Senior Officer, Entrepreneurship Ecosystem and MSME Development at Self Help Africa

Job purpose

• SHA is looking for a dynamic, high performing individual to fill the role of Senior Officer, Entrepreneurship Ecosystem and MSME Development. The post holder will be to provide advisory on key project activities in the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem and MSME Development to improve and strengthen their business practices, addressing the key constraints that MSMEs face. The ideal candidate will have a track record of working with micro, small and medium enterprises in the agricultural sector across a range of value chains.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Support

• Map and identify main actors of the entrepreneurial ecosystems and provide advisory on tailor made support to MSMEs with a focus on capacity building/ coaching in areas such as financial literacy, basic financial management and compliance, identifying additional business development services where necessary.
• Provide advisory for enterprises to improve in productivity through good agricultural practices and other relevant techniques.
• Provide advisory for enterprises in accessing market information through market intelligence sources and digital platforms.
• Support to ensure high level of accountability to participants, stakeholders and donor ensuring effective feedback mechanism, regular communication, timely production and submission of plans, reports and assessment.
• Facilitate market linkage between MSMEs and Market actors while ensuring that MSMEs assess relevant information about market potential and opportunities to improve their businesses.
• Facilitate financial linkages between MSMEs and financial products service providers to enable access to finance for various business.
• Map and identify individuals and clusters with outstanding business ideas while collaborating with Agribusiness Officer and Capacity building team to support in developing quality business plans.
• Facilitate registration of cooperative with relevant authorities and bodies (State government, SON among others) for better access to resources.
• In collaboration with capacity building team, train clusters to become formal cooperatives.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Leverage experience and understanding of relevant entrepreneurial ecosystems actors and financial service providers within the MSME ecosystem.
• Map and identify main entrepreneurial ecosystems players/actors/partner institutions to offer entrepreneurship trainings and additional business development services.
• Provide advisory to facilitate off-take contracts for MSMEs to enhance their operational capabilities.
• Collaborate with financial institutions, government agencies and others to create linkages between MSMEs and funding providers.
• Identify and facilitate input/equipment financing schemes for MSMEs.

Effective Implementation and Programme Quality

• Coordinate MSME development activities and work closely with the Programme Manager on the overall project strategy.
• Coordinate monitoring and evaluation Support to ensure capacity development quality assurance and oversight, which includes regular field visits in Kano.
• Coordinate project documentation and maintain an updated database for MSMEs and market actors.

Transparency, Compliance and safeguarding

• Employ the highest standards of openness, transparency and accountability to ensure good financial management in line with SHA’s zero-tolerance approach to fraud, bribery and corruption.
• Demonstrate commitment to safeguarding, protection, gender mainstreaming and inclusion of vulnerable population including people with disabilities.
• Provide support to establish feedback, complaints and response mechanism across communities of implementation to ensure programmatic and operational decisions are informed by local perspectives and priorities, and contribute to the protection of program participants at the LGA level.

Accountability

• In line with Self Help Africa’s commitments under the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS), the job holder will:
• actively promote meaningful community participation and consultation at all stages of the project cycle (planning, implementation, M&E).
• work with relevant colleagues to ensure that the Community Feedback and Response Mechanism (CFRM) is functional and accessible, that feedback and complaints are welcomed and addressed.
• work with relevant colleagues to ensure that information about CFRM, safeguarding and expected staff behaviour is disseminated among programme participants and communities.

Key relationships

• Internal: Programme, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning, Finance & Admin, Procurement, HR & Admin, Security and Communications teams.
• External: World Food Programme, Government Agencies, Private Sector Partners, Entrepreneurship and MSME Networks, Educational Institutions, Consultants and Subject Matter Experts, International Development Organisations.

Knowledge, Experience and Other Requirements

Qualifications and Experience:

• University degree in Agriculture, agribusiness, business administration, Economics, Social Sciences, or a related field
• A minimum of 5 years proven experience in providing capacity building and coaching support to MSMEs particularly in areas such as financial literacy, basic financial management, quality standards, agronomy, Business plan development
• High level of computer literacy with a solid command of Microsoft Office suite
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Professional experience in learner-centred training methodologies and coaching.
• Familiarity with the local context and communities in Kano State.
• Understand agribusiness opportunities across the selected value chains in Kano.

Skills:

• Excellent leadership and coordination skills (and ability to coordinate several tasks at once and managing priorities)
• Effective communication, problem solving and decision-making skills and diplomacy in communication
• Respect for cultural diversity and gender sensitivity
• Team leadership and mentoring
• Monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning
• Communication, networking, facilitation and mobilisation.
• Organisational development
• Reporting and documentation

Desirable:

• Gender and intercultural sensitivity
• Positive outlook and team spirit
• Adaptable and responsive disposition relative to the demands of the Programme
• Women are strongly advised to apply.