Recrutement de 01 Knowledge & content manager specialized in Entrepreneurship in Africa - AHHD

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.
2
6. The AfDB invites individual consultants to indicate their interest in providing the abovedescribed 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).
a. General Qualifications based on the Terms of Reference 40
b. Experience in the specific assignment 30
c. Experience with International Institutions 10
d. Language Capacity 10
e. Working knowledge of the Africa Region 10
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.

TERMS OF REFERENCE
Knowledge & Content manager specialized in Entrepreneurship in Africa
1. 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.
1. 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; (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”.
2. 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;
(ii) 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.
3. 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.
4
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.
5
• 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:
i 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
ii 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.
iii 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.
6
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/projectoperations/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:
i. IT Skills – since the responsibilities of the consultant will include data-entry in the Lab
Platform.
ii. Experience working with the private sector including entrepreneurs, startups and earlystage SMEs and ESOs including investors in a developing / emerging market context.
iii. Working experience in Africa in entrepreneurship or with SMES.
iv. Experience working with the private sector including entrepreneurs, startups, and earlystage SMEs and ESOs including investors in a developing / emerging market context.
v. 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.
vi. Excellent project management skills.
vii. 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.
viii. High level of skill in using office productivity software.
ix. Strong communication skills, including strong interpersonal communication skills.
x. Excellent oral and writing skills in English or French
xi. 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.
xii. Ability to develop strong working relationships with colleagues and contribute to the
creation of a positive team environment
xiii. 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.
xiv. 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.