AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
FOR A COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT FOR GENDER DEPARTMENT
Immeuble CCIA, Avenue Jean Paul II, 01 BP 1387, Abidjan 01 Cote d’Ivoire
Gender Women and Civil Society Department (AHGC)
E-mail : [email protected]; b.chitunga@afdb.org; i.[email protected]
Title of the assignment: Senior Communications Consultant for AFAWA
Brief description of the Assignment: The consultant will particularly provide communication support to the AFAWA program (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa) to advance the Bank’s efforts to promote gender equality and engage with internal and external stakeholders.
Under the guidance of PCER, the Communication Officer will be responsible for planning, developing, and implementing innovative communication strategies to promote the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) within the African Development Bank Group and externally.
The Consultant will be responsible for developing partnerships with relevant media channels with keen interest in promoting gender financial inclusion, to disseminate information and create awareness about AFAWA and its different activities.
Department issuing the request: Gender, Women and Civil Society Department (AHGC0)
Place of assignment: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Duration of the assignment: 6 months
Tentative Date of commencement: 10th August 2021
Deadline for Applications: 29th July 2021
Applications to be submitted to: [email protected]/[email protected]/ [email protected]
Any questions and requests for clarifications may be sent to: [email protected]
TERMS OF REFERENCES FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT
SENIOR COMMUNICATION OFFICER
THE BANK:
Established in 1964, the African Development Bank Group is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 81 member states, including 54 in 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 addition to providing finance, the Bank is Africa’s voice on global economic, financial and development issues, a role that has taken significant importance in light of increasing global integration and interconnected risks. To sharply focus the objectives of the Ten-Year Strategy (2013 – 2022) and ensure greater developmental impact, five major areas (High 5), all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely, energy, agro-business, industrialization, integration and improving 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; (ii) 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; and (iv) represent the Bank with external stakeholders on aspects of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.
THE HIRING DEPARTMENT/DIVISION:
The Gender, Women and Civil Society Department is designed to improve coherence and coordination across complexes on Gender and Civil Society Organization issues. The Department ensures strategic priorities are reflected in resources allocation, enhances monitoring and management of performance, and strengthens the focus on results. The Department also houses a number of special initiatives including the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), a flagship program of the Bank that aims to bridge the gender gap in access to finance and unleash women’s entrepreneurial capacity across the continent. AFAWA’s holistic approach focuses on 3 pillars: (a) access to finance, leveraging AfDB’s various instruments such as lines of credit, equity investments and risk sharing mechanisms, (b) technical assistance, to financial institutions as well as women entrepreneurs, and (c) policy dialogue to reform the legal and regulatory frameworks affecting women businesses.
THE POSITION:
The Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) Senior Communication Consultant reports to the Bank’s Director of Communication and External Relations, and the AFAWA Coordinator.
Under the guidance of PCER, the Communication Officer will be responsible for planning, developing and implementing innovative communication strategies to promote the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) within the African Development Bank Group and externally.
The Consultant will be responsible for developing partnerships with relevant media channels with keen interest in promoting gender financial inclusion, to disseminate information and create awareness about AFAWA and its different activities.
Key function and responsibilities are, but not limited to:
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AFAWA Communications awareness
- The Senior Communications Officer will work closely with the AFAWA team and PCER to spearhead the development and roll-out of relevant program materials such as different AFAWA reports including donor reports, factsheets/case studies, infographics etc. are developed and disseminated to all relevant stakeholders and media networks, including social media.
- Working closely with PCER, he/she will develop and maintain contact information, materials and relationships with journalists and media outlets (print, TV, radio, social media etc.) throughout Africa and beyond, to increase coverage opportunities about AFAWA activities as well as those of AFAWA partners and Ambassadors.
- Collaborate with the media during regional and in country events, facilitate interviews, photo coverage and TV footage; develop and lead social media plans.
- Communication Products
- Develop new communication products, including an internal and external e-newsletter, corporate brochures ;
- Developing compelling success and beneficiary stories which can showcase AFAWA’s progress and impact ;
- Provide content for /update the AFAWA website and social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn) ;
- Organize the designing, editing and publishing of AFAWA brochures, power points, case studies and reports ;
- Work with PCER to develop and deliver AFAWA awareness campaigns to promote program and results ;
- Monitor and evaluate the use and effectiveness of all communications and media materials ;
- Provide editorial coverage of high-level events, programmes, initiatives and draft success stories ;
- Maintain a library of media coverage, clippings etc.
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Perform any other communications activities which may be required by the program
- The Senior Consultant should have a relevant Masters’ degree and background in journalism/or communication /or marketing and an ability to work with a diverse range of colleagues to bring stories to life ;
- A minimum of 10 years’ experience with a proven professional record working in the field of communication, preferably in the area of gender ;
- Excellent spoken and written French and/or English, with a working knowledge of the other language.
Interested individuals must provide proof of competence, including links to written and published articles, press releases, op-eds, media advisories and impact stories.
The consultant is expected to have the following skills and abilities
- Fast, accurate, creative and versatile writing skills, including for digital and social media ;
- Strong ability to identify newsworthy stories quickly and easily ;
- Experience in creating engaging social media assets and image editing ;
- Good understanding of gender entrepreneurship and financial inclusion issues, especially in Africa ;
- Ability to analyze complex information quickly and simply for audiences ;
- Good political and personal judgment ;
- Excellent editing skills (a writing test to be administered).