UNDP NIGERIA: REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR THE YAI PROGROMME IN KADUNA STATE

TECHNICAL CONSULTANCY SERVICES TO UNDERTAKE REGIONAL OUTREACH AND INCUBATION ACTIVITES FOR THE FIRST COHORT OF

 THE YOUNG AFRICA INNOVATES PROGRAMME IN KADUNA STATE.

UNDP is seeking for eligible and experienced companies/firms/ Regional partners to provide Technical Consultancy Services to undertake regional outreach and incubation activities for the first cohort of the Young Africa Innovates Programme in KADUNA State.

All qualified firms/Regional Partners that meet with the requirement in the solicitation documents and is interested in submitting a proposal in response to this RFP should please prepare your proposal in accordance with the requirements and procedure as set out in this RFP and submit it by the deadline for submission of proposals set out in the request for Proposal.

Responses to this RFP must be received through the Quantum platform no later than: 18^th December 2023

All qualified firms/Regional Partners that meet with the requirement in the solicitation documents and is interested in submitting a proposal in response to this RFP should please prepare your proposal in accordance with the requirements and procedure as set out in this RFP and submit it by the deadline for submission of proposals set out in the request for Proposal.

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR FIRM(S) TO UNDERTAKE REGIONAL OUTREACH AND INCUBATION ACTIVITES FOR THE FIRST COHORT OF THE YOUNG AFRICA INNOVATES PROGRAMME – KADUNA

BACKGROUND & CONTEXT

Nigeria, with its vibrant and diverse population, stands at a pivotal juncture in its developmental journey. With approximately 60% of its population under the age of 25, Nigeria is home to a significant youth demographic, poised to drive the nation’s future. This demographic dividend presents both challenges and opportunities. By 2050, it’s projected that Nigeria will be one of the most populous countries in the world, emphasizing the urgency to harness this youthful energy productively. Challenges exist in ensuring that this growing youth population in Nigeria finds dignified and meaningful work. Whilst opportunities remain in tapping into the innovative spirit of Nigerians who have the capacity and intent to solve local problems, whilst creating pathways of economic prosperity and employment the nation.

Nigeria is far from a monolith, with 36 States and the FCT, 6 geo-political zones, shared opportunities and differentiated challenges. In turn Nigeria has a super diverse set of challenges and development objectives according to respective localities; meaning there exists a strong demand for local issues and development objectives to be solved by local solutions. Solutions that are contextualised, pragmatic and executed by local innovators.

Recognizing this, the UNDP and the Mastercard Foundation have collaboratively launched the Young Africa Innovates Programme (YAI) in Nigeria. Spanning 2.5 years, this initiative is a beacon of hope, aiming to catalyse youth-led innovations that drive employment. The programme’s ethos is rooted in inclusivity, ensuring that innovators from all walks of life, especially those from traditionally marginalized backgrounds, are empowered to bring their visions to life and that ‘no one is left behind in the creation and inception of solutions’.

Traditionally marginalized innovators are described as the population groups that fall in one or more of these categories: rural, low English literacy, have no experience in receiving funding, have no formal trail or track record (e.g. bank accounts and businesses). These groups and especially young women alongside persons with disabilities are key target groups within YAI.

YAI will focus on identifying, incubating and scaling innovations across Nigeria with the following key objectives across 2 cohorts in 2.5 years:

·        Identify a minimum of 5,000 innovations

·        Provide capacity support to a minimum of 2,500 innovations

·        Incubate 300 innovations (financial support and long-term capacity support)

APPROACH

The YAI programme will employ an area-based approach in its implementation. Practically meaning that YAI will take place simultaneously across all 6 geo-political zones in Nigeria. This permits the output and impact of YAI to be contextualised and relevant to specific socio-economic needs. Within each geo-political zone there will be selected States where YAI will take place. The conditions and needs of the selected States will also determine the sectoral focus of YAI in each State. For example, whether YAI is focused on supporting innovations within agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare etc. In addition to this YAI will make active efforts to target, support and incubate innovators in unusual and underserved spaces in a bid to democratise access to support for innovation.

YAI will take place in the following States with the respective tentative sectoral focus and target groups of innovators:

METHODOLOGY

YAI programme will comprise of key processes to identify, provide capacity support and incubate innovations.

This includes outreach activities (pipeline activation, solutions submission and evaluation) and incubation activities (bootcamp and stage gating).

Outreach Activities

Pipeline Activation: This will involve developing a system that has a multi-pronged community engagement strategy and forming local partnerships to raise awareness of YAI to target innovators, whilst sensitising relevant local institutions, community groups and leaders.

Solutions Submission: YAI will use a variety of channels to enable easy submission of solutions, including by developing an online YAI Portal targeted primarily at urban and rural IT-literate youth who will upload their solutions directly, through a web-based application. For those who are less IT-literate and will less access to technology, innovators will be supported by community engagement persons who will take down applications manually and then formally upload/submit applications. The YAI Programme will strive to make application processes more inclusive, by lowering barriers for often-marginalised applicants.

Evaluation: Short-listing will be led by UNDP and sub-partners against agreed criteria. This process will be monitored both remotely and physically by embedded UNDP staff, including through random sampling of shortlists. Shortlisted submissions will then go through judging panels composed of multiple stakeholders including representatives from public and private sectors (technical experts and seasoned actors in the innovation space, such as representatives from innovation hubs and government agencies that support innovation), community groups, women’s groups, and PWD groups. This will make the selection process robust, transparent and inclusive.