The UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa has launched a bold and ambitious initiative, timbuktoo, aimed at galvanizing African youth as entrepreneurs, innovators, and problem solvers.  timbuktoo will be an explosive new entrant into UNDP Africa's ambition to transform the African continent by harnessing the ingenuity and entrepreneurial of African people themselves, particularly its ambitious, vibrant, youth, as the key to its development and path out of poverty. 

timbuktoo will be a multi-pronged initiative, focused on supporting and growing innovative, scalable, and impactful entrepreneurship by African young people while relying on a springboard of partners who together contribute meaningfully to building an African youth innovation and startup ecosystem. UNDP's Regional Bureau for Africa will catalyze and promote the initiative, which is intended to function as a public-private consortium, with the aim of raising and investing USD 1 billion over 10 years into the African innovation ecosystem and African tech and tech-enabled innovative and high-growth startups.  

Objectives of the Service 

The specific objectives sought from a reputable Communications Services Firm are:   

1. To update a cohesive Communications Strategy and Action Plan for the timbuktoo initiative, including brand development, brand guidelines, website, social media, video, influencers, media, and visibility materials; 
   

2. To upgrade and manage timbuktoo website, multi-language capability, Search Engine Optimization (SEO);  

3. To provide Content, such as storytelling, testimonials, videos, articles, blogs, press releases, etc for website, social media, and other communications. 
   

4. Graphic Design Services for print and digital use – e.g. briefs, pitch decks, flyers, banners, illustrations, infographics, animations, customized newsletters, templates, banners, and other assets for different uses, and sourcing of photos. 

5. Video and Animation Services for presentations, website, social media, and other purposes, up to 3 minutes, with original filming as well as sourcing and obtaining permissions for photos and video content. 
   

6. To provide Event Planning and Management Services for three envisaged brand events through the end of June: 

• timbuktoo Fund Launch side event - World Economic Forum, Davos – mid-January 2024 -  attendance:  200 

• LA - African Diaspora Event - Los Angeles -  TBD  (attendance:  200) 

• timbuktoo Startup Summit - Kigali, Rwanda - May 2024 (attendance:  3,000) 

  Expected outputs/deliverables 

Over a period of eight months, the Service Provider would deliver: 

1. timbuktoo Communications Strategy and Action Plan  

2. Website Upgrade, Support, and Management  

3. Content Production:  social media/digital packages, videos, articles, website content, as per the agreed Plan   

4. Event Planning and Management for three events 

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