Principal Investment Officer (Origination) at the African Development Bank Group (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. In order to sharply focus the objectives of the Ten Year Strategy (2013 - 2022) and ensure greater developmental impact, five major areas (High 5s), all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely; energy, agro-business, industrialization, integration and improving the quality of life for the people of Africa.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Principal Investment Officer (Origination)

Reference: ADB/17/426
Locations: Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, Kenya and Tunisia
Grade: PL4/PL5
Position N°: 50093755 - 50093760 - 50093734 - 50093605 - 50093612 - 50093621

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 complex transactions;
  • To implement 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 and to structure energy investments.
• The department is also responsible for coordinating relevant flagship programs: Early stage Project support and Financing Catalyst and Country-wide Transformation.
• 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 grant funding, debt, equity, blended finance, guarantee instruments, 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.

The Position

• The responsibility of the Investment Officer is to ensure the technical strength of the Bank’s activities in support of transactions linked to private sector investments in the electricity sector.
• The main task of the job holder will be to identify business opportunities and execute transactions related to private investments in energy value chain and collaborate with the hubs and governance units in supporting regulatory reforms to allow successful Independent Power Projects (IPP) investment, as well as process financing instruments through to board approval for IPP projects.

Duties and Responsibilities
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;
• Support the structuring of projects involving public and private sector participation (e.g. in the form of IPP, PPPs and project finance operations) 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 financial closure;
• Contribute towards developing a strong pipeline of good quality investment opportunities through anticipating market trends and employing sector/country knowledge;
• Support evaluation, structuring, negotiation, and closure of new transactions, including lending, portfolio restructurings, rescheduling, capital increases, equity sales, leasing, and capital markets solutions;
• Develop innovative and appropriate financial structures for complex transactions;
• Participate in negotiation/documentation phase; negotiate to develop solutions and overcome bottlenecks in the transaction life-cycle;
• Support negotiation of 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 power and utilities, including markets, major operators and technologies; and provide advice to Power and Energy Complex team members in the regional hubs concerning the processing of transactions linked to IPP investments.
• 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;
• Support/advise the evaluation, structuring, negotiation of new transactions;
• Have an appreciation of applicable capital markets and leasing solutions that may be employed in financing the energy sector;
• Co-ordinate the work of financial analysts as well as internal and external stakeholders;
• Perform any other duty assigned by the Division manager or Director.

Selection Criteria
Including Desirable Skills, Knowledge and Experience:

• 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), etc.
• Have a minimum of six (6) years for PL4 position and five (5) years for PL5 position of relevant 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.
• Ability to review and understand complex financial models; proven ability to construct financial models from scratch would be a strong 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 deal with sensitive issues in a multi-cultural environment and to build effective working relations with colleagues.
• Strong leadership and coaching skills, with a proven track record of creating an empowering and self-development oriented work environment.
• 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)

Application Closing Date
4th October, 2017.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online