Request For Expression of Interest: Creative Fund Manager under the iDICE programme

As part of the major recommendations of the council, FGN established the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) Programme to promote investments in the digital, information technology and creative industries.

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST: CREATIVE FUND MANAGER UNDER THE IDICE PROGRAMME

Technology and Creative Sector

Financing Agreement reference: 2000200005160

Project ID No.: P-NG-K00-009

Background

The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), in 2018, set up the Advisory Council for Technology and Creativity (the Council) under the aegis of the Nigerian Industrial and Competitiveness Advisory Council to provide specific solutions to several technology and creativity sector challenges in the country. As part of the major recommendations of the council, FGN established the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) Programme to promote investments in the digital, information technology and creative industries.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has received support from the African Development Bank (AfDB), Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) towards the implementation of the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) Programme and intends to apply part of the agreed amount for this finance to payments under the contract for a Creative Fund Manager under the iDICE Programme.

1. Objectives

The objective of the iDICE programme is to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the digital and creative industries. The larger aim is to act as a stimulant for job creation and talent upskilling in the technology and creative industries, ecosystem building and expanding the Nigerian economy in these two growth areas.

This goal is to be achieved through:

i. An ecosystem driven approach of multi-sectoral Programmatic interventions; and

ii. A catalytic investment in businesses in the technology and creative sectors.

In line with the catalytic investments, the iDICE Programme Coordination Unit (PCU) in the Bank of Industry (BOI) is seeking to establish access to financing for start-ups through two financing options:

i. The Digital and Creative Enterprises (DICE) Funds which seek to strengthen start-ups through equity and quasi equity capital injections and;

ii. The Capacity Building window which seeks to capacitate start-ups through training and support grant

Scope of Work

The Fund Manager(s) deliverables will include but not be limited to:

1. Designing and setting-up of the Fund including legal, operational, financial, and administrative structures.
2. Managing all the business affairs of the Fund and undertaking activities required to meet the objectives of the Fund.
3. Making all decisions related to the investigation, solicitation, origination, selection, development, negotiation, acquisition, management, structuring, restructuring, commitment to or monitoring of and disposal of investments
4. Directing the formulation of the Fund’s investment, financial, governance, operational policies and other relevant documentation required for the Fund’s operations.
5. Acquiring, holding, selling, transferring, exchanging, and disposing of investments, and exercising all rights, powers, privileges and other incidents of ownership or possession with respect to investments.
6. Fund raising (including the preparation of private placement memorandum, pitch books and other marketing materials).
7. Undertaking investor management activities including the management of committed capital.
8. Developing and implementing a technical assistance framework to complement the equity fund.
9. Implementing the Fund’s Environmental and Social Management System.
10. Ecosystem & Zone Mapping: Maintaining deep intelligence on creative sector interventions and state-level incentives across all six Nigerian geopolitical zones to leverage local synergies.
11. Creative Pipeline Development: Curating a “slate-based” investment approach to balance high-risk/high-reward creative projects with more stable creative businesses.
12. Content De-risking: Integrating specialized financial instruments to protect against the volatility of creative production.
13. Preparing period (Quarterly and Annually) reports on the status and performance of the Fund.
14. Implement capacity building programme for business advisory to build fund investee pipeline and de-risking portfolio (Creative Start-ups)

DICE Creative Fund company will operate under the guidance of its Advisory Board comprising Limited Partners of the Fund.

Minimum Qualification, Skills and Experience

i. Must possess at least five (5) years of cognate track record, must have evidence of creative sector related investments in its portfolio in the last 5 years
ii. Must have evidence of creative sector related investments in its portfolio in the last 5 years.
iii. Consultant must demonstrate creative sector investment track record in Nigerian creative enterprises with at least one value unlocking example.
iv. Development of specific metrics to measure the “cultural capital” and social impact generated by creative sectorinvestments, alongside traditional financial returns.
v. Verifiable pipeline of potential investee companies across Nigeria, including evidence of creative sector deal flowexperience.
vi. Methodology should include creative sector investment phases that identify high conviction sub sectors and explains competitive edge.
vii. Must be able to identify emerging trends in the creative sector landscape in Nigeria.
viii. Specialized expertise in valuing intangible assets such as Intellectual property within the Nigerian creative sector.
ix. Shortlisted firms are now explicitly encouraged to resubmit their interest as Joint Ventures or formal Consortia with external partners.
x. Strong Joint Venture arrangement with proof of established network that demonstrate creative sector expertise and fund administration.
xi. Demonstrable value-addition capabilities concerning portfolio investments.
xii. Must demonstrate a track record of:
• Equity/quasi-equity Venture Capital (VC) fund structuring and setup in the last 5 years
• Capital raise and equity fund management specific to the creative sector in the last 5 years.
• Proof of existing network with VC traditional investors in the creative sector.
• Managing large VC Funds with evidence of achieving positive financial return and development impact in the creative sector in the last 5 years.
xiii. Experience in the Nigeria/Sub-Saharan VC and Creative sector, including partnerships with start-ups, active Enterprise Support Organizations.
xiv. Evidence of a strong operational Fund Management team with an understanding of the Nigerian creative sector investment segment, including experienced investment and middle- and back-office staff and policies and procedures that are aligned with international best practice.
xv. Must be willing to invest at least 2% of Total Capitalization towards the Total Capital Pool required for investment in the assigned Fund.
xvi. Must possess existing relationships and network with relevant local and international industry players within the creative sector.
xvii. Expertise in the structural drivers of the Nigerian creative sector and the ability to bridge the gap between creative output and institutional equity investment will be considered a significant advantage.
xviii. Must possess a clear geographic understanding of the various states and the 6 geopolitical zones as well as the funding landscape in the respective zones.
xix. Strong knowledge of sub-national creative industry initiatives across all six geopolitical zones in Nigeria to ensure fund activities align with local economic interventions.
xx. Must demonstrate capacity and resources to implement an ESMS and sound understanding of climate change from a national policy perspective.
xxi. Ability to effectively profile the opportunity sphere across all 36 states and the FCT. The Fund Manager should be available to coordinate and direct requests for funding from interested businesses throughout the country.
xxii. Firm must demonstrate capacity to implement capacity building programme for business advisory to build fund investee pipeline and de-risking portfolio (Creative Start-ups)

Financial and Tax Requirements

1. Confirmation of financial capacity of the company (3 years audited statement of accounts and financial summary).
2. Evidence of VAT Registration and Company Tax Clearance Certificates for the last 3 years.

Firms that are registered outside Nigeria shall submit relevant legal and compliance documents as applicable to their countries of jurisdiction.

Submission of EOIs

Expressions of Interest should be structured as follows:

a. Detailed company profile indicating management team, ownership structure, competence of firm, office and branch contact details (where applicable) (2 pages)
b. Evidence of availability of appropriate skills among staff to be proposed for the assignment (3 pages)
c. Brief summary of successfully exited investments in the last 3 years with key information on the company, exit strategy adopted, fund/investment size, IRR of Fund (5 pages)
d. List of existing investments with the following information (emphasis on investments in the creative sector in Nigeria/Sub-Saharan Africa) (5 pages):
e. Sector focus
f. Brief description of investee company including growth stage and performance
g. Type of investment
• Target IRR
• Fund term
• Current status of the investee company

h. Submission must clearly state that your firm is interested in the Creative Sector Fund with justification
i. Any other information that can strengthen the application

Firms may constitute joint ventures to enhance their chances of qualification. In this case, the arrangement must clearly indicate in the submission, an organogram stating the members of the consortium.

Greenfield funds may apply provided the promoters demonstrate a deep experience in creative fund management, investment execution, multilateral development and a detailed understanding of the Nigerian environment.

EOI submissions should not exceed 20 pages, excluding supporting documents to be submitted as detailed under the Eligibility Criteria in the Terms of Reference.

The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a shortlist and the selection procedure shall be in accordance with the African Development Bank’s “Procurement Policy for Bank Group Funded Operations” October 2015, which is available on the AFDB’s website at http://www.afdb.org. Please note that interest expressed by an organization does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include it in the shortlist.

Interested firms may obtain further information at the address below during the Bank’s office hours, i.e. from 8 AM to 5 PM (WAT) on working days.

Deadline for Submission of EOIs

Expressions of interest MUST be delivered in hard and soft (in a USB flash drive) copies to the address below no later than 11thMay, 2026 at [3:00pm] (WAT) and specifically mention“[EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: CREATIVE SECTOR FUND MANAGER FOR THE INVESTMENT IN DIGITAL AND CREATIVE ENTERPRISES PROGRAMME ]”.

For the Terms of Reference (TOR) for this Expression of Interest, please visit www.boi.ng/idicetor.

Attn.

The iDICE Programme Coordination Unit.

Tower 1, 9th Floor, Bank of Industry Office,

FCT – Abuja

E-mail: idice-proposals@boi.ng (for enquiries only)

Tel: 0700 225 5264 (0700 CALL BOI)