Introduction

The Science for Africa Foundation (SFA Foundation) is a pan-African, non-profit, and public charity organisation that supports, strengthens, and promotes science and innovation in Africa. The SFA Foundation is committed to improving African people's quality of life and promoting research uptake in communities, industry, and the public sector. We serve the African research ecosystem by designing, funding, and managing programmes that support excellent science and innovation; and that build and reinforce environments that are conducive for scientists to thrive and produce quality research that impacts development. SFA Foundation is distinctive in that it focuses on the ecosystem surrounding research and the production of research itself. It also supports initiatives that directly influence the quantity, quality, and impact of research. SFA Foundation operations are hosted within the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) as a programme in the Republic of Kenya.

Project Overview

The SFA Foundation is inviting proposals from qualified software vendors for the design and development of a Community of Practice for Research Managers. This initiative, led by the Africa Research Management Capacity Strengthening Programme (REMACS), marks the first phase of a broader effort to create a central digital hub that will facilitate collaboration across the Foundation’s various programmes.

The platform is envisioned as the central access point for the Foundation’s digital initiatives, enabling stakeholders to seamlessly navigate between program-specific subsites and communities while discovering cross-programmatic opportunities. It will ensure smooth transitions between subsites based on user roles and permissions, governed by a centralised identity access management system. This system will apply standard security controls and include robust monitoring and reporting features to ensure the highest level of security and compliance.

By integrating shared resources, intelligent recommendations, and actionable insights within a scalable infrastructure, the platform aims to break down silos, reduce administrative burdens, and foster a truly collaborative ecosystem. Importantly, this will be achieved while maintaining the unique identity and specific needs of each programme.

About REMACS

The REMACS programme aims to strengthen the capacity of research managers across Africa. A central element of this goal is to create a digital platform that fosters professional networking, shared learning, and collaboration among research management professionals.

The Community of Practice will serve as an online space where research managers can:

• Share resources and best practices.
• Discuss common challenges and opportunities.
• Access training, tools, and events.
• Build a collective knowledge base.

In the long term, this platform will evolve into a central hub connecting multiple programmes and digital communities, maintaining both integration and individual programme identities.

Project Objectives

The primary objectives of this RFP are:

• To design and develop a user-friendly, scalable, and secure digital platform for the Community of Practice.
• To facilitate structured engagement through forums, resource libraries, event calendars, discussion threads, user groups, and knowledge-sharing tools.
• To ensure the platform is modular, allowing future integration with onboarding tools, Learning Management Systems (LMS), and other programme-specific features.
• To support intelligent features such as content recommendations and analytics for user engagement and resource usage.

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Scope of Work 

The selected vendor will be responsible for the end-to-end design, development, and implementation of the CoP platform. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Develop an intuitive, accessible, and mobile-responsive interface with multilingual support where applicable.
• Ensure compliance with security best practices and data protection standards.
• Enable modular architecture to support future integrations and scalability.

Deliverables of the Assignment

Core Features of the COP

The platform must include the following key features to meet the needs of the Community of Practice

Discussion Forums

• Structured, moderated forums organised by topic or thematic area.
• Features such as tagging, threaded replies, notifications, and moderation tools.

Resource Repository

• A searchable, categorised library for various content types, including:
• Reports, case studies, and success stories
• Best practices and guidelines
• Templates, toolkits, and regulatory information
• Support for metadata tagging, filtering, and version control.

Networking Tools

• Member directory with searchable profiles
• Options for direct messaging, following, or joining user groups
• Virtual spaces for interest-based or regional networking

Mentorship and Expert Collaboration

• Mentor-mentee matching functionality
• Private collaboration spaces or channels
• Features to host “Ask the Expert” sessions and knowledge exchanges

Capacity Building

• Integration with webinar and virtual workshop tools
• Event scheduling and registration
• Ability to track participation and issue certificates or badges

Publications and Knowledge Sharing

• Section for member-contributed articles, blog posts, and newsletters
• Workflow for content submission, review, and publication
• Visibility controls (public vs. members-only)

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