Principal Health Economist - AHHD2 at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/18/221
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: PL4
Position N°: 50001076

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for Agriculture, Human, and Social Development is a Sector Complex focusing on the Bank’s Ten Year Strategy High 5s priority of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”. The complex objectives are (i) to develop, policy and strategy; (ii) provide deep sector expertise to the Regions by gathering pool of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide sector expertise on complex transactions; (iii) develop new financing instruments; (iv) the Vice President will act as the spoke person to represent the Bank with external stakeholders on aspects of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.

The Hiring Department/Division
AHHD leads the Bank’s efforts to enhance human capital for Africa’s economic transformation. The Department spearheads the achievement of the High 5s on “Improving the Quality of Life of People in Africa” and contribute to the other High 5s. The Department has two divisions (i) Education, Human Capital and Skills Development Division (AHHD1), which focuses on scaling-up of Bank’s support to education, human capital and employment/livelihoods; and (ii) Public Health, Security and Nutrition Division (AHHD2) focusing on strengthening health systems and nutrition for human wellbeing. It also has two Flagship Initiatives; 1) The Jobs for Youth in Africa (JFYA) and 2) The African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) Initiative and hosts various trust funds.

The Public Health, Security and Nutrition Division:

• Leads the development and promotion of Bank’s policy and strategy work so that operations which are identified, developed and executed by the regional hubs effectively implement the Bank’s relevant sector policies and strategies;
• Provides technical guidance/advisory services and expertise to regional hubs by generating relevant knowledge and gathering a pool of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide technical advice on complex transactions (Communities of Practice);
• Fosters strategic partnerships with regional and global partners to leverage resources into human capital development sectors. It also directly contributes to the work of the various initiatives and trust funds hosted under AHHD.
• Provides expertise to support the role of the Vice-President as the Bank’s spokesperson to external audiences; and
• Ensures coherence of the Bank’s action in public health, social protection and nutrition across regions.

The Position
The Principal Health Economist, reporting to the Division Manager AHHD2, will:

• Carry out analysis of trends and modalities of financing and strengthening health systems in Africa;
• Review national health and social policies and strategies;
• Provide expertise to the Department and other relevant Bank’s Departments;
• Initiate and lead knowledge and analytical work on public health;
• Provide documented strategic advice to Management;
• Contribute to the preparation of policies and strategies on public health.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the overall supervision of the Manager Public Health, Security and Nutrition, the incumbent will:

• Advise Bank Management on health sector strategies and policies;
• Review Bank’s Country Assistance Strategies for the health sector;
• Analyze the health situation, health systems and health financing constraints of specific countries;
• Collect and analyze demographic data, disease patterns, human, material and infrastructure resources, as well as health financing and equity indicators of African countries;
• Recommend health sector studies/projects/programmes to be included in the lending programme for each country, particularly in the areas of universal health coverage, digital health, governance and health insurance;
• Lead Economic and Sector Work to inform country dialogue and policies including public expenditures reviews, public expenditure tracking surveys, evidence based costing and budgeting exercises, community of practice related to health financing issues and other economic analyses in the health sector;
• Initiate and maintain a high level policy dialogue with stakeholders and other agencies involved in the health sector;
• Conduct financial and economic analyses underpinning health projects and provide recommendations regarding the amounts, terms and conditions of the Bank’s loans and grants in the health sector;
• Conduct analysis of economic and financial performance of projects in the health sector including cost- effectiveness, cost benefit, benefit incidence analysis and impact analysis;
• Prepare and monitor portfolio performance reports for the health sector;
• Operationalize an integrated approach to sustainable development, taking into account cross-cutting issues i.e. poverty, environment, population, gender and institutional development;
• Monitor and review health sector aid programmes of other donor agencies in each specific regional member country and determine financing gaps;
• Represent the Bank/Department at national and international health related meetings;
• Perform other related administrative or technical duties as required by the Division Manager or Director on health related issues.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold At least a Master's Degree in Economics, Development Economics, Health Economics and or Economics of Service Delivery
• At least Six (6) years relevant experience in policy and strategy development and conducting economic and financial analysis of health programmes and projects particularly in Africa. Strong analytical and quantitative skills as demonstrated by the production and or contribution to analytical reports/publications,
• Experience in analysis of health policies and strategies in developing countries, particularly in Africa.
• Proven capacity to present ideas and prepare technical documents.
• Perseverance in pursuing objectives in the face of obstacles.
• Capacity to propose and implement solutions to problems.
• Capacity to guide colleagues and monitor activities
• Team player with cross-cultural and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to build partnerships and deliver services that meet both immediate needs and long-term interests of clients within and outside the Bank.
• Demonstrates accountability in decisions and judgement.
• Promotes open and frank strategic/technical discussion.
• Ability to deliver high quality work within tight deadlines.
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French. A working knowledge of the other will be an asset.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint); knowledge of SAP is desirable.