Senior Investment Officer, PIFD1 at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB / 21 / 043
Location: Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
Grade: PL5
Position N°: 50078328

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization is central to the Bank’s mission of developing the private sector, improving infrastructure and accelerating industrialization.
• The complex main functions are to (i) strengthen the enabling environment for private sector [and financial sector] development conducive to inclusive growth and sustainable development, (ii) support the development of reliable and sustainable infrastructure, including cities and urban development, and (iii) place renewed emphasis on industrial and trade performance in support of structural transformation across Africa.
• The Complex leverages knowledge, co-financing, and partnerships to attract private capital and work with governments on delivering the Bank’s development agenda.

The Hiring Department:

• The primary role of the Financial Sector Development (FSD) Department is to help the Regional Member Countries (RMCs) increase the reach, depth, and breadth of their financial systems, while safeguarding financial stability. The Department has four long-term objectives: (i) development of a vibrant private sector through an inclusive access by households and enterprises to financial services; (ii) strengthening markets participants; (iii) developing efficient capital markets, and (iv) deepening regional financial integration.
• Paired with other Industrialization, infrastructure and Private Sector complex departments, the FSD Department is responsible for implementing the Bank Group’s Financial Sector Development Policy and Strategy 2014-2019 (FSDPS) towards vibrant, innovative, robust and competitive financial systems, both national and regional, and in both the public and private sector levels of RMCs. FSD plays a transversal role across the Bank’s five strategic priorities, applying its financial deepening and access tool kit to the High Five (H5) agenda. Fundamentally, the scalability and policy momentum inherent in the H5 agenda create an important opportunity for expanded relevance of the FSD core skill-set: flexible financing instruments and delivery frameworks for financial inclusion, smart resource mobilization and capital markets development. FSD leverages partnerships to bring about greater developmental impact in financial sector development.
• The Financial Inclusion and Intermediation Division focuses on promoting innovative financial and non-financial products and services that are responsive to the needs of Bank’s clients in a bit to boost and increase access to finance and financial services by private enterprises including African SMEs, as well as other underserved sectors and populations. The Division’s work thus focuses on financial intermediation and related operations to enhance of FIs capacity to support Bank priority areas including infrastructure, agribusiness, women businesses, SMEs, etc in line with the Bank’s Ten Year Strategy and the High Five Priorities of the AfDB (Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa) in order to accelerate Africa’s economic transformation and ii) Financial inclusion activities that facilitate access to finance and financial services by  all sectors of the African populations. The division also hosts and implement various broader Bank High 5 initiatives, such as Boost Africa.

The Position

• As part of the Financial Inclusion and Intermediation Division and in line with the Financial Sector Strategy and the Bank priorities, the Senior Financial Sector Investment Officers (IOs) are critical members of multidisciplinary teams of highly qualified professionals comprising lawyers, environmental and social specialists, economists, credit risk officers. They have expertise in the financial sector as well as other priority sectors in which the Bank does Business. The IOs work directly with their clients, regulators and other relevant external stakeholders. The IO will work with other experts in the financial sector department as well as other departments in order to enhance FIs support to priority sectors and market segments.
• The jobholder will identify business opportunities, coordinate the processing and closure of approved of transactions in order to maximize the impact of the Bank’s operations through execution of innovative, developmental, and profitable investments for AfDB. 
• The IO will contribute to the promotion of inclusive finance policies and support country and regional programs and projects, to facilitate affordable access to financial services for Micro-Small and Medium Size enterprise and the unbanked and underserved populations, leveraging innovative and technology-led solutions to achieve the ultimate goals of near universal access in Regional Member Countries (RMCs). The position will be located in the head office of the Bank and it involves frequent travel.
• The overall purpose of this job will be to originate, develop and lead the due diligence approval and financial closure of Financial intermediation projects as well as provide technical support and inputs to diverse areas of financial inclusion.
• The incumbent will work within broad policies and objectives with limited supervision for critical tasks. Ensure the implementation of donor governance aspects of Boost Africa including the organisation of and implementation of such donor meetings and reports on the meetings.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Division Manager, the Senior Investment Officer will perform the following duties:

• Develop a strong pipeline of good quality SME finance opportunities, Venture capital and Social impact private equity funds through anticipating market trends and employing sector/regional knowledge.
• Develop strategies for Financial inclusion Banking including business models, market analysis; segmentation; and product design
• Build and maintain strong relationships with other departments, clients, banking and multilateral partners and government officials to develop specific investment opportunities;
• Identify, undertake, coordinate and manage the necessary due diligence of banking, Private Equity, Venture Capital/impact fund and other financial intermediation projects applying debt, equity, guarantees and related Bank products.
• Undertake financial analysis, financial modelling and risk analysis on projects and apply the broader Bank appraisal tools such as Environment Social and Governance (ESG), Asset and Management Liability (AML), development outcomes and additionality.
• Prepare project appraisal reports for presentation to the department, review committees, senior management and finally to the Board of Directors.
• Liaise and coordinate with other Investment and Inclusion Officers and Bank staff in the origination of a good quality investment pipeline for the Bank’s financial sector assistance.
• Prepare and process through to approval, disbursement and implementation, technical assistance proposals aimed at building capacity of financial institutions or other market players involved in enhancing the market supply and demand for credit
• Coordinate with sector colleagues, the internal approvals to proactively find pragmatic solutions to emerging/specific sector challenges.
• Work with legal department to ensure that all deals have appropriate legal documentation and that financial close is achieved, and hand over projects to portfolio management staff.
• Design specific innovative transactions, projects and initiatives
• Undertakes the work on aspects of access and financial inclusion and aligns them with institutional objectives and support the Bank's access and financial inclusion products;
• Initiates the efforts to mainstream financial access and inclusion aspects, with the High 5 priorities of the Bank, at the strategic and operational level;
• Contributes to the policy dialogue on financial sector issues in RMCs, at both policy and technical level; as well as to institutional, regulatory, policy or market assessments.
• Contributes to projects supporting funds or incubators that focus on increased financial access; and developing financial infrastructure, financing payment systems and instruments, in particular for mobile financial services, including payments by the government.
• Works with regional teams/country offices to design and implement financial sector development support programs;
• Evaluate, structure, negotiate, and close new transactions, with a strong focus on credit and asset quality (include processing mandates, due diligence, negotiating term sheets and other documentation, syndications and board approval);
• Provide support to regional industry and portfolio teams in processing and supervising regionally managed projects.

Selection Criteria

• A minimum of a Master's in Accounting, Finance or Financial Economics or any other quantitative degree;
• A minimum of five (5) years of relevant professional experience in private and finance sector, including hands-on experience in analysing credit risks, structuring loan and other debt products as well as equity transactions, associated legal documentation, negotiations, and closing transactions in banking and non-banking financial institutions;
• Experience in the structuring of financial system development projects or related field
• Experience in DFI as well as private sector experience with supporting SMEs
• Experience working in developing/emerging market economies, especially Africa
• Experience working in development finance and in entrepreneurship / SME capacity building will be a strong advantage
• Good knowledge of and experience of RMCs or developing economies as well as a thorough understanding of banking, financial institutions, financial and capital markets and related industry knowledge
• Demonstrated ability to undertake comprehensive due diligence including financial analysis of financial institutions, such as banks, non-bank financial institutions and private equity funds;
• Strong financial and credit skills as well as demonstrated ability to evaluate, structure, negotiate, and close transactions using a variety of financial instruments (debt, equity and grants)
• Demonstrated ability to work with clients in the financial and real sector and in the SME support environment, understanding their unique needs and develop targeted solutions.
• Ability to contribute to sound decisions and contribute to the execution of the decisions
• Ability to initiate, effectively and independently interact with the senior management of potential clients as well as financial and technical partners in order to build networks across the region to generate new business, partnerships and collaborative opportunities
• Strong commitment to search for and produce innovative and creative approaches to activities in order to enhance performance and create added benefits to the Bank and its clients.
• Clear and concise oral and written communication skills; presents oral information with clarity and appropriate style and adapts language and style to suit the requirements of a particular audience.
• Excellent problem-solving capabilities, applies business knowledge to the resolution of problems and identifies solutions to the benefit of the client (internal and external) and the organization.
• Excellent organizational, administrative, and time management skills
• Proven ability to work with limited supervision and efficiently to deliver under pressure and meet tight deadlines;
• Willingness to travel extensively and geographic flexibility.
• Excellent presentation skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and/or French, with a working knowledge of the other language.
• Proficiency in the use of common Microsoft Office Suite applications (Word, Excel and PowerPoint etc.).