Job Openings at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

Position Number: 50093664
Location: Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Position Grade: PL3

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for ‘Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth’ is a Sector Complex focusing on the Bank’s Ten Year Strategy and first High 5s priority of “Light up and Power Africa”.
• The complex’s objectives are to develop policy and strategy; to provide deep sector technical expertise to the Regions by gathering pool of experienced individuals who can be consulted for their expertise on complicated transactions; to develop new financing instruments; to act as spokesperson to represent the Bank with external stakeholders on all aspects of “Light Up and Power Africa”. The Complex will focus on areas of Power systems, policy and regulation, renewable energy; and, Climate and Green Growth.

The Department

• The Energy Financial Solutions, Policy and Regulations department is responsible for advising Regional Member Countries in the establishment of relevant policies and regulations as well as to structure energy investments, provide financing and mobilize resources including through blended finance instruments. The department is also responsible for coordinating relevant flagship programs, including through Technical Assistance support to relevant stakeholders in the Bank’s member countries. Under the department there are two divisions, namely:
  • Energy Policy Regulations and Statistics Division and
  • Financial Solutions Division.

The Hiring Division

• The Energy Financial Solutions Division provides leadership in the structuring of financing instruments to attract both public and private sector investments into the power sector. These instruments include debt, equity, blended finance, leasing and innovative capital markets solutions.
• The Financial Solutions Division leads on non-sovereign energy sector operations and provides financial expertise, including structuring investments across the full spectrum of the energy sector. In pursuing its resource mobilization efforts and co-financing, the Division is increasingly mandated to take lead arranger roles.

The Position

• The responsibility of the Chief Investment Officer is to ensure the technical strength of the Bank’s activities in support of transactions linked to private sector investments in the energy sector.
• The main task of the job holder will be to identify business opportunities and execute transactions related to private investments in the energy value chain, as well as process financing instruments through to board approval and financial close of IPP projects and corporate loans mainly.

Key Functions
Under the overall supervision and general guidance of the Division Manager, Financial Solutions, the Investment Officer (Origination) will perform the following:

• Coordinate the delivery of flagships as relevant to ensure delivery of the New Deal on Energy objectives;
• Lead the structuring of projects involving public and private sector participation (e.g. in the form of IPP, project finance operations and corporate loans) in close coordination with Hub teams, Power Systems, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Teams;
• Work across the energy value chain and be involved in new business processing until funding is secured;
• Contribute towards developing a strong pipeline of good quality investment opportunities through anticipating market trends and employing sector/country knowledge;
• Evaluate, structure, negotiate, and close new transactions, portfolio restructurings, leasing, capital markets solutions etc.;
• Develop innovative and appropriate financial structures for complex transactions;
• Lead/participate in negotiation of finance documentation, develop financial solutions and overcome bottlenecks in the transaction life-cycle;
• Provide feedback on energy project documents, including Investment Agreement, shareholders’ Agreement, Concession Agreements, Power Purchase Agreements, Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contracts, Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Agreements, Fuel Supply Agreements, etc.;
• Have a thorough understanding of the energy value chain including utilities, energy markets, major operators and technologies;
• Develop a good understanding of project and concession financing, tendering of IPP projects, policy issues, license conditions, tariff regimes, and collaborate on these matters as appropriate with sector policy specialists and government regulators and officials;
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, especially regional IPP developers and sponsors, utilities, corporates, banking and multilateral partners and government officials to develop specific investment opportunities;
• Support/advise and when necessary lead the evaluation, structuring, negotiation of new transactions;
• Proven experience in coordinating lenders under a lead arranger mandate;
• Have an appreciation of applicable capital markets and leasing solutions that may be employed in financing the energy sector;
• Lead/Participate and manage project teams, mentor and develop junior staff;
• Perform any other duty assigned by the Division manager or Director.

Competencies
Skills, experience and knowledge:

• Hold at least a Master’s Degree in Economics, Finance, Business and/or a professional qualification such as: Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Chartered Accountant (ACCA) or related subjects.
• Have a minimum of seven (7) years relevant working experience in financial structuring in the energy value chain gained from within a Commercial/Investment Bank, Development Finance Institution, Energy Utility, Infrastructure/Private Equity Fund, Sovereign Wealth Fund, Energy Project Developer, established Accounting/Consulting Firm etc.;
• Proven ability to identify, process and negotiate complex transactions in the energy sector from a private sector standpoint and in particular related to Independent Power Projects (IPP) investments and corporate financing;
• Ability to review and understand complex financial models; proven ability to construct financial models from scratch would be a bonus
• Appreciation of company valuation techniques, corporate and project finance concepts as well as capital markets solutions.
• Having private sector experience will be an added advantage.
• Communication: Good listener with demonstrated ability to present and win support for ideas
• Client orientation and team working skills
• Ability to communicate orally and in writing effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language.
• Competent in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint).

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Position Number: 50104961 / 50104962
Location: Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Position Grade: PL4 / PL5

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for ‘Agriculture, Human, and Social Development’ is a Sector Complex focusing on two of the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy High 5s priorities of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.
• The complex objectives are (i) to develop, policy and strategy; (ii) provide deep sector expertise to the Regional Directorates by gathering pools of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide sector expertise on complex transactions; and (iii) develop new financing instruments.
• The Vice President acts as the spokesperson to represent the Bank with external stakeholders on aspects of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.

The Hiring Department / Division:

• The core mandate of Agriculture Finance and Rural Development (AHFR) Department is to develop the strategy of the Bank related to agricultural and rural finance, and rural development, represent the Bank with external stakeholders, provide sector expertise to the regions by gathering experts who can be consulted by operations and closing the financing gap for private sector-led development of agricultural value chains. AHFR is to mobilize and deploy the required expertise and, provide support to the design and implementation of agricultural finance and rural development operations for key commodity value chains. AHFR is structured into two Divisions: (i) Agriculture and Rural Finance Division; and (ii) Rural Infrastructure Development Division.
• The Africa Disaster Risk Financing (ADRiFi) programme is coordinated from the Front Office of AHFR by a Coordinating Unit (CU) as a Special Initiative, to support Regional Member Countries (RMCs) to enhance their resilience and response to climate shocks by improving the management of climate disaster risks.

ADRiFi Coordinating Unit

• The Africa Disaster Risk Financing (ADRiFi) programme was established by the African Development Bank (the Bank) in response to requests from RMCs for support in managing disaster risks, including paying insurance premiums for various disaster risks including drought, floods and tropical cyclone.
• The overall goal of ADRiFi is to enhance the resilience and response to climate shocks in RMCs by improving the management of climate disaster risks.
• The ADRiFi Coordinating Unit (CU) was proposed and approved by the Bank’s Board as part of the agreement with donors to establish a Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) to support programme implementation.  

The Position

• The purpose of Climate Finance Specialist job is to facilitate discussions with the Regional Member Countries (RMCs) to initiate the design, development, implementation and management of climate disaster risks through the implementation of the ADRIFI Programme.
• It will also support project portfolio management including facilitating disbursements and procurement for the respective ADRiFi country projects.

Key Functions
Under the direct supervision of the Programme Coordinator, Africa Disaster Risk Financing (ADRiFi) programme, the Climate Finance Specialist assignment will include, but not limited, to the following:

• Lead appraisal missions / teams to design complex disaster risk management country projects for Board approval.
• Facilitate the elaboration of Disaster Risk Financing (DRF) strategies in countries participating in ADRiFi implementation to galvanize funds from various sources including national budgets to address respective layers of climate-related risks.
• Train and sensitize policy makers and decision makers for the implementation of DRF strategies in respective countries.
• Contribute to the design of new DRF instruments, such as Catastrophic Bonds that can be used by participating countries in financing disaster risks.
• Facilitate development of risk profiles, designing early warning systems and elaboration of contingency plans in the countries, and support the preparation of Final Implementation Plans (FIPs) for operationalizing activities following disaster, insurance payout and supporting victims of disasters, such as smallholder farmers, rural women and children.
• Liaise with implementing partners for all technical matters related to risk assessment, product design, insurance premium calculation.
• Asses the overall climate finance architecture in respective countries, including government budgets, international donors, lending agencies, and for the management of disaster risks.
• Review and analyse the various national provisions that govern the funding and management of climate change related activities in respective countries.
• Propose plans for mobilization of new and additional resources for climate investment in respective countries.
• Perform other duties assigned by the Director, Agricultural Finance and Rural Development and/or the Programme Coordinator, Africa Disaster Risk Financing (ADRiFi) programme.

Competencies (Skills, Experience and Knowledge)

• Hold at least a Master's Degree in Environmental Science, Climate Change Management, Agriculture, Economics, Finance or any discipline that is relevant to the assignment;
• Have a minimum of six (6) years (for the PL4 role) or five (5) years (for the PL5 role), of relevant professional experience in Environmental Science, Climate Change Management, Agriculture Finance or any discipline that is relevant to the assignment;
• Demonstrated depth of understanding of climate change financing as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation measures;
• Proven ability to manage and deliver products in a timely manner and handle multiple tasks simultaneously;
• Expertise and substantial experience in one or more key areas of public financial management, in particular budget management;
• Strong expertise and knowledge of institutional change, the challenges of policy reform and capacity development, particularly in Africa, and demonstrated leadership, project management and team working skills;
• Experience in fragile states and knowledge of international development agency practices would be desirable;
• Experience of sovereign disaster risk financing in either a developed or developing country context desire;
• Excellent working knowledge of insurance products and institutional structures for large insurance / cat risk insurance programs;
• Ability to fit in an international and multi-cultural environment;
• Excellent presentation skills;
• Ability to communicate orally and in writing effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language; and
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint).