Career Opportunity at Nexant

Nexant seeks a Financial Modeler to serve as a long-term resident in Abuja, Nigeria for the Power Africa Transactions & Reforms Program (PATRP), the contractor enabling partner for the US Government’s Power Africa Initiative in sub-Saharan Africa. This $148 million, 5 year technical assistance project is designed to bring more electricity to sub-Saharan African via a deal / transaction-centered approach. The Power Africa initiative seeks to shift the typical international development paradigm to a transaction‐centered approach that provides host country governments in sub-Saharan Africa, the private sector, and international donor agencies with a focal point to galvanize collaboration around priority electricity generation, transmission, and distribution transactions--with a focus on those that involve private sector participation and finance--helping to bring them to financial close and on‐line in an expedited time frame.

The Financial Modeler should have significant experience with project finance/infrastructure finance; preferably related to power sector projects. The ideal candidate will have exceptional accounting and data analysis capabilities; full ability to understand IPP financial models, cost assumptions, tariff optimization, and other financial model assumptions. The Financial Modeler should have the ability to develop effective graphic presentations of resulting data; strong understanding of energy project development fundamentals; extended knowledge of gas-to power value chain commercial relationships and gas and power sector issues, particularly in emerging economies; and eight years’ professional experience including five years in project structuring and financing, including negotiations with developers, investors and lenders.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Support financial model development, analysis and review as needed for private developers, the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Transmission Corporation of Nigeria (TCN) and other power sector stakeholders.
• Develop template financial models for different generation technologies (Gas, Solar, Biomass and Hydro). Review the accuracy of data inputs in existing financial models to determine the financial and commercial viability of projects and the financial soundness of country energy sectors.
• Run sensitivity analyses of variables, review historical financial results and assumptions about the future performance of projects, calculate and evaluate various ratio analyses and other operational performance metrics of projects.
• Collect and review different project data assumptions, evaluate the commercial implications of various forms of project financing structures, key elements of the project structure and costs, evaluate the anticipated project financing plan and security package.
• Ensure that the results of analyses using models are communicated to decision makers in a simple and logical way allowing immediate understanding.
• Work closely with PATRP-Nigeria team on advising clients on the commercial and technical due diligence of projects and coordinate across multiple projects to review model inputs in conjunction with internal due diligence.
• Advise and assist in the preparation and review of financial forecasts and models for projects showing projected revenues and cash flows under a range of business and financial assumptions.
• Assist in developing optimal target capital structures based on projects’ strengths, on bankable terms most favorable to the project developers yet still acceptable to qualified lenders. Potential structures include appropriate credit enhancements such as host government sovereign or partial-risk guarantees, securitization of the project’s revenue streams, additional guarantees, optimal capital structures, appropriate cash flow waterfall mechanisms, granting of security interests, and other appropriate credit support from the project developers and the project’s contractors and equipment suppliers, as may be necessary or desirable by the lenders.
• Review potential external funding markets for projects, and recommend selected sources of finance, with a comparison of their relative advantages and disadvantages, including such factors as cost, ease of execution, likely covenants and other restrictions, size, and appetite for the different types of risks, etc.
• Assist project developers in understanding specific terms and conditions of each financing proposal, and subsequently recommend the strongest lenders with the most attractive terms and conditions in order to move toward closing the deal on a syndicated or club basis.
• Participate in negotiations between the governments, developers, investors and lenders on project finance issues.
• Assist project developers negotiating and closing financings, including all material agreements under the guidance of legal advisors.
• Establish working relationships with Ministry of Finance units responsible for borrowing and PPP development; monitor and report on governmental borrowing plans and credit security arrangements for energy infrastructure projects; and liaise with MoF on public-sector financing arrangements for PATRP energy projects.
• Establish working relationships with representatives of World Bank, AfDB and other DFIs, and coordinate with them on PATRP energy projects.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Finance, Business, Economics or related field; Engineering, or other rigorously quantitative field with business or finance experience also suitable.
• A minimum of eight years of energy or infrastructure industry experience, or limited recourse project finance modeling experience, with a minimum of five years in  project structuring and financing, including negotiations with developers, investors and lenders.
• A strong understanding of the financing mechanisms and the role of development finance institutions (DFIs), export credit agencies (ECA) and risk guarantee instruments to investments in the energy sector in emerging economies.
• Ability to team work in a fast-paced environment; interaction at ministry Directorate level; to clear and concise written and oral communication and to high execution standards.
• Strong preference for candidates who hold the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation   

Salary and Benefits (U.S.)

Nexant offers competitive salaries based on candidate's qualifications. Nexant also offers three weeks paid vacation per year, eleven paid holidays per year, a 401(k) plan with employee matching funds and an overall comprehensive benefits package.

Nexant, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.