Chief Research Economist at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/19/080
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: PL3
Position N°: 50083098

The Complex

• The Chief Economist/Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management is the Bank’s spokesperson on economic matters and the Vice President for the ‘Economics Governance and Knowledge Management Complex’.
• The Chief Economist/Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management is responsible for (i) providing leadership and visibility for the Bank on economic, finance, financial governance and socio economic development issues; and coordinate the generation of analytical works to inform operational policy; (ii) systematically emphasize the critical role of knowledge, experience, lessons learnt and their tangible impact on sustainable, inclusive transformation of African economies.
• The Chief Economist/Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management will inspire, generate and provide direct support to the President and Senior Management of the Bank on a broad range of technical and management issues within the broad remit of economic, finance, public financial governance, management and social economics.

The Hiring Department/Division:

• The Macroeconomics Policy, Forecasting and Research Department is dedicated to the generation of high quality knowledge in the area of development in Africa. It provides technical support to operations and regional member countries through rigorous analytical work; engages in impactful policy dialogue with decision-making bodies within and outside of the Bank; and most importantly enhance the operational effectiveness of the Bank in achieving the High 5s.
• The activities of the department are structured around the Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting on one side, and the Microeconomics, Institutional and Development Impact on the other.
• The Microeconomic, Institutional and Development Impact Division 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 and Outcome (ADOA) Assessments of the Bank’s operations, as such it is a key element of the Bank Results Framework.

The Position

• The Chief Research Economist is part of the ECMR.2 team and expected to perform both ADOA assessments of the Bank’s lending operations as well as research activities related to the Bank’s High5 agenda.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Microeconomic, Institutional and Development Impact Division Manager,  the  Chief Research Economist will:

• Participate in Ex-ante Additionality and Development Outcome Assessment of Bank’s lending operations:
  • Lead, provide inputs and assist the team in the delivery of ex-ante Additionality and Development Outcome Assessments of the African Development Bank’s lending to Non sovereign and Regional Operations and any other type of operation, as required by the management.
  • Contribute to any revisions of the Additionality and Development Outcome Assessment framework on the basis of implementation experience, lessons from other Development Finance institutions and best practices.
• Lead and participate in research activities in the areas supporting the Bank’s High 5s (High  priority areas: Light Up and Power Africa (Energy), Feed Africa (Agriculture and Nutrition), Industrialize Africa (Industrialization), Integrate Africa (Regional Integration) and Improve the quality of life for Africans (Sustainable socio-economic development). This includes also strengthening knowledge generation in the area of inclusive and green growth.
• Provide inputs into the production of the Bank’s flagship publications:
  • Lead and contribute to the preparation of flagship reports or assigned chapters, write assigned sections and ensure follow up (peer reviews) until their publication;
  • Assist and lead on the dissemination of the findings of reports.
• Provide technical and analytical inputs into the work of Operations Complexes:
  • Provide input into Country Strategy Papers;
  • Lead or participate in Economic Sector Work;
  • Participate in the peer review process of project, program and policy documents, including documents submitted to the Operations Committee and the Board.
• Contribute to the Bank’s “Working Papers Series " and the Bank’s "African Development Review":
  • Publish research papers and review submitted articles to the African Development Review and Working Paper Series.
  • Provide inputs to collaborative research and knowledge management activities carried out jointly with regional and international organizations, research and capacity building institutions in Africa, development research centers and universities.
  • Review operation documents and participate in review meetings.
  • Perform other duties as may be assigned by the Supervisor or Management.
  • Assist in the management of the division’s HR and financial affairs and mentor more junior staff

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Have at least a Master's degree in Economics, Finance or relevant field;
• Have a minimum of Seven (7) years of professional experience combining research and operational involvement in the design and Evaluation of operations relevant to the High 5s areas including the following: infrastructure including energy, agriculture, private sector development, industrial organizations and social sectors, project analysis and/or monitoring and evaluation.
• Publication record in international peer reviewed journals, working papers, book chapters, reports, etc.
• Proven ability in development policy research and analysis of economic conditions that are of relevance for the High 5s.
• Ability to design, supervise and conduct research projects/programs,
• Ability to understand and identify development outcomes expected from real sector projects,
• Proven skills in drafting and preparation of policy memoranda, speeches and notes for use in decision-making processes.
• Communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language;
• Competence in the use of leading econometrics software packages (Stata, SPSS, etc.) and in Microsoft Suites (Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Access).