Portfolio Officer at Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund

Purpose of the Role

• The Portfolio Officer is responsible for supporting the management of the Investing in Women Nigeria Programme, an investment designed to support women-owned and women-led enterprises, cooperatives, and women groups, which is funded by Global Affairs Canada.
• He/she will lead the technical and grants management support to a portfolio of investments in small and medium-sized enterprises and women’s cooperatives in the agriculture sector in Kano, Nigeria.
• The incumbent is expected to work flexibly and collegially in processing grants, managing relations with investees, supervising the implementation of investment contracts, reporting to management and external donor partners, and coordinating technical assistance.
• The role holder must have the right experience in agriculture value chain analysis, cooperative engagement, and development.

Key Responsibilities
Portfolio Monitoring & Reporting:

• Ensure investee performance is in line with grant agreements through effective relationship management.
• Lead the planning and execution of investee performance monitoring activities, including data verification exercises to ensure the quality of programme results.
• Implement the financial policies, procedures, and systems guidelines for grant recipients.
• Ensure all investee site visits are conducted periodically per the agreed site visit schedule.
• Coordinate identification of investees who require technical assistance and arrange to deliver services based on the AECF TA and Learning service delivery framework.
• Reviewing periodic narrative and financial reports and disbursement requests from grant recipients.
• Ensure legal review and opinion on grants that require the legal department’s review.
• Provide periodic reports on the programme, information trends, and other relevant information as requested.
• Contribute to the development of periodic management and donor reports.
• Contribute to proposal development for various potential program areas.

Impact & Learning:

• Contribute to the portfolio learning agenda by collecting investee progress reports and validating impact reported following AECF guidelines on impact measurement.
• Contribute to baseline, mid-term, and end-line evaluations.
• Contribute lessons learned to regular reporting and ad hoc learning papers produced under the IIW Nigeria programme.

Risk & Compliance:

• Ensure compliance with the portfolio’s internal controls and risk management per the wider AECF Management Framework.
• Implement the programme risk and mitigation framework, aligning with the overall AECF Risk and Compliance Management Framework.

Requirements

• Hold a Bachelor's Degree in Agribusiness, Finance Economics, Sustainable Development, or related field.
• Minimum five (5) years experience in portfolio or investment management, including experience with financial and operational due diligence of early or growth-stage businesses.
• Have experience in Agribusiness value chain analysis, co-operatives engagement, and development
• Experience in private sector-led development, sustainable finance, value chain strengthening, or economic diversification .
• A professional accounting qualification, e.g., ACCA, will be an added advantage.
• Have experience working with SMEs, and financial intermediaries working with micro and small businesses.
• Experience with gender lens investing will be a distinct added advantage.
• Have demonstrated organizational and project management skills.
• Have an understanding of the donor landscape and demands of international development.
• Excellent analytical and communication skills, with the ability to prepare investment/grant memos, proposals, and reports to a high level of proficiency.
• A high degree of initiative and energy, a “can-do” attitude, flexibility, teamwork, and attention to detail.
• Fluency in written and oral English and Hausa languages