ;
6. Lead the design of targeted communications plans for projects and events, including presentations, marketing materials and speech development, outreach/publicity and related activities ;
7. Ensure unified messaging and narrative for the Africa Investment Forum across all channels ;
8. 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 ;
9. Manage the AIF’s branding at AIF related events (physical and virtual) and investment roundtables in coordination with the AfDB’s Communications Department and the Events Management counterparty ;
10. Review and maintain up-to-date communication on the Africa Investment Forum website. Assess information needs and recommend and implement changes following due clearance, where necessary ;
11. Benchmarking of existing framework, tools and guidelines with other MDBs and DFIs ;
12. Develop a detailed action plan aimed at strengthening external communication of the Forum’s.

Leadership and Management team, and their profile :

• Create and deliver compelling content for the AIF website and Digital Platform’s social media, accounts 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 ;
• Liaise extensively with the Events Management counterparty in all marketing and communications activities in the build up to the Forum’s strategic events ;
• 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. ;
• Develop and execute strategic communication and Media training programs for the Forum’s staff ;
• Perform other duties and tasks as assigned by the supervisor.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE :

1. Hold at least a Master’s degree (or its university equivalent) in Media & Communications, Marketing, Business Administration, Economics or related fields with a minimum of 7 years relevant experience ;
2. Excellent communication and writing skills, and be able to produce high quality reports, analytical documents and presentations with little supervision and within tight deadlines ;
3. Have a minimum of seven (7) years of relevant professional experience in the Bank or a similar institution and/or in media and communications, strategic consultancy, business development and Client Management ;
4. An understanding of development issues, particularly with reference to the financial sector ;
5. The ability to develop and implement a communications strategy across multiple platforms ;
6. Ability to produce clear and concise marketing and business intelligence reports ;
7. Teamwork oriented with excellent interpersonal skills for dealing with internal and external contacts ;
8. Ability to respond swiftly to new situations and to anticipate new issues ;
9. Diplomacy in engaging with internal and external partners at all levels ;
10. The ability to work effectively across organizational boundaries and to build networks ;
11. Ability to communicate and write effectively in English and/or French, with a good working knowledge to the other language; including a demonstrated ability to communicate complex business messages into clear communication messages and material ;
12. Competence in the use of Software (Corel Draw, Drupal, Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint).

5. DURATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT :

The work assignment, under this term of reference, will involve full-time consultancy services for a period of six (6) months and may be extended based on the performance of the retained Consultant, availability of budgetary resources and as may be determined by the Bank. The successful Consultant will be expected to start in October 2021 upon completion of the selection process and signature of the contract.

6. RENUMERATION :

The consultant shall be paid a total monthly lump sum, comprising fee, subsistence or other incidentals, for the duration of the assignment, which is commensurate with the number of years of work experience. The AIF will cover travel and field mission costs (if any) as per African Development Bank rules in this regard.

Note : Consultants must register at : https://econsultant.afdb.org/sap/bc/webdynpro/sap/zdac_wd_login_page/# before submitting their CV to be considered for the shortlist.