Job Title: Terms of Reference: Consultancy to produce digital stories for the Investing in Women in Benin program

Closing date: 13/07/2026

1.0 About the Investing in Women in Benin Program (IIW Benin)

AECF is implementing the Investing in Women flagship initiative in Benin (IIW Benin), which aims to empower women entrepreneurs to lead the transition to a greener economy. The initiative combines catalytic financing, tailored technical assistance, and policy engagement to strengthen women-led businesses in high-impact sectors, including agriculture, processing, trade, and innovation.

To date, the IIW Benin initiative program has created 1,191 jobs, 265% of the initial target, with women accounting for 72% of these opportunities. It has reached over 45,800 people (189% of the target), including 90% women-led households, while enabling 1,562 beneficiaries, mostly women (97%), to access credit, unlocking over USD 550,000 in financing. As part of these efforts, AECF seeks to engage a qualified consultant to produce digital stories for the Investing in Women Benin Initiative that capture AECF’s contributions to building resilience and unlocking sustainable growth opportunities.

2.0 About the assignment

The objective of this assignment is to highlight AECF’s work through interviews with AECF investees in Benin to showcase their activities and, with a focus on capturing AECF’s contributions to agri-business development, promoting gender and youth inclusion, supporting local innovation, creating jobs, and mitigating climate change.

The assignment’s outputs shall include testimonial videos, image bank, and one-pager investee profiles. The documentation will serve as a valuable resource for our baseline repository, learning, advocacy, and donor engagement, while amplifying investees’ voices.

3.0 Scope of work

The assignment will focus on producing baseline digital stories documenting the initial status of IIW Benin investees in the project locations of Cotonou, Bohicon, Zè, and Kandi. The storytelling approach will use human-interest interviews and testimonial videos to capture investees’ current realities, aspirations, business context, and early experiences with the program and its support. These baseline narratives will establish a clear reference point against which progress and impact will be assessed throughout the program lifecycle.

The scope of work includes: –

• Conduct video interviews with five (5) selected investees.
• Produce five (5) individual baseline testimonial videos (one per investee)
• Produce one (1) summary baseline video of 5-7 minutes, synthesizing key themes, challenges, and expectations across all investees.
• Complement investee perspectives with voices from rural communities, microfinance institutions, cooperatives, and end users, where relevant, to provide a broader ecosystem context.

4.0 Deliverables and timeline

The final outputs will include:

• Five (5) baseline testimonial videos (2–3 minutes each; one per investee)
• One (1) summary baseline video (5–7 minutes)
• Twenty (20) high‑quality photographs per investee
• Five (5) written baseline articles, documenting the experiences, context, and early outcomes of four (5) investees and selected end‑users

5.0 Tasks and responsibilities

To deliver the above outputs, the consultant, under the overall supervision of the AECF Programs and Communications Teams, will:

• Collaborate with IIW Benin to confirm story angles and key messages, and to coordinate visits to selected investee and community locations.
• Develop and prepare interview guides, consent tools, and documentation formats for baseline storytelling.
• Conduct fieldwork in selected communities in collaboration with IIW Benin and, where applicable, investee staff, including interviews, observations, and beneficiary engagements.
• Analyze collected information and prepare baseline success stories that accurately reflect the status of project implementation at inception.
• Produce written narratives and photographic content that highlight investee journeys and incorporate the voices of beneficiaries and other relevant stakeholders.
• Prepare individual baseline write‑ups for each investee, clearly outlining business context, challenges, and anticipated impact.
• Conduct validation meetings with AECF and respective investees to ensure draft articles and videos accurately reflect their experiences and perspectives.
• Produce final edited baseline videos for each investee, ensuring alignment with agreed themes, quality standards, and program objectives.
• Prepare a comprehensive presentation package to support the dissemination of the baseline digital stories across AECF and IIW communication platforms.

6.0 Duration of service

The assignment will be completed within three (3) months of the contract signing date.

7.0 Reporting

The consultant will report to the AECF programs and communications teams.

8.0 Eligible experience

The successful consultant team/firm should have:

• Relevant academic and professional background in development studies, journalism, communications, media studies, or related fields.
• At least five years’ experience in creative digital storytelling, including investigative, human-impact, and gender-focused story writing for diverse audiences.
• Proven expertise in gender, women’s empowerment, and gender-lens investing, ideally with experience at the intersection of gender, agribusiness, and development.
• Strong contextual knowledge of agribusiness, policies, and programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, with prior work in Benin and proficiency in French and relevant local language(s).
• Experience working with international development, humanitarian, or private sector organizations, including documenting impact stories and program results.
• Excellent research, analytical, writing, and editing skills, with the ability to combine human-interest narratives, interviews, statistics, and data into compelling and credible digital content.
• Strong project management and interpersonal skills, including the ability to manage timelines, engage diverse stakeholders, and work effectively across cultural contexts.
• Institutional capacity as a consultancy firm, with a multidisciplinary team covering technical writing, storytelling, photography, and copy editing.
• Firms based in West Africa will be an added advantage

9.0 Proposal submission

Interested companies/individuals must submit a technical and financial proposal to demonstrate their qualifications. The Financial Proposal must be submitted as a separate document, clearly labeled and independent from the technical proposal.

The technical proposal should include the following information:

• A profile of the lead consultant (maximum three (3) pages) clearly demonstrating suitability for the assignment and relevant experience.
• Curriculum Vitae (CVs) of the proposed team members, outlining roles and relevant expertise.
• A detailed approach, methodology, and work plan for undertaking the assignment, including a clear demonstration of value for money.
• Signed letters of reference or recommendation from previous clients or organizations for similar assignments.
• A detailed reference list, including contact details, clearly indicating the scope and scale of comparable assignments undertaken.
• Samples of previous work: applicants are required to submit samples from at least three (3) similar past projects or provide links to completed assignments demonstrating relevant experience in line with these Terms of Reference.
• Evidence of compliance with the mandatory requirements, evaluation criteria, and experience requirements outlined in this ToR.
• A clear explanation of how the consultant plans to utilize the 35‑day assignment period, including key activities and milestones.
• Proposals should be submitted in English.

Financial proposal

• A financial proposal (in USD) clearly showing the proposed team member, roles, and proposed days, and the proposed professional fee (daily rate and total amount per team member). The financial proposal shall also include an indication of reimbursable expenses (travel, communications, etc.).

10.0 Evaluation criteria

1. Mandatory Requirements for firms: –

• Company profile.
• Trading license, Certificate of incorporation, Certificate of Registration, and other statutory documents.
• Valid Tax Compliance certificate or an Equivalent document.
• Passport/National Identification of the lead consultant.

N/B: FAILURE TO ATTACH AND ADHERE TO THE ABOVE REQUIREMENTS WILL RESULT IN AUTOMATIC DISQUALIFICATION

An evaluation committee will be formed by the AECF and may include employees of the businesses to be supported. All members will be bound by the same standards of confidentiality. The consultant should ensure they fully address all criteria for comprehensive evaluation. The AECF may request and receive clarification from any consultant when evaluating a proposal. The evaluation committee may invite some or all of the consultants to appear before it to clarify their proposals. In such an event, the evaluation committee may consider such clarifications in evaluating proposals.

In making the final selection of a qualified bidder, the technical quality of the proposal will be weighted at 80% based on the evaluation criteria. Only the financial proposal of those bidders who qualify technically will be opened. The financial proposal will be weighted at 20%, and the proposals will be ranked by total points scored.

The mandatory and desirable criteria against which proposals will be evaluated are identified in the table below.

11.0 Pricing

AECF is obliged by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes on service contract fees and to ensure that VAT, at 16%, is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure they have a clear understanding of their tax position under Kenyan tax legislation when developing their proposals.

12.0 Application details

The AECF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The AECF considers all interested candidates based on merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, marital status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

• Interested firms/consultants, or consortia, are requested to submit their technical and financial proposals via the procurement portal at https://procurement.aecfafrica.org/ by 13^th July 2026, 5pm (EAT).
• All questions should be directed to the procurement email aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org by 3^rd July 2026, 5 pm (EAT). The subject of the email should be ‘’Clarification: Communications Consultancy to Produce Digital Stories for the Investing in Women Benin Initiative”

14.0 Disclaimer

AECF reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, the number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice, and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party.

The AECF does not charge an application fee for participation in the tender process and has not appointed any agents or intermediaries to facilitate applications. Applicants are advised to contact the AECF directly.