Principal Public - Private Partnership / Value Chain Officer - AHAI 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: Principal Public - Private Partnership / Value Chain Officer - AHAI

Reference: ADB/20/162
Location: Pretoria, South Africa
Grade: PL4
Position N°: 50001113

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for ‘Agriculture, Human, and Social Development’ is a Sector Complex focusing on the Bank’s Ten Year Strategy 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 pool of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide sector expertise on complex transactions; (iii) develop new financing instruments; (iv) the VP will act as the spokesperson 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 core mandate of the Agriculture & Agro-Industry Department (AHAI0 is to provide support for the delivery of Feed Africa: Strategy for Agricultural Transformation in Africa, 2016-2025. The Strategy aims to end hunger and rural poverty in the next decade through self-sufficiency in eighteen (18) priority commodity value chains specific to the continent’s agro-ecological zones.
• The Agriculture & Agro-industry Department works closely with the Agriculture Finance and Rural Development Department and the Regional Directorates to provide support for the delivery of Feed Africa Strategy.
• The Agriculture & Agro-Industry Division - South Division (AHAI-S), within the South Africa Development and Business Delivery Office (RDGS) is responsible for the delivery of the Feed Africa Agenda in the southern Africa region. It is responsible for the Bank’s development cooperation in agriculture within 13 countries namely: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, Swaziland, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, as well as with the SADC Secretariat to promote regional integration.

The Position

• The Principal Public-Private Partnership / Value Chain Officer reports to the Regional Manager, AHAI-S. The main work objectives are focussed on the development and upgrading of critical value chains articulated in the Feed Africa Strategy, predominantly through PPP arrangements.
• He /she will work across technical, geographic and institutional boundaries to support the delivery of development solutions for a diverse set of clients in the rural (and urban) space and in the public and private sectors in line with the Agricultural development, Agribusiness and Agro-Industry agenda of the AfDB Group.
• Using a value-chain approach, the incumbent  will support the implementation of this agenda in the Southern Africa region, with specific focus on providing technical input for the design, and supervision of projects which:
  • Promote value chain development, value addition, primary and secondary processing of crops, fisheries and livestock;
  • Catalyze private sector entry and growth in African agribusiness;
  • Promote agri-SME growth and the commercialization of agriculture, particularly addressing access to finance needs
  • Creates farm to fork market linkages;
  • Facilitates the development of agro-poles and agro-processing hubs;
  • Supports the development of an agribusiness enabling environment, and;
  • Invests in hard infrastructure (including roads, markets and irrigation), soft infrastructure (human capital, i.e., trained potential employees, ICT, etc.), and enabling policies and reforms, for transformation of African agriculture into viable, profitable businesses.
• The Principal Public-Private Partnership / Value Chain Officer will work closely with private sector experts at the Bank to scale up investments in agribusiness and will design and coordinate the delivery of client solutions and all project management aspects of the deployment of such solutions.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide support and technical expertise in the development or upgrading of priority of value chains, Agro-poles, corridors and rural infrastructure (roads, energy, water, storage facilities and markets) linking smallholder farmers to markets within the overall Bank infrastructure pipeline;
• Formulate public and private investment proposals in agriculture value chain development and promote an enabling environment by the public sector for private sector investment and involvement in agriculture (Agro-industrial parks).
• Identify Public-Private Partnership for Agro-poles / parks and rural infrastructure investment opportunities within key value chains;
• Invest in strategic private sector clients, financial institutions and commercial banks, private equity funds, investment and impact funds to finance Agropoles and key rural infrastructure along the 18 key priority agricultural value chains;
• Partners with other IFIs, investors, including venture capital, private equity firms and strategic investors with a particular focus on public private partnerships for Agropoles and rural infrastructure (at the country and regional level) to engage stakeholders in alignment of sustainable socio-economic development goals;
• Create a pipeline and manage a strong portfolio of existing and potential Agro-poles / parks and rural infrastructure investors along key value chains and achieve sustainable development impact;
• Evaluate, structure, negotiate, and close debt and equity transactions; use strong negotiation skills to develop solutions and overcome impasses in all transactions;
• Lead support and origination of non-sovereign operations with solutions to reach smallholder farmers, productive enterprises (particularly women and youth);
• Build and maintain a strong pipeline of potential on value chains through new debt and equity investments, follow up on new business opportunities, and liaise extensively with potential clients in the region.
• Monitor and report on the implementation of the financial instruments and their contribution to Feed Africa and action plan.
• Develop and implement performance monitoring and evaluation systems and reporting activities (including KPIs) to enable transparent assessment of Agropoles and rural infrastructure outcomes and impacts, both for internal and external circulation.

Selection Criteria

• A minimum of a Master’s degree or its equivalent in Finance, Agribusiness or closely related field.
• A minimum of six (6) years relevant professional experience in the area of investment banking, consulting or private equity / venture capital focussing on Agribusiness, and 3 years working on value chain development and / or PPP investment arrangements.
• Sound experience with debt and / or equity investments in developing markets, venture investing and emerging countries including a satisfactory knowledge of their operational policies and procedures;
• 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 planning, risk management strategy, communication management strategy, lessons learned and handover, and other critical success factors, strategies, policies, procedures and practices of other similar institutions;
• Acute knowledge and understanding of the elements essential for the effective delivery and measurement of development impacts through agricultural investments in Africa;
• Highly developed negotiation skills proven to yield positive outcomes with senior counterparts, both internal and external;
• 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 Portuguese and / or French, with a good working knowledge of English.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint); knowledge of SAP is desirable.

Application Closing Date
19th December, 2020.