(EOI) Communications Consulting Services for Make-IT in Africa activities in East African region
GIZ Rwanda
Reference Number: 83422265
Background
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federally owned international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations. GIZ has worked in Rwanda for over 30 years. The primary objectives between the Government of Rwanda and the Great Lakes Region and the Federal Republic of Germany are poverty reduction and promotion of sustainable development. To achieve these objectives, GIZ Rwanda is active in the sectors of Decentralization and Good Governance, Economic Development and Employment Promotion, Energy and ICT (Information and Communications Technology), Natural Resources, Peace and Security and Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
Context
Digital entrepreneurship

Digital entrepreneurship is the driver of digital transformation in Africa. Entrepreneurs have the potential to modernize the economy and society of their countries, to find innovative solutions to development problems, to create new perspectives and employment opportunities.

Yet many young technology companies (tech start-ups) from Africa fail to make the leap to international market maturity. They lack access to customers, suitable personnel, digital infrastructure, and capital. To succeed, entrepreneurs need a functioning "entrepreneurial ecosystem" of reference customers, investors, funding institutions, and training partners, among others. But many ecosystems are patchy, leaving tech start-ups lacking important contacts, (follow-on) funding, and opportunities for further development.
Make-IT in Africa II

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is implementing the 'Make-IT in Africa II' project on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) on a pan-African basis with a focus on Ghana and Rwanda. It is part of the BMZ initiative "Digital Africa". "Make-IT in Africa II" is a funding program (01/2021-04/2024) that follows on from its predecessor project "Make-IT in Africa", which was implemented from 2017 to 2020. The focus of the project is to support national and pan-African digital innovation creation ecosystems to become resilient and future-proof.

Specifically, "Make-IT in Africa" works on this in three fields of action:
Competence development in the area of market-oriented business management -
through capacity building of start-ups, gender-specific "human capacity development" measures, and the establishment of partnerships between start-ups and key ecosystem actors.
Capacity development at the intermediary level -.
through capacity building of intermediaries and conducting networking events between African and European start-up and innovation actors.
Harmonizing the promotion of innovation ecosystems -.

by organizing targeted policy dialogues and networking events, evaluating the gender sensitivity of collaborative partners, and publishing a toolkit of tools and methodologies.

See also www.make-it.africa.
Initial situation

In 2021, Make-IT in Africa launched an external communication offensive. In this context, the logo and the entire project design were renewed. The new design was implemented in communication materials (such as roll-ups, factsheets, flyers, pitch decks, etc.) and on diverse social media channels (LinkedIn, Twitter). In addition, the project website (www.make-it.africa) was rebuilt from scratch, both technically and in terms of content. It has been launched in a totally new look in April 2022.

The website contains overview information about MAKE-IT IN AFRICA’s project and our services as well as a section for blog articles, news, events, and press releases. Our central external communication channels are therefore our social media channels as well as our website. Since the COVID-19 also allows presence meetings again these channels are increasingly supplemented by events, for which we create individual communication materials (like roll-ups, flyers, and press releases).

In the context of MAKE-IT IN AFRICA’s communication offensive, a holistic communication strategy was developed in 2021, which has partially been implemented so far. As a pan-African project, MAKE-IT IN AFRICA’s primary target groups are entrepreneurs, as well as innovation enablers (such as innovation hubs, networks, investors) and political partners from across Africa. To reach them, MAKE-IT IN AFRICA’s last year´s focus was primarily on the increased presence on social media and the website relaunch.

Although Make-IT in Africa is a pan-African project, the interventions in the region East Africa have been ongoing since 2022. All services described below are intended to focus on implementation within the East African region. It is essential that the services provided are seamlessly integrated into the pan-African implementation of the MAKE-IT IN AFRICA’s communication strategy.

Since the project implementation of Make-IT in Africa is taking place on a regional level it is necessary that communication materials such as success stories are developed in these regions as well. That´s why we now seek communication support in our different regions to cover what happens in our project from a closer perspective. Implementing an activity - such as a start-up accelerator program - requires various communication materials, design and editorial content (blog articles, news, event-overviews, postings, etc.). Make-IT in Africa is also currently developing various project products (Online-guides, event series, accelerator programmes). For the development of these products, Make-IT in Africa is looking for support from a communications perspective in order to make sure to create a clearly identifiable product family.

It is in this context that GIZ is looking for a consulting firm to develop the communication of the East African region within the framework of the overall communication strategy. This regional strategy is to cover all areas of the required services in order to create a uniform image and to address the target groups in a targeted manner.
Goal of the assignment

The overall objective of the assignment is to amplify the impact of the activities of "Make-IT in Africa" in East Africa through innovative strategic communication and thus make an important contribution to the success of the project. Part of this is, among other things, to position the brand "Make-IT in Africa" strongly and prominently in East Africa as an important player in the regional Innovation Ecosystem. For this purpose, the Service Company takes over conceptual and creative activities, in which it works based on defined target groups in cooperation with "Make-IT in Africa".

A communication plan should support the implementation of assigned work packages.in alignment with Make-IT in Africa’s communication strategy and standards. In addition, the contract includes the creation and further development of communication material for (political) communication. The aim is to continuously develop and revise these materials graphically. Some materials will have to be created on a regular basis, others will be supplemented and/or updated on an ad hoc basis (e.g., factsheets). In addition, the Service Company will develop other new materials (e.g., success stories) and identify other appropriate communication channels and platforms.

As mentioned before, Make-IT in Africa currently develops project products, such as Smart Cities Innovation Program and accelerator programmes (i.e., the Open Innovation Programme). These products should each be recognisably as part of the Make-IT in Africa project. At the same time, they are welcome to have their own product face. In this way, a product family of the project has to be created. One aim of this assignment is to support the development of these products, e.g., through graphic design activities.

Main objective: "Make-IT in Africa" is strongly and consistently positioned as an innovative brand – it has recognition value. The target groups are demonstrably reached and receive the information relevant to them. Communication makes an important strategic contribution to the achievement of the project objectives.

Sub-goals:
Creative and innovative (digital) solutions for impact communication have been developed and coordinated with GIZ.
Target group-oriented communication materials for the presentation and implementation of the project are available (flyers, texts, reports, pitch decks, Power Point templates and designs).
Success stories from the implementation are available.
The communication of MAKE-IT IN AFRICA’s various programmes and activities is implemented.

Tasks to be performed by the contractor
The contractor is responsible for providing the following services:
The contractor is responsible for providing the following services. Since the products are for political communication, the requests can sometimes occur at short notice, possibly with short delivery periods.

The services must meet the communication guidelines and standards of BMZ, GIZ and Make-IT in Africa, must be GDPR compliant and must meet the creative common guidelines. Selected technical systems must comply with GIZ's data protection guidelines.

All rights to all materials produced are transferred to GIZ. The work results are delivered in the appropriate formats (.docx, .pdf, .pptx, .ai, .indd, .psd, .mp4, etc.), in web and print versions and in different languages (EN).

The contractor may, after approval by GIZ, employ a subcontractor for individual tasks, if necessary. This should happen only in exceptional cases, such as for photography and video services.
The contractor works closely with the regional communication focal point of Make-IT in Africa, the headquarters communication specialist as well as our implementing partners.
Service package 1: Editorial Work

Writing and editing of various texts for "Make-IT in Africa".

(A total of 60 PD, including 6 PD for the team management and 54 PD for the expert pool).

Service package 1 includes the following tasks:
Conception, research for and writing of texts for publications
Conception, research for and writing of texts for the GIZ intranet and press releases
Conception, research and writing of texts for flyers, factsheets, and advertisements
Conception, research and writing of news, event-articles, and blogposts on the Make-IT website
Editing of texts created for the project
Taking part in the Make-IT in Africa editorial meeting
Creation and further development of graphic elements for the project in digital as well as analogue form for internal and external communication (incl. impact communication).
Creation and design of (moving) graphics and infographics for social media
Capture pictures and videography of key activities to compile content for communications usage
Development of product identities for our project products (i.e., for events, studies and guides, programmes etc.). This should be developed based on the Make-IT in Africa project identity but should include an individual appearance each. The goal is to create a product family.
Design of communication material according to these developed product identities.
Layout and design of templates for publications (i.e., studies and guides) as well as layout and design of publications
Editing of videos (i.e., for social media), using the project´s intro and outro sequences
Research and provision of suitable (moving) image material
Further materials could be for example:
Charts, Infographics, Diagrams, Maps
Illustrations, Icons, Animations
Templates and graphic material for social media
Roll-ups, Banner
Presentations, factsheets
Logos
Publications
Video intro and outro
E-mail templates
Newsletter templates
Collateral
Moving pictures (i.e., for social media)

Service package 2: Graphic Design
Creative, visual processing (graphics, animations, illustrations etc.) of project-relevant data, information, concepts, and effects, usable for both online and analogue media.

(A total of 26 PD, of which 4 are for the team management and 22 for the expert pool)

This work package includes but is not limited to the following tasks:

Service Package 3: Communication material for programmes and activities

(A total of 50 PD, of which 6 are for the team management and 44 for the expert pool)

As mentioned above part of the contract is the communication support for our various project activities and programmes. This includes the above-mentioned work packages “Editorial work” and “Graphic design”. In addition, this includes:

Design development for our various activities, including logo development, color selection, key visuals, templates etc.
Close collaboration and coordination with our implementing partners and the Make-IT in Africa team
Independent collaboration with the implementing partners to come up with concepts and ideas
Development of communication plans for the various activities and programmes in coordination with the implementing partners
Preparing and reviewing editorial work related to the different activities

Period of assignment: from 1-December-2022 to 31-October-2023
At the beginning of the assignment period, the Client and the Contractor will hold an assignment clarification meeting.
Concept

In the bid, the bidder is required to show how the objectives defined in Chapter 1 are to be achieved, if applicable under consideration of further specific method-related requirements (technical-methodological concept). In addition, the bidder must describe the project management system for service provision.
Technical-methodical conception
Strategy

The bidder shall develop a convincing strategy describing how a clear and consistent communication of the tech entrepreneurship initiative "Make-IT in Africa" and its implementation could be designed. This should also include concrete proposals on how the subordinate goals could be achieved and through which product mix.

Understanding of Objectives: The bidder deals with the task against the background of the objectives of the contract and the tendered services.

Description and justification of the strategy: The bidder then describes and justifies the explicit strategy with which it intends to provide the services for which it is responsible in order to achieve the objectives of the contract. The bidder presents sketches of ideas for the design of the various intended products. In this context, reference is made to similar reference projects from the bidder's work context.
Other specific requirements

The bidder's technical experience will also be assessed by evaluating specific work samples per service package. The work samples to be submitted are:

Service package 1: Blog articles, Newsletter articles
Service package 2: 1 report/brochure, 1 factsheet, 1 PPT, 2 examples of communication materials for events.
Service package 3: 3 Project identities, 2 Communication plans

The evaluation of the work samples is based on the following qualitative criteria:

Professionalism
Creativity, inventiveness, and innovation
The content presented covers topics related to innovation ecosystems
Visuals allow for a clear understanding of the underlying concept or communicative messages
Texts and visual representations enable the inference of a defined target group
Coherence between text modules and visual representations

Personnel concept
The Contractor shall provide an experienced team for the respective conception and production steps over the entire term of the contract. A permanent project manager as coordinator and contact person shall be appointed by the Contractor for the provision of services. The identification of a suitable personnel concept is left to the bidder.

The experience of the entire proposed project team (project manager and experts) must be proven by the curriculum vitae and concrete references (compiled as a PDF).

The pool of experts proposed by the Contractor will be summarily evaluated as to whether the overall qualifications offered are sufficient to fill the areas of responsibility or tasks.
Team leader (national / regional)

Tasks of the team leader
Overall responsibility for the Contractor's consulting packages (quality, adherence to deadlines and coordination of the project team on the part of the Contractor)
Coordination and assurance of communication with the client
Personnel management, in particular identification of the need for short-term assignments within the available budget
Budget control

Qualifications of the team leader
Education/training: University qualification (Diploma/Master) in (visual) communication, graphic design, public relations, journalism, political sciences, business administration or similar
Language: Good business language skills in English (C1)
General professional experience: 10 years of professional experience
Specific professional experience: 8 years in communication
Leadership/management experience: 6 years of management/leadership experience as project team leader or manager in a company
Regional experience: 3 years of experience in projects implemented in East African countries
Creative implementation of the services requested by GIZ
Proposed pool of experts (national/regional).
Expert pool with at least 3 experts, at most 5 experts
Tasks of the experts of the expert pool

Qualifications of the experts of the expert pool
Education/training: 1 expert with university qualification (Diploma/Master) in (Visual) communication, public relations, journalism, copywriting or similar, 1 expert with university qualification in video production, graphic design (Diploma/Master)
Language: 1 expert with very good language skills in English, good language skills in English required for 2 experts and French required for 1 expert
General professional experience 2 experts with at least 5 years of experience in communication
Specific professional experience: 2 experts with at least 3 years of experience in political communication and/or communication in the international context
Regional experience: 1 expert with at least 2 years of experience in projects implemented in African countries

Costing requirements
Estimated effort for the different service packages
Service package 1 up to 60 specialist days
Service package 2 up to 26 specialist days
Service package 3 up to 50 specialist days
4 Workshops see section 1 Service Package 1 and 4

If available, the bidder shall precisely explain specific cost-relevant conditions for the calculation of the services provided.
Assignment of personnel

Team leader: Assignment in East Africa up to 16 Expert Days
Expert pool: deployment in East Africa up to 120 Expert Days
Travel

The bidder is required to calculate the travel by the specified experts and the experts it has proposed based on the places of performance stipulated in Chapter 1 and list the expenses separately by daily allowance, accommodation expenses, flight costs and other travel expenses.
Workshops, training

The contractor implements a budget proposal of the following workshops/study trips/training courses:
Other costs

Please calculate other costs in the proposal. Taking into account the following:
Image licenses
Sound and voiceovers
Budget for translations
Budget for (online) advertisements
The GIZ shall provide the Contractor with all project-relevant documents for the provision of the services.
Guidelines and format templates for social media postings (e.g., as a template for maintenance and temporary takeover of social media channels by other teams or partners) will be provided.
Charts, 1 logo, 1 diagram, 2 infographics/graphic element(s)/icon(s) will be provided from the overall communications strategy
Technical Proposal:
A cover letter expressing your interest in this assignment
Technical proposal with a brief description of why you would be considered as the most suitable for the assignment, relevant expertise, and a detailed, clear methodology, on how will be your approach to complete the assignment
CVs of the expert proposed
Company registration certificate (RDB)
VAT registration certificate
Latest tax clearance certificate
Proof of successful completion of related assignments.
Financial Proposal: indicates the all-inclusive total contract price, supported by a breakdown of all costs. The costs must be in RWF and VAT excluded.

Inputs of GIZ or other actors
GIZ and/or other actors are expected to make the following available:
Requirements on the format of the bid

The structure of the bid must correspond to the structure of the Terns of Reference. It must be legible (font size 11 or larger) and clearly formulated. The bid is drawn up in English.

The complete bid shall not exceed 15 pages (excluding CVs).
The CVs of the personnel proposed in accordance with the Terms of reference must be submitted using the format specified in the terms and conditions for application. The CVs shall not exceed 4 pages. The CVs must clearly show the position and job the proposed person held in the reference project and for how long.

If one of the maximum page lengths is exceeded, the content appearing after the cut-off point will not be included in the assessment.

Please calculate your price bid based exactly on the afore mentioned costing requirements. In the contract the contractor has no claim to fully exhaust the days/travel/workshops/ budgets. The number of days/travel/workshops and the budget amount shall be agreed in the contract as ‘up to’ amounts.
Submission of offer

The Expression of Interest should contain the following:
Please submit electronically your EoI (technical & Financial offer) in 2 separated emails and should be in PDF files to this email ONLY: RW_Quotation@giz.de until latest 28th October 2022

Please you must write on each email subject this sentence: 83422265-Technical/financial offer, without this sentence, your offer may not be considered

Hard copies are not allowed this time

GIZ reserves all rights