Coordinator, Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism (AFFM) 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, 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. The Bank is seeking to build a team that will lead the successful implementation of this vision.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Coordinator, Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism (AFFM)

Reference: ADB/16/094
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Position N°: 50089175
Grade: PL-2

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for ‘Agriculture, Human, and Social Development’ is a Sector Complex focusing on the Bank’s TYS High 5s priority of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.

The complex objectives are:

• To develop, policy and strategy;
• Provide deep sector expertise to the Regions by gathering pool of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide sector expertise on complex transactions;
• Develop new financing instruments;
• The VP will act as the spoke person 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 AFFM has been designed to support the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), particularly Pillars II and III, corresponding to improving rural infrastructure and market access; increasing food supply, reducing hunger and improving risk management and crisis response.

The AFFM supports the African Union’s June 2014 Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods by assisting to build and strengthen sustainable fertilizer value chains to improve smallholder access to fertilizers. AFFM will also help in the implementation of sub-goal 2.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which calls for doubling the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets, and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment, by 2030.

The specific objective of the AFFM is to increase fertilizer use in Africa from its current average of about 10 kg per ha to 50 kg per ha, so as to boost agricultural productivity.

The Position

• The AFFM Coordinator will work under the day-to-day supervision of the Director of the African Development Bank’s Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department (OSAN), and be supported by relevant Bank Divisions to coordinate the AFFM through daily supervision of activities at the Bank’s headquarters and to facilitate the implementation of AFFM’s field programmes and allied initiatives at the country level.
• His/her performance reporting will be both to the Director, OSAN and the Chairperson of the AFFM Governing Council.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the guidance and supervision of the Director of the African Development Bank’s Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department (OSAN), the incumbent will be perform the following duties:

• Ensure that the AFFM Secretariat is fully functional including setting up its operations, accounts, budgets, and information management systems;
• Plan and lead resource mobilization campaigns for the AFFM in consultation with key partners of the Mechanism in line with the approved annual and medium-term work programme and budget;
• Prepare the AFFM’s Operational Manual that will guide the operations of the Mechanism in line with the objectives and goals of the AFFM and the AfDB rules of procedures;
• Supervise staff of the AFFM Secretariat by providing leadership, agreeing with them on their individual work programs; and by reporting on program implementation progress and ensuring that the Mechanism’s objectives are achieved;
• Familiarize AfDB member countries in Africa with the AFFM through effective communication on concept, objective, operations strategy and procedures;
• Prepare and submit projects for AfDB Board of Directors’ approval based on the identified needs for the realization of the AFFM’s objectives;
• Establish a results-based monitoring and evaluation system that tracks, in a timely manner, improvements in fertilizer supply and use against AFFM’s annual and medium-term plans.
• Represent the AFFM in conferences and meetings of the fertilizer sector, meetings of African Union Ministers of Agriculture, the AFFM Governing Council, etc.;
• Undertake any other assignment relevant to the successful implementation and performance of the AFFM;
• Manage the team of staff assigned to AFFM.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Masters’ degree in Agriculture, Business Administration, Finance or a related field of study with strong agribusiness management experience;
• Have at least fifteen (15) years relevant professional experience of which at least 10 years in the field of fertilizer production and/or Marketing;
• Sound experience with International Development Financing Institutions in developing countries including a satisfactory knowledge of their operational policies and procedures;
• Proven resource mobilization experience with state and non-state actors;
• Extensive private sector experience with demonstrated knowledge of designing and implementing private sector based investment projects, particularly within the fertilizer value chain;
• Successful budget preparation and management experience in an international organization setting and demonstrated leadership of teams working on budget preparation and execution;
• Extensive knowledge of the regional and international policy and regulatory context related to the fertilizer sector and in-depth knowledge of the agriculture sector in Africa;
• Good communication skills and ability to cooperate and work in a diverse multicultural environment;
• Proficiency in the use of standard Microsoft software, especially MS Office environment;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and / or French with a good working knowledge of the other language.

Application Closing Date
19th October, 2016.

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

Note

• This advertisement is posted by the African Development Bank (AfDB) on behalf of AFFM, which is the employer for this position. Engagement as staff of AFFM does not offer any expectation for future employment as staff in the African Development Bank. 
• This is a project staff position equivalent to AfDB’s PL2 Manager level and comes with a fixed-term contract of two (2) years initially, with possibility for renewal annually depending on availability of project funding and the coordinator’s performance.
• The appointed candidate will enjoy all privileges and immunities granted to international organizations.
• Applicants who fully meet the Bank's requirements and are considered for interview will be contacted.
• Only online applications submitted with a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae (CV) and copies of the required degrees will be considered. The President, AfDB, reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level.  The African Development Bank is an equal opportunities employer. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.