REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

“Development of a Web Portal for the Africa Investment Forum (AIF)”

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Avenue Joseph Anoma, 01 B.P. 1387, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire

Corporate IT Services Department (CHIS)

E-mail : [email protected]

Telephone: (+225) 20 26 22 61/ (+225) 20 26 25 83

 

 

 

  1. The African Development Bank hereby invites consulting firms to indicate their interest in the following Assignment : Development of a Web Portal for the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) ;
  1. 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 select government leaders to work out ways to boost private sector investments in Africa. The AIF convened two successful editions in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Due to Covid-19 restrictions and measure; the AIF will communicate dates of the upcoming Forum ;
  1. The Web Portal will serve as the AIF’s primary point of access for information about the Forum. It will incorporate (i) a website, and; (ii) a member’s only portal for accessing, onboarding and tracking investment opportunities on the continent, thereby providing global capital providers with a single-entry point to African deals ;
  1. In light of the above, the Africa Investment Forum Unit (PAIF) requires the services of a Consulting firm to indicate their interest in developing and implementing a Drupal-based Web Portal that will utilize web-based tools to assist the AIF in the delivery of its mission and vision.

The scope of work under this consultancy service will be delivered in two parts inter-alia :

  1. The first phase will focus mainly on (i) a gap analysis of the current AIF website and Digital Platform (ii) developing features that enhance the current AIF website and Digital Platform, and (iii) developing prototype features required for a member’s only digital portal. The firm will primarily be responsible for supporting a complete revamp of the AIF website architecture in order to provide an optimal user experience that supports digitization of the AIF pillars namely The Platform, The Market Place, Market Days, Deal Tracker and Knowledge/Policy Environment. The Web Portal will also incorporate features that cater for the integration of payment systems and Know Your Customer (KYC) background checks, news, announcements and bespoke AIF messages ;
  2. The second phase will complete the development of the Website and further expand on enhancing the Member’s only portal. The expected output is a holistic, tri-lingual portal that represents the AIF’s processes digitally and allows users to access its unique products and service offerings across the AIF’s pillars listed above. Additionally, activities in this phase will include the creation of an online database accommodating projects, deal flow analytics, administrator dashboards, animated user guides and chatbot features among others. The portal will also be designed to integrate seamlessly with other AIF legacy tools such as the Delegate Registration micro-site, internal Management Information Systems tool among many other tools to be referenced below.
  1. The Corporate IT Services Department (CHIS) invites firms with more than 6 years of relevant experience to indicate their interest in providing the above-described services. Interested firms should have a proven track record on delivering complex web, IoS and Android Web Portal using Drupal Framework; familiarity with hosting; IOs and Android and API integration with Chatbot and Video streaming. The firm must also have an advanced level of proficiency using industry standards for web development and most importantly; a strong and proven understanding of Digital Financial Services (DFS) with emphasis on digital payments systems, DFS infrastructure and DFS regulations ;
  1. The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the Bank’s Rules and Procedure for Acquisition of Consulting Services. 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 ;
  1. The assignment will be for a period of twelve (12) months. Completion of phase one of the assignment is expected within three (3) months from the contract signing date ;
  1. Interested Consulting Firms may obtain further information at the address below during office hours 09:00 to 17:00 hours, Abidjan Local Time ;
  1. Expressions of interest must be received at the email addresses below no later than 29 January 2021 at 5pm Abidjan local time and specifically mentioning Development of a Web Portal, Africa Investment Forum.

For the attention of: IT Recruitment Team

African Development Bank

Corporate IT Services Department (CHIS)

Avenue Joseph Anoma, 01 B.P. 1387,

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Telephone: (+225) 20 26 22 61

Email: [email protected]

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

TERMS OF REFERENCE

CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WORLD CLASS WEB PORTAL FOR THE AFRICA INVESTMENT FORUM

  1. BACKGROUND

1.1. 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 80 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.

1.2. Corporate Information Technology (IT) Department (CHIS)

The strategic objective of the Corporate Information Technology department (CHIS) at the Bank is to align the IT delivery strategy along with the Bank’s business strategy, to increase the organizational effectiveness through efficient use of the Information Systems (IS). Under the leadership of the Bank’s Information System’s Director, CHIS department is mandated by the Bank to deliver the best possible IT services for Bank staff and help achieve the results that will get the Bank closer to accomplishing its development goals.

1.3. Africa Investment Forum (AIF)

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) Capital raising by partners, lenders and investors for increased co-financing for bankable projects; and, (c) Accelerating financial closure of deals through this coordinated approach.

Established by the AfDB and seven founding partners in 2018, the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) is Africa’s investment market place, through which the AfDB, along with its partners originate deals, structure and enhance projects, attract co-investors, and facilitate investments to close Africa’s investment gaps. The AIF’s modus operandi spans four (5) pillars which include:

The Platform: activities involving deal origination and structuring, as well as the management of a digital portal.

The Market Place: activities involving partnership onboarding, regional investment roundtables, investor facilitation and matchmaking, as well as serving a vibrant community of active AIF members;

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).

The Deal Tracker: post-Boardroom activities involving the monitoring of AIF Boardroom deals and facilitating their progress towards deal closure.

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;

  1. OBJECTIVE :

In light of the above, the Africa Investment Forum Unit (PAIF) requires the services of a Consulting Firm highly experienced in the area of mobile, web and Chatbot development with a deep understanding of payment systems to indicate their interest in the Development of a Web Portal for the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) using Drupal Framework.

The web portal will serve as the AIF’s primary point of access for information about the Forum. It will incorporate a website and a member’s only portal for accessing, onboarding and tracking investment opportunities on the continent, thereby providing global capital providers with a single-entry point to African deals.

The project will be implemented as a collaborative effort between the Communication and External Relations Department (PCER) and the Africa Investment Forum.

  1. SCOPE OF SERVICES :

The scope of work under this consultancy service will be delivered in two phases. The first phase will focus mainly on (i) a gap analysis of the current AIF website and Digital Platform (ii) developing features that enhance the current AIF website to create a more responsive and dynamic site, and (iii) developing prototype features required for the member’s only portal.

The second phase will expand on the member’s only portal and complete the digitization of activities which enable the execution of activities across the AIF’s pillars listed above.

Website Upgrade as part of the AIF Web Portal: this will involve the development of 6 modules and cross cutting features detailed in the table below:

AIF Website Upgrade Platform Module Market Place Module Market Days Module
cross-cutting)
The module will digitize key The module will digitize key activities under the
The module will digitize key activities activities under the AIF “Market AIF “Market Days Pillar”
This module will support development for under the AIF “Platform Pillar” Place Pillar”
cross-cutting features as core features to enable 1.9  A section for Boardroom (BR) deals:
smooth implementation for the remaining 1.3  A section for registration: 1.6 Investor mobilization   section
–  Dedicated homes for AIF 2018, 2019 and 2020
modules: –  A page to receive registration inquiries (member-only): boardroom deals
1.1  Enhancement of  the  website  to  provide
–  A page to streamline payments details –  investors information by asset class. –  BR announcement (unveiling the boardroom)
dynamic  contents  that  are  robust  and related with registration information –  AIF partners Access with advanced
tailored to users’ needs: 1.4  A section for Pipeline Development: access – on deals; tracker data…) 1.10 A Section for AIF Market Place activities and
–  Restructuring for the current site architecture
– A section that guides visitors through – A section to introduce Investment Products:
(AIF   gallery, menu,   online   brochure, the AIF deal selection criteria Roundtable (IR), announce –  A page to publish a detailed description on the
events…) to fully align with AIF pillars –  A  deal  screening  form  to  support upcoming Virtual Boardrooms (V- AIF glossary of terms and products.
–  A Virtual Help Desk: to enable automatic pipeline development BRs) in that regards. –  A page to showcase deals under the SME Track
responses on the Forum FAQs. –  Capability to publish uploaded deals –  A page showcases Bilateral (B2B) Track
– Ability to submit custom questions into the – Creation  for  an  Online  database  of 1.7 A section for country investment –  A page to showcase deals under the Lusophone
virtual assistant Help Desk. Private and PPP projects– segmented profiles: compact (LC)
–  Unlimited  Live  Streaming  &  Videos  on by a pre-defined deal criterion. –  A form to receive country insights
Demand capability – AIF TV –  Deal Teaser export capabilities on   PPP, regulations (reports, 1.11 A section to publish themes discussed during
briefs…)
– Ability to develop hybrid Mobile apps that the 3Day event (as articles), as well as topical
enable content retrieval from the portal 1.5  A  section  for  AIF  ambassadors’: – A subsection to cater for issues all year round:  to enable continuous
Ability  to  publish  success  stories  various Knowledge/Policy environment  to engagement and comment feedback during the
– enabling users to join communities of
thematic  (deal  closure,  B2Bs,  SMEs…)  in interests  (Youth,  women,  etc.)  to cater for policy related insights and forum.
video format. share opportunities and challenges dissemination  of publications and
1.2  Creation of user accounts: knowledge products  related with
AIF activities
– A  login  page  to  enable  creation  of  user
accounts integrating staff accounts, these will
be used later as global properties and linked 1.8 A  blog  section  to  share  impact
with subscriptions, newsletter, etc. stories:
–  Users  enabled  to  post  articles,
quotes testimonies or statements on
the portal
–  publications  for  AIF  post-event
reports
Deal Tracker Module Payments System Module Know Your Customer (KYC) Module – cross-
– cross-cutting cutting

The section is capturing additional activities that were not covered in the first phase: most activities under the AIF “Deal Tracker Pillar”.

1.12 A section for Tracker updates:

  • Deal tracker update per year, sector, country, gap, the three key AIF objectives
  • Ability to share updates and fact sheets on deal closure success stories.

1.13 A section for Deal flow analytics:

  • The portal will provide analysis on deal flows by size, country, type, sector…

1.14 A section for Virtual Boardroom (VB): to provide conferencing services to cater for video and online meetings. The difference with tools such as Zoom, WebEx, Polycom, etc.; is that VB will leverage from internal database to customize interactions and store them for future use. VB will have 3 features:

  • Mini or standalone virtual boardrooms: to enable the AIF to receive boardroom requests, and after review organize boardrooms on the portal, view statics on V-BR trends, etc.
  • Investment Round tables: ability to organize regional and non-regional roundtables (this feature has been developed internally but will be integrated as necessary with key statistics and announcements featured on the website ;
  • AIF Webinars: Ability to organize webinars or disseminate past conducted webinars with AIF stakeholders on the Portal this module will manage processing of payments activities across the portal :

1.15 Payment system Feature

  • Development of a reliable and secured system that accept various payment methods: card payment – visa, Mastercard, e-Wallet, PayPal.

1.16 Payments supported in multiple currencies:

  • Ability to enable conversion of payments in international currencies (Euro, Dollar and pounds).

1.17 Completed payments Alerts and Others :

  • the module will submit email and SMS alerts on executed transactions ;
  • Integrate payments with the AIF registration system ;
  • Enable user notifications upon payments confirmation.
  • The ability to enable live channel of interaction with clients on specific queries

Payment for Virtual Boardrooms: The Payment module will also make provisions to support processing of charging virtual boardroom delegates especially for the mini or standalone boardroom category of which clients themselves express interest into after understanding the terms and conditions of deal advisory being requested. It is expected that the remaining virtual boardrooms could be facilitated.

The module will support online user verification -KYC for during registration process:

1.18 User registration screening feature :

  • Preliminary screening for project sponsors, investors, transaction facilitators ;
  • Integration with a third-party solution provider to integrate verification during user registration on the portal
  • Screening features to verify information against:
  • Company incorporation rules, (2) AML & sanctions and (3) PEP verification
  • screening features to verify user corporate shareholding structure.

It is expected that the firm will recommend an e-KYC third party provider to avail an established database dedicated for KYC services. It is recommended that the Firm engage with the AIF team to further understand the steps needed in order to make estimation on costs implications to integrate due diligence features with user or company registration on the web portal.

For instance, information on company incorporation registrar per country, anticorruption or money laundering sanctions, politically exposed persons (PEP) will only be available with an established e-KYC provider

  • Adoption of an online KYC to onboard clients on the digital platform – to avoid reputational risks, it is recommended that e-KYC third party providers be used/called upon. Following is a proposed scenario of the steps that will be followed to implement KYC on the new portal:
  • During registration, the client submits a set of documents (lists of documents added below) for KYC verification ;
  • The set of submitted documents will be sent to a third-party verification software to be checked against identity authentication, AML & sanction and PEP verification ;
  • If the result does not provide any alarming information on the client during verification, a feedback will be sent to the AIF portal ;
  • The client / company registration will be accepted and published to the Portal (a notification will be sent to the client informing them registration has been validated) ;
  • If the result provides alarming information about the client (PEP, AML, corruption or any other sanction, etc.) a notification will be set to the AIF team (Via an interface).

(vi)   The client / company will receive a notification stating their registration was not accepted (further information can be requested as necessary)

Example for e-KYC third party providers explored/identified that can be approached to provide such services: Accuity, Authenteq, Asoko Insight, Trulioo, ShuftiPro… Documents requested by the AIF for KYC

  1. bylaws ; 
  1. certificate from the relevant registrar attesting the name of the company, its incorporation/ establishment, registered office, representatives and, if allowed by the relevant jurisdiction, capitalization ; 
  1. copy of last financial statements (if possible; particularly in the event that capitalization is not included in the certificate) ; 
  1. documentation relating to the signatory of the accession schedule e.g. POA is his name is not indicated in the certificate of registrar, ID etc.….

Enhancement for the Portal with additional features that cater for AIF needs: it is expected that part will support implementation of six (6) modules

on the portal: (i) enhancement for the 4 modules implemented in phase1 and cross-cutting features as detailed in the below table :

AIF Website Upgrade Platform Module Market Place Module Market Days Module
cross-cutting)
2.1  Revamping of the website: 2.3 A section for registration: 2.6 xx 2.9 A section for Boardroom (BR) deals:
2.7 Ability to  develop a
–  Virtual  Help  Desk  Analytics  to provide – Member-only dashboards for distributions of
– A section  to  generate  payment  reports  on
reports  in  real  time  (number  of  users  by registration. It is to be noted that the module will newsletter to Boardroom per region, country…
country,   cohort,   statistics   on   user’s support registration activities through the Portal disseminate insights on –  Area to showcase reports on projects and other
conversation…) 2.4 A section for Pipeline Development: deal trends and key  milestones  achieved under  the LC (a
opportunities to member only area)
– Creation of dashboards to show deal flows by
– Ability  to  deliver  multi-lingual (English, investors
French) capabilities on the Portal category (sector, ticket size, country, etc.) 2.10 A Section for AIF Market Place activities or
–  Ability to send published deals into the MIS for 2.8 A blog section to share Products: Dashboards analytics on
– Ability to integrate contents from the Help
marketplace activities  (SMEs  and B2Bs)
Desk into the eventApp further pre-boardroom assessment
2.5 A section for AIF ambassadors’: over time
2.11 A section to publish themes discussed during
2.2  Creation of user accounts: –  Dashboards with traffics on discussions held in
communities of interest the 3Day even t (as articles): Sentiment reports
– Bank staff will use their corporate accounts on
on most viewed themes
the portal.
Deal Tracker Module Payments System Module Know Your Customer (KYC) Module
(cross-cutting) (cross-cutting)
acker updates: 2.15 Payment system Feature: 2.17 Registration screening feature:
2.12 A section for Deal flow analytics:
–  ability  to  update  user  information  such  as  card  expiry  date,  amount – ability  to  easily  generate  reports on due
In  the  long  term  the  forum  will  produce
– transferred… diligence activities.
datasets that various users can consume –  Ability to cancel payments if needed ltiple currencies:
2.16 Completed payments Alerts and Others:
–  Report analytics on confirmed or executed payments.
–  Reports analytics on partnership (partners/sponsors) contributions
  1. OTHER DUTIES : 
  • In collaboration with the AfDB, the firm is expected to provide an effective and easily manageable information taxonomy (with designed information access, permissions and audience) ;
  • Provide the required documentations such as details on specific database designs, information structure and metadata, test protocols and deployment scripts ;
  • Develop a user manual that will deliver a webinar for the support staff and system administrators to perform content upload, system maintenance and administration ;
  • Perform testing, Quality Assurance and Security tests and document functional test protocols ;
  • Post-Production, maintenance of the web portal.

 

  1. DELIVERABLES :

The expected deliverables shall be as follows :

  • Review and gap analysis of the current AIF website and digital platform and Web portal FAQs ;
  • Web and mobile solutions with responsive and lightweight build-in modules that meet user expectations ;
  • Complete implementation for Chatbot API integration with segmented personalized assistance Complete integration for video Live Streaming with postage capabilities for comments on the portal ;
  • Implementation for Payment API integration to support online financial transactions through the portal ;
  • Databases Architecture Documents; Testing and handover for configurations and user credentials ;
  • User training and guide preparation (both videos and documents) and Knowledge skills transfer to AfDB.

 

  1. KEY COMPETENCIES : 
  • Proven track record on delivering bespoke web portals especially using Drupal Framework; proficiency in technologies such as Angular JS, UI/UX. A portfolio of their achievements should be provided ;
  • At least 10 years of collective experience in managing software development projects ;
  • Strong and proven understanding of Digital Financial Services (DFS) with emphasis on digital payments systems, DFS infrastructure and DFS regulations ;
  • Strong understanding and in Chatbot API Integration and Workflow development ;
  • Experience in developing complex software preferably investment platforms ;
  • Familiarity with web server and hosting configuration for web, IOs and Android applications ;
  • Advanced level of proficiency using industry standards for web development; with ability to convert complex technical requirements into user friendly features ;
  • High integrity and accountability, ability for the team to communicate on deliverables fluently in English and French, both orally and in writing.

 

  1. DURATION :

The assignment will be for a period of one (1) year. Completion of phase one of the assignment is expected within 3 months of the contract signing date.

  1. LOCATION :

During the pre and post development phase, the firm is required to have at least two members of its team located at the Bank’s Headquarters in Abidjan Côte d’Ivoire, however, it is to be noted that the necessary flexibility will be offered in this regards to align with current covid-19 restrictions.

  1. REPORTING :

The firm will report to the Senior Director for the Africa Investment Forum. It is expected that a Project Team made within the Bank ecosystem (PAIF, PCER, CHIS, PGCL, FIFC) will be created for day-to-day follow-up. The technical follow-up will be done jointly with CHIS.