Coordinator AFFM - OSAN at African Development Bank - AfDB

In June 2006, African leaders meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, under the auspices of the African Union (AU)/New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Summit on Fertilizer for an African Green Revolution, resolved and called on the African Development Bank (AfDB) to establish and host the Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism (AFFM). With the support of the AU Commission and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the AFFM Secretariat was established and is hosted and managed by the AfDB in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The specific objective of the AFFM is to increase fertilizer use in Africa from its current average of about 10 kg per hectare (ha) to 50 kg per ha, so as to boost agricultural productivity.

Duties and responsibilities

The AFFM Coordinator will work under the day-to-day supervision of the Director of the African Development Bank’s Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department (OSAN), and be supported by relevant Bank Divisions to coordinate the AFFM through daily supervision of activities at the Bank’s headquarters and to facilitate the implementation of the AFFM’s field programs and allied initiatives at the country level. His/her performance reporting will be both to the Director, OSAN and the Chairperson of the AFFM Governing Council. The incumbent will be specifically required to:

• Ensure that the AFFM Secretariat is fully functional including setting up its operations, accounts, budgets, and information management systems;
• Prepare the AFFM’s Operational Manual that will guide the operations of the Mechanism in line with the objectives and goals of the AFFM and the AfDB rules of procedures;
• Supervise staff of the AFFM Secretariat by providing leadership, agreeing with them on their individual work programs; and by reporting on program implementation progress and ensuring that the Mechanism’s objectives are achieved;
• Familiarize AfDB member countries in Africa with the AFFM through effective communication on concept, objective, operations strategy and procedures;
• Prepare and submit projects for AfDB Board of Directors’ approval based on the identified needs for the realization of the AFFM’s objectives;
• Establish a results-based monitoring and evaluation system that tracks, in a timely manner, improvements in fertilizer supply and use against AFFM’s annual and medium-term plans;
• Represent the AFFM in conferences and meetings of the fertilizer sector, meetings of AU Ministers of Agriculture, the AFFM Governing Council, etc.;
• Undertake any other assignment relevant to the successful implementation and performance of the AFFM;
• Managing the team of staff assigned to AFFM.

Selection Criteria

Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience

• A Masters’ degree in Agriculture, Business Administration, Finance or a related field of study with strong agribusiness management experience;
• Relevant professional experience of at least 15 years, of which at least 10 years in the field of fertilizer production and/or Marketing are required;
• Proven resource mobilization experience with state and non-state actors;
• Extensive private sector experience with demonstrated knowledge of designing and implementing private sector based investment projects, particularly within the fertilizer value chain;
• Successful budget preparation and management experience in an international organization setting and demonstrated leadership of teams working on budget preparation and execution;
• Extensive knowledge of the regional and international policy and regulatory context related to the fertilizer sector and in-depth knowledge of the agriculture sector in Africa;
• Good communication skills and ability to cooperate and work in a diverse multicultural environment;
• Proficiency in the use of standard Microsoft software, especially MS Office environment;
• Fluency in oral and written English is required. Candidates who also speak French will be at an advantage.