Division Manager, Agriculture and Rural Finance 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.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Division Manager, Agriculture and Rural Finance

Position Number: 50092411
Location: Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Position Grade: PL2

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for ‘Agriculture, Human, and Social Development’ is a Sector Complex focusing on the Bank’s High 5s priority 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 Regions by gathering pools of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide sector expertise on complex transactions; (iii) develop new financing instruments; (iv) represent the Bank with external stakeholders on aspects of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.

The Hiring Department

• 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”.
• Feed Africa has “7 Enablers”, i) Increase productivity by catalyzing the development of effective input distribution systems and reduction in post-harvest waste and loss; ii) Realize the value of increased production by facilitating increased investment into output markets and supporting market incentives for value addition; iii) Increase investment into enabling infrastructure, both hard and soft infrastructure; iv) Create an enabling agribusiness environment with appropriate policies and regulation; v) Catalyze capital flows (especially commercial lending and private investment) to scale agribusinesses; vi) Ensure inclusivity, sustainability and effective nutrition beyond what the market may deliver otherwise; and vii) Coordinate activities to kick start transformation, align activities and investments of different actors, and guide initial activities to the point where private sector actors can be crowded in.
• The Agricultural Finance and Rural Development Department focuses on delivery of the following:
  • Finance, scale and catalyze capital flows of commercial lending and private investment into agribusinesses.
  • Accelerate agriculture transformation through private sector actors.
  • Design, finance and promote Public-Private Partnerships and private sector-led Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ).
  • Design and support disaster risk financing structures to mitigate the financial impact of natural disasters and climate-related events on vulnerable populations in Africa through private sector led and enabled insurance and hedging mechanisms.
  • Support Agri-small medium enterprise (SME) financing through catalytic mechanisms including but not limited to concessional and blend financing.
  • Catalyze and support capital flows to scale SMEs by establishing risk sharing facilities and other products.
• 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 has a front office and is structured into two Divisions: (i) Agriculture and Rural Finance Division; and (ii) Rural Infrastructure Development Division.
• 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.
• Monitoring of performance and recommendations for corrective actions.

The Position
The Manager, Agriculture and Rural Finance Division reports to the Director, Agricultural Finance & Rural Development with the following key objectives focused on development and upgrading of 18 key priority value chains articulated in the Feed Africa Strategy in targeted Agro Ecological Zones:

• Lead support for an enabling environment for private and financial sector development for de- risking investments and lending to the agricultural value chains and promoting digital financial services.
• Lead strategic partnerships with key private sector clients, financial institutions and commercial banks to finance value chain stakeholders along the 18 key priority agricultural value chains.
• Create and manage a strong portfolio of existing and potential clients, investors along key value chains and achieve sustainable development impact.
• Lead the Division to evaluate, structure, negotiate, and close agribusiness transactions using the suite of the Bank’s financial instruments.
• Lead the mobilization of resources and blended finance initiatives to close the financing gap for private sector-led development of agricultural value chains.
• Lead, support and provide expertise to regional directorates for high-productivity agriculture and value adding Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in rural areas with a specific focus on women and youth agri-enterprises.
• Lead, support and provide expertise to regional directorates for non-sovereign operations with solutions to reach smallholder farmers and productive enterprises (particularly women and youth).
• Monitor and report on the implementation of the financial instruments and their contribution to Feed Africa and propose and implement action plans.

The main work objectives of the position are the following:

• Contributing to the development of transport infrastructure and the sector as a whole, including strengthening and maintaining the Bank Group's understanding of the sector’s role in national development.
• Contribute to Preparing, supervising and implementing transport sector projects.
• Actively participating in the donor coordination and dialogue through Country Transport Sector Working Group of development partners active in the transport sector.
•  Mobilizing resources, particularly through co-financing and other opportunities, for targeted activities in the Bank Group’s work in the transport sector.
• Working with the relevant national authorities and other stakeholders to advise on future investments in the transport sector by the Bank Group; and,
• Working with other transport sector specialists in the region as well as the economists in the regional office to contribute to efforts in knowledge management so as to ensure best practices and lessons learned related to transport development, and institutional/governance approaches are mainstreamed in project design.

Key Functions
The Manager, Agriculture and Rural Finance Division under the oversight of the Director, Agricultural Finance & Rural Development, is responsible for the following:
Technical Oversight and Strategic Vision:

• Develop and implement an action plan for Agriculture Finance for assigned periods, with innovative new products to support private sector in Feed Africa value chains and mobilize new sources of financing with solutions for smallholder farmers, agricultural micro small and medium enterprise, women and youth.
• Set objectives, formulate policies, establish priorities, define and monitor the key performance indicators of the Division.
• Provide strategic vision and technical oversight to scale up risk-sharing facilities (comprising loans and guarantees and technical assistance) with the objective of catalyzing private investment and Bank lending in the sector (Innovative Financing and Risk Sharing Solutions).
• Execute investments in agriculture value chain financing through private sector companies and investment / impact funds (Agricultural finance and Innovative Financing).
• Build and maintain a strong pipeline of potential investee companies to initiate new debt, guarantees, and equity investments, follow up on new business opportunities, and liaise extensively with potential clients on the African continent and beyond.
• Solve challenges during negotiations and transaction structuring with potential investee companies as well as during due diligence.
• Support existing portfolio investments including strategic and value-add activities with portfolio company management and co-investors.
• Develop and execute dedicated Agricultural Micro Small and Medium Enterprise financing through investment funds and other non-banking financial institutions that offer equity and working capital finance to Small and Medium Enterprises in agricultural value chains (Innovative Financing Mechanisms).
• Provide strategic vision and technical oversight to promote agricultural insurance markets, provide technical assistance, and convene partners and governments (Agricultural insurance/innovative financing).
• Provide strategic vision and technical oversight to mobilize funds to support financing of climate adaptation and mitigation activities (Climate finance/Innovative finance) in agribusiness sector.
• Supervise budget preparation and follow its execution and advise senior management on the budgetary and financial impacts of the Division’s operations.
• Review all reports and papers prepared by the staff of the Division and give appropriate guidance.

People Management & Leadership:

• Manage a team of professional level and support staff in providing efficient and high-quality services that support the business.
• Set realistic performance goals and motivate team members to meet them, both for individual staff and for the team as whole.
• Manage team’s staffing and resources competently and responsibly to achieve the Division’s objectives.
• Assess the training needs of staff in the Division, monitor and evaluate their performance, and recommend personnel actions to the Director.
• Be a collaborative member of the Department Management Team, contribute and share expertise and input and foster a collegial environment.
• Understand the business needs and build strong relationship management to assist in developing practical and effective solutions.
• Supervise complex project identification, preparation and appraisal for Bank Group financing and verify quality of the projects.

Staff Engagement:

• Serve as a role model, leading by example, building alignment and commitment.
• Promote collaboration and facilitate teamwork across teams and across organizational units, particularly with the Regional Operations Manager Offices and the Non-Sovereign Operations Leads in the Directorate General Hubs.
• Maintain a high standard of professional integrity, treat individuals fairly and respectively and be sensitive to differences across culture, nationalities and gender.
• Provide on-the-job training and advice to relatively less experienced staff and supervise their work.
• Performs other duties assigned by the Director, Agricultural Finance and Rural Development.

Competencies (Skills, Experience, and Knowledge)

• Hold at least a Master’s Degree in Finance, Business Administration, Development Economics or closely related disciplines.
• Have a minimum of eight (8) years of relevant professional experience in the area of investment banking, consulting or private equity/venture capital, five (5) of which should be in multilateral development institutions; have three (3) years working in a managerial or supervisory capacity in an international bilateral/multilateral institution.
• Sound experience with investments in developing markets, venture investing and emerging countries including a satisfactory knowledge of their operational policies and procedures.
• Proven track record in the structuring of a range of Bank instruments, such as loans, guarantee products and technical assistance. Experience in managing the delivery of programmes.
• Having private sector experience will be an added advantage.
• Proven leadership in matters relating to negotiating and structuring debt and equity transactions, technical review of reports and consultation with other financiers, among others.
• Knowledge of Africa and the rural development needs, opportunities, development challenges and possible solutions.
• Comprehensively understands projects structures, including project design, planning, risk management strategy, issue management strategy, communication management strategy, lessons learned and handover, and other critical success factors, strategies, policies, procedures and practices of multilateral development banks.
• Acute knowledge and understanding of the elements essential for the effective delivery and measurement of development impacts through projects and programs in Africa.
• Ability to identify and create meaningful linkages across sectors to drive development impact at a country and regional level.
• Negotiation Skills - Highly developed negotiation skills proven to yield positive outcomes with senior counterparts, both internal and external, and understands when and how to apply diplomacy, influence, maintain a hard line, make or break contacts, understand unwritten lines of influence and conduct oneself accordingly.
• Knowledgeable in the execution and structuring of debt and equity investments in the assigned sector projects and programs.
• Networking ability required to build successful relationships and partnerships with a broad range of clients, internal and external, for effective delivery of results. Prudence and skill in identification of such relationships and partners based on meeting the needs and long-term interests of clients within and outside the institution.
• Communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint); knowledge of SAP is desirable.

Application Closing Date
25th July, 2024.

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