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).

POSITION : Investment Officer

Description

The Vice Presidency for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization is central to the Bank’s mission of developing the private sector, improving infrastructure and accelerating industrialization. The complex main functions are to (i) strengthen the enabling environment for private sector [and financial sector] development conducive to inclusive growth and sustainable development, (ii) support the development of reliable and sustainable infrastructure, including cities and urban development, and (iii) place renewed emphasis on industrial and trade performance in support of structural transformation across Africa. The Complex leverages knowledge, co-financing, and partnerships to attract private capital and work with governments on delivering the Bank’s development agenda.

The Position

• The Investment officer will to originate, develop and lead the due diligence  approval and financial closure of Financial intermediation projects as well as provide technical support and inputs to diverse areas of financial inclusion.
• The incumbent will work within broad policies and objectives with limited supervision for critical tasks.

 Responsibilities
The Investment Officers will:
Project Development and Processing:

• Prepare and process through to approval, disbursement and implementation, technical assistance proposals
• 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 AfDB's products and services proactively;
• Work with 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.
• Liaise and coordinate with other Investment Officers and Bank staff in the origination of a good quality investment pipeline.
• 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.

Design specific innovative transactions, projects and initiatives:

• 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);
• Provide support to regional industry and portfolio teams in processing and supervising regionally managed projects.
• Undertake the work on aspects of investments and industrial development and aligns them with institutional objectives.
• Work with regional teams/country offices to design and implement sector development support programs;

External Liaison and Knowledge Sharing:

• 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.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, banking and multilateral partners and government officials to develop specific investment opportunities.
• 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 stakeholder within regions.
• Participate in and contribute to activities for advocacy, dissemination and knowledge building relating to AfDB’s investments/operations, products and initiatives.

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 investments inputs development of strategies at  regional level
• Assist in the development of the Industrialization Department’s knowledge management strategy, and assist in execution of this strategy;
• Coordinate closely with social, environmental, advisory and technical assistance colleagues in order to champion AfDB’s value to our clients' businesses, find pragmatic solutions to the specific sector challenges, and achieve sustainable development impact.

Selection Criteria

• A minimum of a Master's Degree in a relevant field;
• 4 years for PL 6; Five (5) years for PL 5; Six (6) Years for PL 4 and Seven (7) Years for PL 3 professional experience in project finance, banking, consultancy, with specific experience in Africa;
• Knowledge of economic developments and market trends in Africa;
• Ability to contribute to sound decisions and contribute to the execution of the decisions;
• Ability to initiate, effectively and independently interact with the senior government officials, senior management of potential clients;
• Strong commitment to search for and produce innovative and creative approaches to activities in order to enhance performance and create added benefits to the Bank and its clients;
• Excellent problem solving capabilities, applies business knowledge to the resolution of problems and identifies solutions to the benefit of the client (internal and external) and the organization;
• Excellent organizational, administrative, and time management skills;
• Proven ability to work with limited supervision and efficiently to deliver under pressure and meet tight deadlines;
• Willingness to travel extensively and geographic flexibility;
• Excellent presentation skills;
• Ability for business development, structure and negotiate deals;
• Working experience in multinational organization in Africa and/or specialized experience in similar organization/s would be considered an advantage;
• Having private sector experience will be an added advantage.
• Demonstrates in depth knowledge of public policy, regulation, supervision and enforcement related to Demonstrates ability to coordinate, participate in, and act as a catalyst for, strategic cross-sector dialogues within the networks, across the country, among Bank colleagues and other development institutions, governments and other organizations;
• Ability to communicate orally and in writing 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).