Energy Capacity Building Officer (Contract Agent) - ALSF 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 invite suitably qualified candidates to indicate their interest in joining the Department in the capacity below:

Job Title: Expression of Interest for Energy Capacity Building Officer (Contract Agent) - ALSF

Location: Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
Consultant type: Individual Contract Agent
Job family: Legal
Duration of the assignment: 12 months (renewable)

Brief Description of the Assignment

• The African Legal Support Facility (“ALSF” or the “Facility”) requires the services of an individual Contract Agent who will assist the Operations Division in conducting capacity building activities in the energy sector (“Energy Capacity Building Officer” or “Contract Agent”).

General information / Background
The African Legal Support Facility:

• The ALSF is hosted at the African Development Bank in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The ALSF's main objectives include:
  • Assisting African Governments in defending against litigation brought against them by vulture funds (and other such entities);
  • Providing legal advisory services to African Governments in the negotiation of complex commercial transactions relating to natural resources and extractives, infrastructure/public private partnerships (PPPs), energy and sovereign finance sectors (“Key Sectors”);
  • Capacity building for lawyers and Government officials related to the above; and
  • Development of knowledge products.
• The Operations Division is responsible for coordinating legal advice to African governments (“Advisory Services Unit”) and capacity building activities in favour of local experts (“Capacity Building Unit”). The Operations Division identifies projects, provides legal assistance, and coordinates external legal counsels’ assistance.
• Operations Division members also develop and organize capacity building programs, negotiate financing agreements, and provide other institutional support as required.
• The suitable qualified Contract Agent shall be part of the Capacity Building Unit of the Operations Division and will coordinate ALSF’s capacity building activities in cooperation with internal and external stakeholders.
• The Energy Capacity Building Officer will work in close collaboration with the ALSF’s Operations Division Advisory Services Unit, government officials, legal practitioners and external service providers for the preparation of pedagogical materials, the organization of in-person or online training, and subsequent monitoring and evaluation tasks.
• The energy sector includes particularly the following sub-sectors: power generation, power infrastructure, power distribution and transmission, hydrogen, petroleum midstream and downstream.

ALSF’s Approach to Capacity Building and Knowledge Management:

• Under its Medium-Term Strategy 2023-2027’s Strategic Pillar 2, the ALSF has adopted a specific approach to:
  • Enhancing legal capacity in Key Sectors,
  • Creating and propagating knowledge, as well as
  • Strengthening the related institutional capacity across the continent.
• In all such activities, the ALSF intends to develop standards and model agreements from data leveraged from its operations, to improve decision-making and reduce cost and delay in project development.
• Based on its experience, the ALSF implements various capacity-building initiatives in the Key Sectors at national and regional levels, with the objectives of avoiding duplication and increasing the participation of Africa’s government officials, private sector lawyers, academics, and Key Sector professionals, in complex commercial transactions or related disputes. This approach enables the ALSF to develop knowledge products that facilitate the dissemination of capacity-building content.
• Through training partnerships and the development of training programmes such as the ALSF Academy Programme (www.alsf.academy), the Facility contributes to the improvement of (i) government officials’ negotiation skills, and (ii) the quality of legal advice offered by African experts to both the public and private sectors.
• This includes a special attention to international commercial arbitration and other relevant fields relating to commercial law. In all such capacity building and knowledge management activities, the ALSF considers cross-cutting issues, such as environment, social equality, governance, gender, youth, fight against illicit financial flows (IFFs), climate sustainability and digitalization as priorities.

Objectives and Tasks of the Assignment

• The Energy Capacity Building Officer shall perform the following tasks in the framework of capacity building and knowledge management projects in the energy sector:
• Write up and/or review training documents: presentation leaflets, workshop programmes, application files, pedagogical support, attendance sheets, evaluation questionnaires, participation certificates, press releases, etc.;
• Support training partners and beneficiary Governments in the selection process of participants to the workshops: preparation, collection and analysis of applications, finalization of the list of applicants, follow-up;
• Ensure communication with the selected participants: elaboration, collection and analysis of the workshop preparation questionnaires, followed by the organisation of their trip and stay, etc.;
• Coordinate with the speakers / trainers for the workshops: organisation of their trip and stay, collection of documents prepared by the speakers / trainers, help in the organisation of technical visits in cooperation with partners, etc.;
• Coordinate the preparation of training materials with selected experts: formalisation of the materials, organisation of reprography, etc.;
• Ensure communication with external suppliers: contracting and payment of services, etc.;
• Ensure the logistical organisation of workshops: reservation of training facilities, organisation of coffee breaks and meals, reservation of hotel rooms for the participants, speakers / trainers and representatives of the partners, etc.;
• Carry out missions in Africa and overseas, at the location and time of the workshops in order to coordinate the logistics of the workshops;
• Design and develop the necessary support system (online and/or pen drive) to maximise the outcome of the training programme; the support materials with all relevant documents will be given to the participants at the end of each workshop, and uploaded on an online database;
• Prepare the mission report and evaluation reports on each workshop. They must include the objectives of the training course, its results, the participants’ profiles, a summary of the evaluations, a financial and organisational summary, etc.;
• Prepare the pedagogical contents to be published on e-learning platforms and/or any other IT support at the participants’ request;
• Coordinate and ensure the application of internal ALSF procedures: preparation of internal memos or memos addressed to AfDB departments, etc.
• Perform any other task relating to ALSF capacity building activities at the request of the Head of Operations and/or the designated supervisor in consultation with relevant internal and external stakeholders.

Administration / reporting:

• The Contract Agent will work under the supervision of the Head of Operations or any other designated senior officer.

Duration of the assignment:

• The Contract Agent shall be employed for a period of twelve (12) months (renewable).

Qualifications and Experience Required

• A minimum Bachelor’s Degree or its university equivalent in relevant areas of expertise of the assignment (Logistics, Public Relations, Marketing, Communication, Management, etc.);
• At least three (3) years of work experience related to events management and/or capacity-building actions with concrete involvement in the design/delivery of capacity-building activities, preferably targeted to government officials and/or legal practitioners;
• Demonstrated ability to conceptualize, strategically manage and deliver multiple high-profile events and activities for external audiences using initiative, judgment and discretion, with exceptional attention to detail, excellent time management and prioritization skills to deliver quality outcomes, with the ability to undertake this while managing various service providers;
• Good knowledge and understanding of key dynamics shaping the energy sector in Africa, including non-renewable energy (such as mid/downstream oil & gas activities) and renewable energy (hydropower, solar, wind, etc);
• Ability to communicate and write effectively in English and/or French with good working knowledge of the other language; full proficiency in both languages and/or fluency in Portuguese will be considered an advantage;
• Demonstrated effective coordination skills and an ability to work under pressure in a multicultural environment to complete multiple tasks and meet deadlines;
• High-level communication, team building, inter-personal relationships, writing, and analytical skills;
• Competence in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint); knowledge of cloudbased project management software will be considered an advantage;
• Must be a citizen of a member country of the African Development Bank; and
• Willing to undertake extensive travel (up to 40% of time).

Remuneration

• The Contract Agent shall be paid a total monthly lump sum, comprising fee, subsistence or other incidentals, for the duration of the assignment, which is commensurate with the number of years of work experience.
• The ALSF will cover travel and field mission costs (if any) as per African Development Bank rules in this regard.

Application Closing Date
10th March, 2023.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Expressions of Interest providing information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to undertake this assignment (reference to similar services, experience in similar assignments, etc.), as well as the reason why they are interested in this assignment and in joining the ALSF to: n.kearse@afdb.org with copy to: alsf@afdb.org using "ALSF – Energy Capacity Building Officer (Contract Agent)" as the subject of the mail.

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Click here for the Job Description (PDF)

Mandatory Documents

• Please attach:
  • A Curriculum Vitae using the template in Annex 1 and 
  • A Cover letter expressing your interest in joining the ALSF.
• You may attach any other relevant materials but are not required to at this stage. Submission of additional materials will not constitute any advantage.

Note

• Unsuccessful candidates will remain in the ALSF’s database for twelve (12) months.
• Any questions and requests for clarifications may be sent to: n.kearse@afdb.org with copy to alsf@afdb.org.
• Applications that are submitted without a cover letter or that are not compliant with the Curriculum Vitae template will be rejected by the ALSF.
• Only shortlisted individuals will be contacted.