REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR JUNIOR CONSULTANT
African Development Bank
Avenue Joseph Anoma
01 B.P. 1387 Abidjan 01
Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Agriculture Finance and Rural Development Department (AHFR)
Title of assignment : Junior Consultant
Brief description of the assignment : The Junior Consultant will provide wide-ranging research, analytical and administrative support to the Agriculture and Rural Finance Division of the Agriculture Finance and Rural Development Department to facilitate its core functions, including business development, investment appraisal and contribution to the Bank’s knowledge products.
Department / Division issuing the request : Agriculture Finance and Rural Development (AHFR)
Department / Agriculture and Rural Finance Division (AHFR1)
Place of assignment : Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Duration of the assignment : Six (6) months
Tentative date of commencement : 15 January 2021
Deadline for applications : 4 December 2020 at 17h00 UTC
Expressions of interest should be submitted to : Mr. Charles Dollie – Email : c.dollie@afdb.org
with a copy to Mr. Henry VERDIER, Jr. : h.verdier@afdb.org
TERMS OF REFERENCE
JUNIOR CONSULTANT – AGRICULTURE AND RURAL FINANCE DIVISION
- Introduction and Background The Bank :
Established in 1964, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 81 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for 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 (High 5s), all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely; energy, agro-business, industrialization, integration and improving the quality of life for the people of Africa.
The Bank is seeking to recruit a dynamic and competent Junior Consultant who will work on agriculture and rural finance operations within the Vice Presidency for ‘Agriculture, Human, and Social Development’ (AHVP), specifically in the Agriculture and Rural Finance Department (AHFR).
The Hiring Department and Division :
The Agriculture Finance and Rural Development Department works closely with the Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department and the Regional Directorates to provide support for the delivery of “Feed Africa: Strategy for Agricultural Transformation in Africa, 2016-2025”.
The core mandate of the Department is to develop the strategy of the Bank related to agricultural and rural finance and rural development, execute non-sovereign operations for the transformation of value chains, represent the Bank with external stakeholders, provide sector expertise to the Regions by gathering experts who can be consulted by operations and closing the financing gap for private sector-led development of agricultural value chains. The Department is also responsible for mainstreaming the Africa Disaster Risk Financing Initiative to enable African countries to manage disaster risk and access ex-ante insurance financing before major climate events.
The Department is structured into two Divisions: (i) Agriculture and Rural Finance Division (AHFR1); and (ii) Rural Infrastructure Development Division (AHFR2).
The Agriculture and Rural Finance Division is responsible for working with private and financial sector to transform value chains, identifying opportunities for long-term investments to address food security and boost economic growth in Africa.
The Division has the following deliverables:
- Support non-sovereign operations targeting large agro-companies, private equity funds and impact funds ;
- Support an enabling environment for private sector development for de-risking investments, and financing agricultural value chains ;
- Lead strategic partnerships with key private sector clients, financial institutions and commercial banks to finance priority agriculture value chains ;
- Provide high-quality and innovative debt/equity/ quasi-equity/ guarantee investments for private sector development aimed at agricultural transformation ;
- Catalyze capital flows, especially commercial lending and private investment to scale agribusiness; and
- Mobilize resources and blended finance initiatives to close the financing gap for private sector led development of agricultural value chains.
- Objective and Activities of the Assignment :
The Junior Consultant’s primary responsibilities will be to provide wide-ranging research, analytical and administrative support to the Division to facilitate its core functions outlined above. Specifically, to support continuous business development with the provision of timely and accurate information.
The assignment will entail but not limited to the following key responsibilities :
- Provide wide-ranging research and analytical input to facilitate the core functions of the team, including investment appraisal, business development and contribution to the Bank’s knowledge products ;
- Contribute to the documentation of lessons learned from investment operations and emerging best practices ;
- Compile a database of Agribusiness projects requiring Bank financing based on prior request received by staff and management ;
- Develop and maintain a business development monitoring and tracking framework for the Division ;
- Provide ongoing business intelligence, reporting and logistics (including event management) support to the Division ;
- Assist with the development of training, communication and marketing materials and provide logistical support to staff ;
- Conduct research and summarize data in user friendly formats (charts, tables, maps, etc.) for the preparation of reports, presentations, and speeches ;
- Assist in preparing business development missions, including making appointments and providing logistics support ;
- Undertake strategic field missions as part of the business development and investment appraisal processes of the Division and
- Perform any other tasks assigned to him/her by the AHFR.1. Division Manager.
The objective of the role will require that the Junior Consultant is conversant, although to a limited degree with the Bank’s non-sovereign operations processes.
- Administrative and Technical Reporting :
The Junior Consultant will be under the overall supervision of the Division Manager (AHFR1), but direct oversight of responsibilities and activities will be under the supervision of a Division professional staff designated my management.
- Duration of the assignment :
The Junior Consultant will work on a full-time basis for a period of six months starting from January 2021. The contract could be renewed once for another six months period upon satisfaction and depending on the needs of the Division. The Junior Consultant will be based in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. However, due to the intervening Covid 19 the Junior Consultant will commence the assignment at his/her current location until notified by the Bank.
- Qualifications and Experience Required :
The Consultant shall demonstrate appropriate qualifications and skills necessary for the assignment as described above.
Candidates should demonstrate the following qualifications and skills :
- A Masters’ degree (or equivalent) in Management and International Business, Economics, Finance / Banking or related field ;
- A national of the Bank’s Regional Member Country (RMC) ;
- Less than 32 years of age ;
- A minimum of two (2) years and maximum of 5 years working experience, including experience in undertaking business development and marketing activities ;
- Excellent research, writing and reporting skills, with strong attention to detail ;
- Strong analytical, organization and research skills ;
- Familiarity with the functioning or previous experience with a multilateral development finance institution, a bilateral institution, investment or commercial bank will be an advantage ;
- Capacity to work in a team, to deliver outputs in a timely manner and under tight deadlines ;
- Competence in the use of Bank standard software (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, MS projects ;
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and/or French. A good working knowledge of the other language would be an added advantage.
- Remuneration :
The Junior Consultants will be paid a competitive monthly lump sum for the entire period in accordance with Bank’s scale set for Junior 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. The individual consultant is responsible for his/her own health insurance and own accommodation costs.
Please attach updated Curriculum vitae on the basis of the template attached.