Jobs

Job Openings at African Development Bank Group (AfDB), 2nd March, 2019

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African Development Bank Group (AfDB) - Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Banks development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth. We are recruiting to fill the position below:     Job Title: Principal Green Mini-Grids Market Development Specialist Reference: ADB/19/008 Location: Côte d’Ivoire Grade: PL3 Position N°: 50067404 The Unit

• The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) is housed in PERN1. SEFA is a multi-donor trust fund financed by the Governments of Denmark, the UK, the USA, Italy and Norway. SEFA provides technical assistance and innovative and catalytic financing for energy access by unlocking private sector investments in renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) projects and programs.

Duties and responsibilities Under the supervision of the PERN Special Initiatives Manager and the Head of SEFA, the Incumbent will carry out the following tasks:

• Work closely with the SEFA project development team to lead the final structuring and transaction advisory of the maturing projects/programs in the view to bringing them to bankability stage.
• Lead transaction advisory activities on all commercial and financial aspects of projects for SEFA portfolio projects/programs post-SEFA Project Preparation support, with the objectives to transforming opportunities into investment.
• Lead the origination and business development activities – beyond SEFA Project Development portfolio – leading to the generation of a pipeline of sustainable energy investments to which AfDB’s range of finance instruments, including non-sovereign lending, could be applied as well as other co-financiers.
• Identify potential co-financiers and negotiate with them for every transaction. Develop longer term financing arrangements with co-financiers where possible.
• Structure the due diligence process and tools building on existing AfDB’s and lead independent research on the investment climate, project sponsors, management, economic, financial, marketing, technical, and legal aspects of the projects.
• Undertake assessments of the risks of projects and advise on appropriate mitigating measures, structuring/restructuring of projects to minimize market, credit and operational risk.
• Lead the preparation of project/program appraisal reports for presentation to the relevant decision committees up to approval.
• Conduct any other relevant tasks aimed at the fulfilment of SEFA objectives, as may be assigned by the PERN Special Initiatives Manager (or other Manager as may be responsible for SEFA at AfDB) and the SEFA Head.
• Develop a specific annual work programme contributing to the SEFA objectives
• Quarterly progress updates to be included in SEFA’s quarterly reports
• Annual briefs as an input to the annual reports.
• Project appraisal reports and investment packages as requested by any internal approval committee.
• Periodic guidance notes on market best practices.
• Modeling of innovative financing for scale-up programs, best practices, and blended finance structuring of projects and programs.

Selection Criteria Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• At least a Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics, Finance, and/or MBA or similar, relevant for carrying out the required tasks;
• A minimum of seven (7) years of relevant experience in the development, finance and management of (renewable and efficient) energy projects Prior experience with Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) or international commercial banks; prior exposure to appraisal, procurement and disbursement processes is desirable;
• Experience in identifying, structuring, and financial closure of infrastructure projects and structuring private-sector and public-private partnerships (PPP) in emerging markets or in a developing country context with experience and knowledge in infrastructure project finance.;
• Familiarity with the energy project development cycle and understanding of lenders’ requirements for “bankability”, including experience in dealing with renewable energy independent power producers (IPPs);
• Experience in dealing with private sector actors (developers, investors and financial institutions), including in capacity-building and advisory functions;
• Knowledge of the African power sector, including institutional, policy and regulatory issues. At least 5 years of energy sector’s experience in developing countries; experience of SSA markets desirable;
• Integrity and ability to work in a dynamic team as well as to supervise other specialists;
• Working knowledge in English and French; working knowledge of an additional language relevant for conducting duties in Sub-Sahel African countries will be an asset;
• Gender and Diversity competence
• Communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language;
• Working knowledge of an additional language relevant for conducting duties in Sub-Sahel African countries will be an asset;
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite applications; knowledge of SAP is an added advantage.

    Job Title: Chief Renewable Energy Investment Specialist Reference: ADB/19/008 Location: Côte d’Ivoire Grade: PL3 Position N°: 50067404 The Unit

• The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) is housed in PERN1. SEFA is a multi-donor trust fund financed by the Governments of Denmark, the UK, the USA, Italy and Norway. SEFA provides technical assistance and innovative and catalytic financing for energy access by unlocking private sector investments in renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) projects and programs.

Duties and responsibilities Under the supervision of the PERN Special Initiatives Manager and the Head of SEFA, the Incumbent will carry out the following tasks:

• Work closely with the SEFA project development team to lead the final structuring and transaction advisory of the maturing projects/programs in the view to bringing them to bankability stage.
• Lead transaction advisory activities on all commercial and financial aspects of projects for SEFA portfolio projects/programs post-SEFA Project Preparation support, with the objectives to transforming opportunities into investment.
• Lead the origination and business development activities – beyond SEFA Project Development portfolio – leading to the generation of a pipeline of sustainable energy investments to which AfDB’s range of finance instruments, including non-sovereign lending, could be applied as well as other co-financiers.
• Identify potential co-financiers and negotiate with them for every transaction. Develop longer term financing arrangements with co-financiers where possible.
• Structure the due diligence process and tools building on existing AfDB’s and lead independent research on the investment climate, project sponsors, management, economic, financial, marketing, technical, and legal aspects of the projects.
• Undertake assessments of the risks of projects and advise on appropriate mitigating measures, structuring/restructuring of projects to minimize market, credit and operational risk.
• Lead the preparation of project/program appraisal reports for presentation to the relevant decision committees up to approval.
• Conduct any other relevant tasks aimed at the fulfilment of SEFA objectives, as may be assigned by the PERN Special Initiatives Manager (or other Manager as may be responsible for SEFA at AfDB) and the SEFA Head.
• Develop a specific annual work programme contributing to the SEFA objectives
• Quarterly progress updates to be included in SEFA’s quarterly reports
• Annual briefs as an input to the annual reports.
• Project appraisal reports and investment packages as requested by any internal approval committee.
• Periodic guidance notes on market best practices.
• Modeling of innovative financing for scale-up programs, best practices, and blended finance structuring of projects and programs.

Selection Criteria Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• At least a Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics, Finance, and/or MBA or similar, relevant for carrying out the required tasks;
• A minimum of seven (7) years of relevant experience in the development, finance and management of (renewable and efficient) energy projects Prior experience with Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) or international commercial banks; prior exposure to appraisal, procurement and disbursement processes is desirable;
• Experience in identifying, structuring, and financial closure of infrastructure projects and structuring private-sector and public-private partnerships (PPP) in emerging markets or in a developing country context with experience and knowledge in infrastructure project finance.;
• Familiarity with the energy project development cycle and understanding of lenders’ requirements for “bankability”, including experience in dealing with renewable energy independent power producers (IPPs);
• Experience in dealing with private sector actors (developers, investors and financial institutions), including in capacity-building and advisory functions;
• Knowledge of the African power sector, including institutional, policy and regulatory issues. At least 5 years of energy sector’s experience in developing countries; experience of SSA markets desirable;
• Integrity and ability to work in a dynamic team as well as to supervise other specialists;
• Working knowledge in English and French; working knowledge of an additional language relevant for conducting duties in Sub-Sahel African countries will be an asset;
• Gender and Diversity competence
• Communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language;
• Working knowledge of an additional language relevant for conducting duties in Sub-Sahel African countries will be an asset;
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite applications; knowledge of SAP is an added advantage.

    Job Title: Principal Renewable Energy Investment Specialist Reference: ADB/19/011 Location: Côte d’Ivoire Grade: PL4 Position N°: 50064459 The Unit

• The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) is housed in PERN1. SEFA is a multi-donor trust fund financed by the Governments of Denmark, the UK, the USA, Italy and Norway. SEFA provides technical assistance and innovative and catalytic financing for energy access by unlocking private sector investments in renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) projects and programs.

Duties and Responsibilities Under the supervision of the PERN Special Initiatives Manager and the Head of SEFA, the Incumbent will carry out the following tasks:

• Undertake origination and business development activities leading to the generation of a pipeline of renewable energy transaction advisory projects that will develop into a pipeline of renewable energy investments projects to be considered by AfDB’s range of finance instruments including non-sovereign lending;
• Take a leading part in and follow up the implementation of SEFA activities, with a focus on project screening and project preparation along SEFA´s and – where applicable – AfDB’s operational rules and guidelines, for instance on procurement procedures;
• Perform detailed due diligence of all aspects of renewable energy projects in view of their suitability for project pipelines as defined under (i) above;
• Participate in appraisal missions to projects, for the sake of advising project sponsors, project developers, the SEFA Team and AfDB peers on all relevant aspects of projects, as well as supporting the drafting of SEFA documentation, including but not limited to project preparation grant requests and enabling environment grant requests.;
• Carry out in-depth independent research on renewable energy markets, project sponsors, project developers, as well as on all relevant commercial, financial, marketing, technical, and legal aspects of projects;
• Conduct any other relevant tasks aimed at the fulfilment of SEFA goals, as may be assigned by the PERN Special Initiatives Manager (or other Manager as may be responsible for SEFA at AfDB) and the SEFA Coordinator.
• Develop a specific annual work programme contributing to the SEFA objectives
• Quarterly progress updates to be included in SEFA’s quarterly reports
• Annual briefs as an input to the annual reports.
• Project appraisal reports and project preparation and enabling environment packages as requested by any internal approval committee.

Selection Criteria Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• At least a Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics, Finance, Technical or Environmental Sciences or similar, relevant for carrying out the required tasks;
• A minimum of seven (7) years of relevant experience in the development, finance and management of (renewable) energy projects;
• Prior experience with Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) or international commercial banks; prior exposure to appraisal, procurement and disbursement processes is desirable;
• Strong experience in identifying, structuring, and financial closure of infrastructure projects and structuring private-sector and public-private partnerships (PPP) in emerging markets or in a developing country context;
• Familiarity with the power project development cycle and understanding of lenders’ requirements for “bankability”, including experience in dealing with renewable energy independent power producers (IPPs);
• Experience in dealing with private sector actors (developers, investors and financial institutions), including in capacity-building and advisory functions;
• Knowledge of the African power sector, including institutional, policy and regulatory issues, and field experience in at least five Sub-Sahel African countries required;
• Integrity and ability to work in a dynamic team as well as independently with little supervision;
• Must be fluent in English and French; working knowledge of an additional language relevant for conducting duties in Sub-Sahel African countries will be an asset;
• Gender and Diversity competence
• Communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language;
• Working knowledge of an additional language relevant for conducting duties in Sub-Sahel African countries will be an asset;
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite applications; knowledge of SAP is an added advantage.

    Job Title: Regional Procurement Coordinator, Central Region Reference: ADB/19/010 Location: Cameroon Grade: PL3 Position N°: 50071206 The Complex

• The Senior Vice-Presidency (SNVP) is responsible for supporting the President in the day-to-day management of the Bank Group to achieve its strategic objective and drive performance culture that will align all processes and systems to deliver high impact results.
• The SNVP will provide effective leadership and exceptional coordination to ensure implementation and monitoring of key corporate decisions as well as the identification of necessary corrective measures and actions. The SNVP will lead Senior Management discussions, decision-making processes and the implementation of key Board and Management decisions.​

The Hiring Department

• The SNVP supervises the Fiduciary and Inspection Department (SNFI), which acts as the custodian of the procurement (including procurement for private and public partnership) and financial management (FM) profession, and has the following responsibilities for its functions: (i) developing and interpreting policy, strategy and related guidance notes and manuals; (ii) preparing annual post review reports on the Bank’s FM and procurement operations for the Board; (iii) developing training strategy for internal and external clients; (iv)  and dialoguing with external and global partners with a view to building partnerships and fostering harmonization; (v) providing the secretariat for the Procurement Review Committee (PRC); and (vi) inspecting and reporting on the performance of procurement and FM activities undertaken by the regions.
• The Regional Procurement Coordinator is responsible to ensure that the project procurement activities financed by the Bank in his/her region done by his/her Procurement specialists team are compliant with the Bank’s procurement policy.  This is done by advising on procurement arrangements and reviewing procurement decisions of the Procurement Specialists’ team within the project/program operations cycle from the identification to completion stages. The incumbent also contributes to the preparation of the Bank’s Country Strategy Paper, and to building procurement capacity of Borrowers which includes training of Borrower staff, advising on project related procurement matters, and assessing and strengthening the Borrower’s procurement systems.
• The Regional Procurement Coordinator reports administratively to the Regional Operations Manager for Implementation Support (ROM-IS) and functionally to the Division Manager - Procurement (SNFI).

Duties and responsibilities Under the supervision and guidance of the Division Manager Procurement, the Regional Procurement will, in his/her duty station:

• Ensure consistent, uniform and predictable application of the Policy within the region and provide corrective actions as appropriate;
• Review procurement policy deviations and provide clearance for inclusion in Project Appraisal Reports (PARs) for subsequent Board approval with clearance of the manager as needed;
• Review all cases involving the use of Third Party procurement methods and procedures and provide clearance for inclusion of those methods and procedures in the PAR for Board approval with clearance of the manager as needed;
• Review and clear procurement diagnostic assessments reports (BPAR, Sector Market Assessments) for approval by the Manager and Director of SNFI, assist Regional member countries for their procurement reforms and mobilize financial resources for this assistance;
• Review and clear the assessment of borrowers’ procurement systems done by the Procurement specialists team, and the design of adequate action plans to improve Borrowers’ procurement systems and to strengthen the institutional capacity within borrowers’ entities;
• Participate with other Multilateral Development Banks in the assessment of the Regional Member Countries procurement systems;
• Review and clear procurement cases as per the Bank’s Delegation of Authority matrix for Sovereign and Non-Sovereign projects;
• Take a pro-active role ensuring ‘Quality at Entry work’ through supervision of a team of Procurement specialists across the region in terms of the Fiduciary and Development mandate of the Bank;
• Follow up with Procurement Specialists of complaints received from bidders, contractors or civil society;
• Deal with cases where the advice provided by the procurement specialist was not accepted by the task manager and finding solutions;
• Facilitate and undertake training seminars /workshops for the Borrower and Bank Staff  and Business Opportunity seminars for the regional and non-regional private sector
• Prepare all Project Procurement brief for the Senior Management when required;
• Monitor  Procurement Data Entry by reviewing their quality through random checks to ensure that accurate procurement data are generated for SNFI reports;
• Maintain procurement information regarding her/his region on the Bank’s Website;
• Make sure to attain the objectives of the key performance indicators set up by the Procurement department by developing tools and;
• Prepare periodic activity reports of the region and the Bank’s Annual Procurement Reports.

Selection Criteria Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Master’s degree or equivalent in Public/Business Administration, Law, Engineering, Procurement, Economics or related fields
• A minimum of seven (7) years of relevant professional experience in providing procurement support and advice to the preparation and implementation of programs and projects financed by the Bank or any other similar institution in developing countries,  having private sector experience will be an added advantage
• Proven familiarity with and solid experience in the practice of procurement of goods and works and the acquisition of consultancy services under donor funding conditions, it would be desirable to have knowledge of Bank Procurement policy
• Experience in supervising and effectively managing implementation of  developments projects and programs
• Ability to be flexible, open-minded with integrity, client and results oriented for achieving both Bank’s and Borrowers’ objectives
• Effective consulting and advisory skills that enable Sector Staff and Borrowers to build their confidence and skills to deal with procurement issues
• Good networking skills and judgment are required while working within teams and when building professional relationships with procurement specialists and sector specialists working in the Region
• Strong leadership and coaching skills
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in French with a working knowledge of the English,
• Competence with standard MS Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), preferably combined with knowledge and experience of SAP operations

    Job Title: Senior Operations Specialist Reference: ADB/19/012 Location: Côte d’Ivoire Grade: PL5 Position N°: 50086490 The Unit

• The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) is housed in PERN1. SEFA is a multi-donor trust fund financed by the Governments of Denmark, the UK, the USA, Italy and Norway. SEFA provides technical assistance and innovative and catalytic financing for energy access by unlocking private sector investments in renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) projects and programs.

Duties and responsibilities Under the supervision of the PERN Special Initiatives Manager and the Head of SEFA, the Incumbent will carry out the following tasks: Programme Administration:

• Supervise the pipeline/portfolio management platform that tracks projects across all SEFA components;
• Work with the operational teams in carrying portfolio management activities, particularly in areas of procurement, legal processing and disbursement;
• Support the team in post-grant activities (project structuring);
• Serve as primary liaison and ensure timely responses to solicitations from internal and external stakeholders; and
• Maintain up-to-date guidelines, templates and user manuals for internal and external audiences;

Business Development:

• Support Secretariat team in project identification, review and screening;
• Support applicants and Bank task managers with writing of grant requests;
• Provide technical inputs and support due diligence activities on grant applications
• Facilitation and liaison with other Bank-hosted concessional finance instruments

Reporting, M&E and Knowledge Management:

• Ensure operationalisation of the SEFA’s M&E framework;
• Carry supervision missions to assess programme effectiveness;
• Lead in the preparation of SEFA’s annual report, quarterly updates and monthly briefs;
• Support on development of annual strategies and work plans, closely monitoring implementation;
• Carry-out research and prepare briefs as required by Management and SEFA Head.

Public Relations:

• Coordinate SEFA public relations workflow and explore possibilities of SEFA web-presence (AfDB website, external website, external donor data platform, etc.)
• Manage SEFA communications materials, including brochures and press releases
• Liaison and coordination with internal and external partners

Deliverables:

• Develop a specific annual work programme contributing to the SEFA objectives
• Develop quarterly progress reports
• Lead the preparation of the annual reports.

Selection Criteria Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• At least a Master’s degree or equivalent in in Economics, Finance, International Relations, Energy or related field;
• A minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience in project portfolio management, preferably linked to technical assistance and capacity building programs
• Experience of working with projects and institutions in Africa, preferably with some exposure to processes and procedures of development finance institutions
• Some prior exposure to energy sector, business development and private sector finance not mandatory but considered an advantage
• Ability to work independently, pro-actively and with little supervision
• Good communication and team skills, professional judgment, presentation and maturity
• Proficiency in MS Office applications, particularly excel and access;
• Gender and Diversity competence
• Communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language;
• Working knowledge of an additional language relevant for conducting duties in Sub-Sahel African countries will be an asset;
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite applications; knowledge of SAP is an added advantage.

    How to Apply Interested and qualified candidate should: Click here to apply Application Deadline 31st March, 2019.

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