consultant to develop RICEM Website and train staff to Update Content

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

 (CONSULTANCY SERVICES — INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT SELECTION)

COUNTRY: RWANDA

NAME OF PROJECT: BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE FINANCIAL SECTOR IN RWANDA

Assignment Title: Recruitment of consultant to develop RICEM Website and train staff to Update Content

Reference No.: 023/S/SPIU/ BIFSIR/MINICOM/2013-2014

Background

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM) has received a grant from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to support HangaUmurimo and Rwanda Institute of Cooperative, Entrepreneurship and Microfinance (RICEM) to scale up SMEs Development initiatives for sustainability. The grant was provided under the context of Building an Inclusive Financial Sector in Rwanda Programme (BIFSIR) and will be managed by the Single Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) under MINICOM. Therefore, the Ministry intends to recruit a qualified consultant to develop a RICEM website and to train staff to update its content.

Rwanda can look back on an impressive economic growth and successful efforts to reduce poverty in recent years. Coming from this point of departure, it aims at becoming a middle-income country until 2020. All activities of the Rwandan government and its partners to reach this ambitious goal converge under the roof of vision 2020 and more operational terms

EDPRS II. Business development is one of the crucial issues of EDPRS II, which aims to strengthen the country's economic growth as well as a shift from the agricultural sector to industry and service oriented sectors. However, the development of the Rwandan economy is to a high degree influenced by the sustainable growth and the stability of micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs), cooperatives and the microfinance sector.

A series of studies and surveys in those three sectors point out that one of their major challenges are lack of entrepreneurial capacity and technical skills of their staff and bodies. Skills development has been fostered in various ways in Rwanda — only to mention the general school system, vocational schools, technical training conducted by private or public initiatives and national and international NGOs or even the National Rwandan University or other institutions of higher education.

Nevertheless there has been no vocational school for microfinance, cooperatives management or for entrepreneurship, i.e. trade, business and economy, founded until now. This gap in the Rwandan educational industry would be closed by establishing a respective training institute to meet the needs of the sector. It is against this background that the Ministry of Trade and Industry, together with other partners, launched a put in place the "Rwanda Institute of Cooperatives, Entrepreneurship and Microfinance (RICEM)", starting it as a project. This institute shall offer practical training and education in the areas of entrepreneurship, Cooperatives management and microfinance.

Objectives

The main objective of this consultancy is to develop RICEM's website which is interactive, dynamic multi-language friendly and to train designated staff to update its content. The website will be used as a communication channel for the Institution to create awareness and enhance understanding of the Institution's mission, activities, and to disseminate publications as well as up-to date information such as government policies, performance reports, on-going and planned activities, and implementation arrangements. The website should also allow for social media content and activity.

Scope of work

Major task to be fulfilled by the consultancy will include, but not limited to the following:

• Designing, programming, installation, registration of the RICEM website as well as promoting the web presence of RICEM by linking websites of each institution partners and projects to the RICEM website.
• The website will have a consistent look and feel. The website might contain information that is specific to and customized according to the characteristics and site map under the Government portal framework.
• The website will provide information about the affiliate institutions like the Rwanda Cooperative Agency (RCA), Private Sector Federation (PSF), AMIR and other partners such as Projects, government institutions, Non-government organizations which work closely with the RICEM.
• It is expected that the Consultant will conduct several presentations and brainstorming sessions to discuss the progress of the website development to the project team comprising of RICEM / MINICOM staff with the aim of getting their feedbacks on all aspects of the website. Corrective measures should be taken from the issues raised or the feedback collected at the various meetings.
• The website should be designed to be compatible with the major web browsers commonly available on the market. The Content Management System (CMS) of the website must be TYPO3.
• The website should be user friendly with a clear structure, allowing easy navigation within the website by users. The Consultant shall also provide support and consultation to ensure that the design, layout, and organization of the site are intuitive and user-friendly.
• The Consultant will provide an organized content structure that will include all the relevant information to the target audience. To achieve this, the Consultant will have to conduct a content inventory (stock-taking) to identify all important information at the institution and other relevant sources 'of information like other RICEM's partners, Private sector Federation, Projects, and institutions of higher learning.
• The Consultant will provide a powerful content management system that will support faster and collaborative content life cycle management.
• Ensure that a certain amount of interactivity and online services such as downloading forms, contacting officials and making requests online be available in the web-site.
• The website should have content syndication capacities such as RSS feeds to allow the sharing of new pieces of information in a convenient way.
• The Consultant is also required to provide a strong online marketing strategy that will have a real impact on increasing the traffic to the RICEM website and raising awareness.
• The content on the website should include general information about Rwanda such as history, demographics, economy, industry, culture and society, politics, climate, international events or conferences in science and technology developments. The website should also include information from different partners involved especially in Science and Technology, research institutions and different higher learning institutions in the country or abroad.
• The website must have a window for social media platforms such as Twitter, Google plus, Facebook and YouTube. The website's articles must have the option of tweeting and posting on Facebook.

Duration of work

The consultant is expected to produce the above mentioned tasks within one year commencing from the date of the contract signature by both parties.

Qualification and experience of individual consultant

• A minimum of a bachelor's degree preferably in a multimedia technology or any other related discipline.
• At least 5 year experience in web design and development
• Professional background in the establishment and maintaining of dynamic websites, coupled with a track record in the provision of pertinent consultancy services, with a particular focus on coaching/ training activities.
• Proven experience and capabilities in the field of professional web design and also an in-depth knowledge and understanding of Information and Communication Technologies.
• Familiarity with the rendering of similar counseling/capacity building services in Rwanda is indispensable.
• Prior experience with private sector development (PSD)-related challenges in general and the role of industries in development therein would be an asset. Excellent communication/networking, dialogue and presentation skills required.
• Language skills: French and English

A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Individual Consultant Selection method set out in the Consultant Guidelines from RPPA.

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 08: 00 a.m. to 04:00 pm.

Expressions of interest including motivation letters and resumes must be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person, or by mail, or by fax, or by e-mail) by on or before April 16th, 2014 at 4:00

Single Project Implementation Unit –

MINICOM

Attn: SPIU Procurement

P 0. Box 73 Kigali — Rwanda

E-mail: spiuprominicom@gmail.com  

Done at Kigali on 01st April 2014