African Development Bank (AfDB) - the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent.  

POSITION : Chief Enterprise and Small and Medium Enterprise Development Officer

DESCRIPTION

The Hiring Department

• The Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development Department leads the Bank’s support to Africa’s economic transformation by: (i) developing and promoting the adoption of relevant policies and strategies; (ii) providing deep multi-sector expertise to the regional hubs by gathering pools of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide technical advice on complex transactions (Communities of Practice); (iii) developing new financing instruments; and, (iv) fostering strategic partnerships to leverage resources into the human and social development sector.
• The Jobs for Youth in Africa team spearheads the Bank wide Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy implementation coordination. It works in close collaboration with the two divisions of the Department i.e. The Education, Human Capital and Employment Division and the Public Health, Security and Nutrition Division as well as other relevant Bank departments.

The Position 

• Carry out a comprehensive analysis of financing, reporting and monitoring procedures related to operations implemented in the regional member countries on small and medium enterprise development.
• Promote inclusion of women and differently abled persons in the Bank’s small and medium enterprise development operations.
• Lead and contribute to country strategic papers and regional integration strategic papers to implement the strategic vision of jobs for youth in Africa strategy
• Mobilize resources for targeted activities in the Bank’s work.
• Inform and design the Jobs for Youth in Africa flagship program related to Small and Medium Enterprise creation, especially for the Rural microenterprise development, the Empowering Novel Agri-Business Led Employment ENABLE youth program and the Agro industrialization development program;
• Advise the Jobs for Youth in Africa Coordinator and the Jobs task team in the formulation, implementation and review of existing small and medium enterprise development policies and operations;
• Carry out a comprehensive analysis of small and medium enterprise development constraints (financial, technical, business environment, etc.) in the regional member countries.
• Develop and implement technical assistance operations to improve the Bank’s regional member countries capacities to create a favorable enabling environment for small and medium Enterprise growth, with a focus on women and youth.

 Responsibilities

• Oversee the drafting of Bank’s economic reports, including inputs for the region and its countries for periodic forecasting exercise, country assessments, African economic outlook, county strategic papers and related products, regional integration strategy papers and briefing notes for senior management;
• Manage or lead selected top priority Jobs for Youth in Africa projects especially related to small and medium enterprise development and policy reforms;
• Carry out other tasks as required by the Jobs for Youth in Africa Coordinator or the Director of the Department;
• Lead the Bank’s assessment of enterprise and small and medium enterprise development in regional member countries, monitoring of structural reforms and policy dialogue that impact national and regional jobs creation for youth and women, and also seek to address major constraints of small and medium enterprise creation and growth;
• Specifically, provide guidance to the jobs task team and regional member countries on necessary policy reforms to implement an enabling environment that supports Small and Medium Enterprise development, in close coordination with country economists, regional resources centres and other Bank departments; and interact with country authorities, the private sector, local think tanks, academia, clients and other International Financial Institutions;
• Lead the Jobs team input to Country Strategies Papers and other related country strategy instruments;
• Support and develop innovative and timely solutions to mitigate the constraints of small and medium enterprise development, namely entrepreneurship culture, access to finance, access to markets, capacity building;
• Carry out analysis of the enterprise development landscape and supply chain development in Regional Member Countries to address issues related to local small and medium enterprise   development and youth employment;
• Support the Bank staff and departments to identify priority areas and potential projects with high jobs impact and help interface project design with private sector;
• Lead the Jobs for Youth in Africa dialogue for (i) the achievement of country policy dialogue objectives; and (ii) leading and coordinating contributions to country diagnostics study; and contributing to improvements in country and regional results measurements on jobs for youth;

Selection Criteria

• Proven experience in managing projects and demonstrated experience in managing complex projects with evidence on clear outcomes;
• Highly organized person with demonstrable abilities to prioritize multi tasks and take initiative;
• Ability to build effective working relations with and among staff of the Division;
• Demonstrated experience in dealing with gender and civil society priorities in jobs creation agenda;
• Communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language;
• Competences in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint), knowledge of SAP is desirable.
• Hold at least a Master's degree or its equivalent in Business Administration, Finance, Social Sciences, or related field;
• Have a minimum of seven (7) years of relevant experience in Africa, in an international organization, government agency, think tank or other policy environment;
• Having private sector experience will be an added advantage;
• Demonstrated leadership effectiveness and supervisory ability to achieve defined objectives in multicultural contexts;
• Knowledge of operational policies, rules, procedures and practices of the Bank or comparable institution;
• Experience in team management on projects in developing countries, ideally on the African continent would be in asset;
• Experience with policy and policy-relevant research on jobs for youth, private sector, Small and Medium Enterprise development, and enterprise development programs;
• Knowledge and experience in understanding analytical, operational and policy issues of the African small and medium enterprise development constraints and opportunities;