Senior Portfolio Officer at Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund

About Nigeria Energy Transition Challenge Fund (ETCF)

• Nigeria’s Net Zero ambition is based on a transition to full electrification of the economy by 2060 – 250 GW of installed capacity (90% renewable), 80% of the fleet from EV, and clean cooking for 80% of the population.
• Reaching such targets requires innovative financing and first-loss investments (such as catalytic grants) in technological improvements, productive energy, fuel switching in priority sectors, business model iteration, and scaling for universal access, skills, and job creation in ET priority sectors.
• In the context of the Financial Cooperation with the Federal Republic of Nigeria, KfW, on behalf of BMZ, intends to set up a new Challenge Fund mechanism to contribute to implementing Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan (ETP).
• The mechanism will form part of the broader development cooperation activities between Nigeria and Germany in the energy space. The “Energy Transition Challenge Fund” (ETCF) will co-finance projects from the public and private sectors to promote the uptake of renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency-enhancing investments, and the expansion of vocational training opportunities in renewable energies and energy efficiency.
• A demand-driven, competitive application mechanism will be used to systematically select the projects with the highest impact potential on the requested grant funds. The selection of projects will be made through an internationally experienced Project Executing Agency (PEA) based on clear evaluation criteria that will be jointly agreed upon with the partner site before launch.
• The ETCF will be launched with an initial funding of EUR 20 Mio (grant funding). Depending on its success and available funding, the mechanism could be further expanded in the coming years.

About the Role

• The Senior Portfolio Officer will manage the ETCF portfolio of companies in Nigeria, focusing on energy access for households and institutional clients, including solar home systems (SHS), clean cooking solutions, and technical and vocational education (TVET) institutions.
• The incumbent will lead the technical and grants management support for the ETCF portfolio of projects.
• The role holder will work collaboratively with the Country Program Lead and other internal stakeholders, process grants, and coordinate technical assistance for a portfolio of companies.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the portfolio construction including promoting competitions, developing scoring criteria, assessing applications, and drafting and presenting investment memos to internal and external investment committees.
• Support investees throughout the implementation, ensuring efficiency, effectiveness, and adherence to AECF’s grant implementation principles.
• Monitor grant implementation regularly to track milestones, compliance, timelines, and deliverables. This includes analyzing periodic reports, providing feedback, and visiting investees regularly.
• Analyze fund disbursement requests promptly and make recommendations.
• Prepare regular reports on investee performance, identify any significant deviations or delays to planned grant implementation, propose recommended courses of action, and, in consultation with relevant colleagues, work with investees to meet their performance obligations.
• Maintain strong working relations with investees (and service providers) professionally and efficiently to ensure value for money and to minimize the potential for fraud, inefficiency, and waste.
• Actively contribute to the portfolio learning agenda in alignment with AECF’s broader learning goals in collaboration with the Impact, Knowledge, and Insights team to enhance the fund’s reputation and capabilities, drive systemic change in relevant market systems across Africa, and support advocacy initiatives.
• Ensure compliance with the portfolio’s internal controls and risk management by the broader AECF Management Framework.
• Implement the program risk and mitigation framework in line with the overall AECF Risk and Compliance Management Framework.
• Ensure legal review and opinion on investments that require the legal department’s review.
• Contribute to the development of periodic management and donor reports.
• Contribute to proposal development for various potential program areas.
• Foster ongoing improvement of the portfolio through insights gained from continuous learning.

Qualifications

• Possess a Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Business Administration, International Development, Social Sciences, Development Finance, or any other related field.
• At least seven years of experience in investment, grant-making expertise, due diligence processes, and grant management in the renewable energy sector.
• Possess extensive knowledge and understanding of program design and development, project cycle management, and financial budgeting and reporting.
• Experience working alongside a wide range of grantees/investees with skill and sensitivity, including private sector players and public institutions in Nigeria.
• Have an in-depth understanding of the work and challenges of renewable energy companies in Nigeria.
• The ability to develop and maintain effective and respectful relationships with investees and other industry stakeholders.
• Have an excellent command of English (both written and spoken).