African Development Bank Senior Investment Officer – Agriculture and Rural Finance (AfDB)
African Development Bank Group (AfDB) – Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent.
There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Senior Investment Officer – Agriculture and Rural Finance
Position Number: 50001125
Location: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Position Grade: 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 instruments relevant to agribusiness financing.
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 Agriculture Finance and Rural Development Department works closely with the Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department and the Regional Directorates to provide support for the delivery of “Feed Africa: Strategy for Agricultural Transformation in Africa, 2016-2025”.
The core mandate of the Department is to develop the strategy of the Bank related to agricultural and rural finance and rural development, execute non-sovereign operations for the transformation of value chains, 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.
The Department is also responsible for mainstreaming the Africa Disaster Risk Financing Initiative to enable African countries manage disaster risk and access ex-ante insurance financing before major climate events.
The Department is structured into two Divisions: (i) Agriculture and Rural Finance Division (AHFR.1); and (ii) Rural Infrastructure Development Division (AHFR.2). The Agriculture and Rural Finance Division is responsible for working with the private and financial sector to transform value chains, identifying opportunities for long-term investments to address food security and boost economic growth in Africa.
The Division has the following deliverables:
Non-sovereign operations targeting private sector companies, investment and impact funds.
High-quality and innovative investments of debt, equity, quasi-equity, guarantees and risk management instruments to facilitate and catalyze investments to the private sector as well as for value chain development and transformation;
Practical implementation arrangements with key implementing partners;
Knowledge management of agriculture, rural finance and best practices;
Enabling environment and alliances with key stakeholders; and
Monitoring of performance and making recommendations for corrective actions.
The Position
The Senior Investment Officer is being recruited to originate, develop, lead the due diligence up to Board of Directors approval, financial closure and first disbursement of private sector transactions (non-sovereign operations) in the agriculture and rural finance space. Applicants will be considered based on their specific skills, expertise and background.
Key Functions
Under the direct supervision of the Division Manager – Agriculture and Rural Finance, the Senior Investment Officer will perform the following key functions:
Project Development and Processing:
Liaise and coordinate with other Investment Officers and Bank staff in business development and the origination of a good quality investment pipeline;
Proactively identify potential investment partners and opportunities based on industry experience, reputation, market potential, financial capability, and strategic fit;
Assess the attractiveness of specific investment opportunities with a strong focus on credit quality and development impact and make recommendations to management;
Build and maintain strong relationships with other departments, clients, banking and multilateral partners and government officials to develop specific investment opportunities;
Prepare project appraisal reports for presentation to the department, review committees, senior management and finally to the Board of Directors;
Execute loan, equity, quasi-equity, guarantee and risk management instrument financings including processing mandates, conducting due diligence, structuring deals, negotiating terms and documentation, arranging syndications, and processing internal approvals;
Coordinate with sector colleagues, the internal approvals to proactively find pragmatic solutions to emerging/specific sector challenges;
Develop investment promotion strategies in Africa, including targeting potential investors and promoting the Bank’s products and services proactively;
Work with the 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; and
Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, banking and multilateral partners and government officials to develop a strong pipeline for new investment opportunities.
Design Specific Innovative Transactions, Projects and Initiatives:
Undertake the work on aspects of investments and agricultural / agribusiness development and align them with institutional objectives;
Work with regional teams/country offices to design and implement 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); and
Provide support to other industry and portfolio teams in processing and supervising projects.
External Liaison and Knowledge Sharing:
Contribute to the documentation of lessons learned from investment operations and emerging best practices in areas of expertise;
Participate in and contribute to information and experience sharing sessions with internal and external stakeholders;
Participate in and contribute to activities for advocacy, dissemination and knowledge building relating to the Bank’s investments/operations, products and initiatives.
Provide peer review to other colleagues to share industry knowledge and information on respective sector;
Provide technical leadership and support to knowledge and lesson sharing approaches and events with internal and external stakeholders; and
Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, banking and multilateral partners and government officials to develop specific investment opportunities.
Policy and Project Evaluation:
Provide input and comments on project, policy and other papers related to respective sector operations and development across a range of key themes and sectors.
Strategy, Planning and Reporting:
Participate in relevant teams for planning and programming purposes;
Contribute to and coordinate in the investment’s inputs development of strategies at regional level;
Assist in the development of the Department’s knowledge management strategy and assist in execution of this strategy; and
Coordinate closely with social, environmental, advisory and technical assistance colleagues in order to champion the Bank’s value to its clients’ businesses, find pragmatic solutions to the specific sector challenges, and achieve sustainable development impact.
