AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
BANQUE AFRICAINE DE DEVELOPPEMENT
REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
Title of the assignment : Junior consultant and research analyst to support research activities
Department making the request : Microeconomic, Institutional and Development Impact Division (ECMR.2)
Place of assignment : Abidjan
Period of assignment : March 1st, 2020 to August 31st, 2020
Expected start date of the assignment : March 1st, 2020
Last date for expressing interest : February 14th, 2020
Expression of interest to be submitted to : Lucette ALESSE (a.alesse@afdb.org)
Any questions/clarifications needed to be addressed to : Lucette ALESSE (a.alesse@afdb.org)
- Establishment of the short list :
A shortlist of three to six individual consultants will be established at the end of the request of expressions of interest. The consultants on the shortlist will be judged on the following criteria on the basis of their updated resume.
| Level of education in general | 20% |
| Educational level compared to the field of mission | 20% |
| Years of experience in general | 20% |
| Number of years of experience relevant to the mission | 40% |
- Introduction and background :
The African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. The Bank’s development agenda entails delivering financial and technical support to transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In order to sharply focus the objectives of the Ten Year Strategy (2013 – 2022) and ensure greater developmental impact, five major areas of focus (High 5), all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely; light up and power Africa (energy), feed Africa (agriculture and nutrition), industrialize Africa (industrialization), integrate Africa (regional integration and intra-regional trade) and improve the quality of life for Africans (sustainable socio-economic development).
The Chief Economist/Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management (ECVP) is responsible for (i) providing leadership and visibility for the Bank on economic, finance, financial governance and socio economic development issues; and coordinate the 1 generation of analytical work to inform operational policy; and (ii) systematically emphasize the critical role of knowledge, experience, lessons learnt and their tangible impact on sustainable, inclusive transformation of African economies.
The Macroeconomics Policy, Forecasting and Research Department (ECMR) is dedicated to the generation of high quality knowledge in the area of development in Africa. ECMR comprises 2 divisions, one of which is the Microeconomics, Institutional and Development Impact Division (ECMR.2) which focuses on microeconomic issues related to development finance, infrastructure development, private sector development, industrial organizations, governance, competitiveness & investment climate, agriculture, institutions, and regional integration to support the High 5s. In addition, the Microeconomic, Institutional and Development Impact Division is the institutional anchor of the ex-ante Additionality and Development Outcome Assessment (ADOA) of the Bank’s operations. As such, it is a key element of the Bank Results Framework and the primary tool for mainstreaming Development Outcomes.
ECMR.2 also undertakes research and knowledge generation activities to inform its additionality and development outcomes assessments and more broadly the Bank’s operations. These activities cover a wide range of areas that are relevant to the Bank’s High 5 priorities. For instance, ECMR.2 coordinates the Africa Long-Term Finance (LTF) Initiative which is a joint initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Financial Sector Deepening Trust for Africa (FSDA), the German Cooperation (BMZ, implemented by GIZ), and the Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) Partnership. The Division is also undertaking research work in trade finance, including the implementation of continent-wide survey of commercial banks.
ECMR.2 is currently seeking to recruit a junior consultant with strong research and analytical skills to support its work on trade finance, as well as its ADOA and non-ADOA work program.
- Objective and activities of the assignment :
The consultant’s primary responsibilities will be to assist with the coordination of the Long-Term Finance Initiative amongst the relevant stakeholders, including across the LTF Scoreboard and Country Diagnostics teams and to provide research support to the Division’s ongoing projects in areas that are relevant to the Bank’s “High 5s”. Specifically, she/he will be requested to complete the following tasks :
- Undertake literature review on relevant topics to the Division’s work program ;
- Help design questionnaires, collect, and consolidate qualitative and quantitative data on trade finance in Africa and ADOA related tasks ;
- Perform econometric and statistical analysis in connection with the various research projects, using relevant statistical and econometric packages such as Stata;
- Assist with the preparation and organization of dissemination events (including research seminars and conferences within and outside the Bank) as well as with the preparation of presentation materials, flagship publications, and any other reports the Division might be called upon to produce ;
- Back-stop the Division’s staff in their other research activities planned under the department work program.
The consultant will also be required to perform any other duties including administrative tasks required to facilitate the research projects, as may be assigned by the division manager or the task manager for this undertaking.
- Management and supervision of the consultancy :
The Consultant will work under the overall guidance of the Manager of ECMR.2 and the immediate supervision of the task manager for this undertaking.
- Duration and location of the assignment :
The Consultant will collaborate closely with key stakeholders and will work on a full-time basis for a period of six (6) months, from March 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020. The consultant will be based in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire and require fulltime presence in the Bank’s offices.
- Required qualifications and experience :
- At least a master degree in Development Economics, Econometrics, Finance, Public Policy or related field. PhD or progress in PhD is an added advantage ;
- Be a national of one of the member countries of the Bank ;
- Be under 32 years of age ;
- A minimum of 2 and maximum of 4 years working experience with an international organization, in Africa or other low-income countries ;
- Proven experience working on financial-sector (financial inclusion, capital market development, banking, private equity, etc.) related projects ;
- Excellent research, writing and reporting skills, with strong attention to detail ;
- Publication record on peer-reviewed international journal in any field related to development economics will be an added advantage ;
- Good knowledge of development issues in Africa and solid understanding of economic concepts ;
- Ability to design and conduct research projects/programs with limited supervision ;
- The Bank’s working languages are French and English. For this assignment, strong writing and editing skills in English are required; knowledge of French will be an added advantage ;
- Proven capacity to work in a team, to deliver outputs in a timely manner and under tight deadlines ;
- Proficiency in conventional econometrics and statistical packages (EViews, Matlab, Stata, etc.), and ability to work with and manipulate large and complex datasets.
- Remuneration for the assignment :
The Consultant will be paid a competitive monthly lump sum for the entire period in accordance with Bank’s scale set for Consultants and commensurate with the number of years of relevant experience. The Bank will cover travel costs to join its headquarters, in line with its rules as authorized by the Bank in connection with the contract.
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