AFAWA Portfolio of Projects - AHGC (EOI) 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: Expressions of Interest: AFAWA Portfolio of Projects - AHGC

Location: Nairobi, Yaoundé, Pretoria and Tunis or Abidjan (depending on the supervision’s decision).
Consultant Type: Individual Consultant
Job family: Gender

Description

• The African Development Bank (AFDB) hereby invites bilingual International Individual Consultants (English and French) to express their interest as Individual Consultants (04) to support the AFAWA portfolio of projects in the four (04) Africa Regions.
• The AfDB started the implementation of the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) program in 2021.Through this initiative, the Bank plans to unlock up to US $5 billion in new financing for women led and women-owned businesses across Africa by 2026. The Bank is doing this through the AFAWA guarantee for growth program in partnership with the Africa Guarantee Fund, where the African Development Bank is helping to de-risk women-led small and medium sized enterprises and incentivize financial institutions to increase lending to women. The Bank is also utilizing its traditional instruments of Lines of Credit, Trade Finance and Equity to ensure a carve out of 30% is allocated to women SMEs with partnering financial institutions on the continent.
• The services to be provided for this assignment include the following actions: (i) Support the TM in reviewing and processing requests sent for Bank’s clearance to ensure timely response and feedback; (ii) Review and advise on the general performance of projects including implementation of the project against the defined objectives and outputs; (iii) Review project implementation progress in line with the Bank’s results management framework of the approved Project; (iii) Assist the TM in reviewing monitoring reports from the Project Implementation Unit; (iii) Support the Project Implementation Units in addressing any capacity related challenges including adherence to project implementation timeframe; (iv) Review the status of recommendations and action plans made in Bank’s supervision missions; (vi) Organize and facilitate cross learning workshops, networking and pitching events in partnership with relevant stakeholders; (vii) Support communication strategy and tools to disseminate project results (compendium, lessons learnt, best practice via partners/AfDB Channels internet, social media etc.); (viii) Discuss challenges and constraints in project implementation; (ix) Review and address the procurement plans and pending issues; (x) Review all contracts in the projects in terms of their disbursement levels, delivery of their targets, and any issues relating to quality and timeliness in completion; (xi) Undertake similar assignments in other RMCs countries as may be required. 2
•  The Gender, Women and Civil Society Department (AHGC) invites bilingual Individual Consultants to apply to provide the services described above. Interested Individual Consultants must provide information on their capacity and experience demonstrating that they are qualified for the services (documentation, reference of similar services, experience in comparable assignments, proof of their knowledge of French, etc.).

Scope of Work
Under the overall guidance of the AFAWA Manager, and the direct supervision of the AFAWA Task Managers (TM) in the respective regions, the consultants shall undertake the following tasks:

• Support the TM in reviewing and processing requests sent for Bank’s clearance to ensure timely response and feedback.
• Review and advise on the general performance of projects including implementation of the project against the defined objectives and outputs.
• Review project implementation progress in line with the Bank’s results management framework of the approved Project.
• Assist the TM in reviewing monitoring reports from the Project Implementation Unit.
• Support the Project Implementation Units in addressing any capacity related challenges including adherence to project implementation timeframe.
• Review the status of recommendations and action plans made in Bank’s supervision missions.
• Organize and facilitate cross learning workshops, networking and pitching events in partnership with relevant stakeholders.
• Support communication strategy and tools to disseminate project results (compendium, lessons learnt, best practice via partners/AfDB Channels internet, social media etc.)
• Discuss challenges and constraints in project implementation.
• Review and address the procurement plans and pending issues.
• Review all contracts in the projects in terms of their disbursement levels, delivery of their targets, and any issues relating to quality and timeliness in completion.
• Undertake similar assignments in other RMCs countries as may be required.

Qualifications and Experience

• The consultant should have a minimum of a Master’s Degree in Humanities, Business, Gender, Economics, Agro-industry, Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation, Development Economics or related fields.
• Have a minimum of eight (8) years of relevant experience, (including in multilateral development institutions) in project cycle management, as Technical Assistance Expert in sustainable finance, women’s empowerment programs, enterprise development programs and value chains.
• Proven successful experience working with women’s financial inclusion projects. key value chains and facilitating training in business and financial management skills for women SMEs
• Ability to work in a team spirit to achieve defined objectives in international multicultural
• Portfolio management experience working in Africa is a must.
• Excellent communication skills with good knowledge of English language.
• A good working knowledge of French is an advantage.
• Competences in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint).
• A national of the Bank’s Member Country.
• The consultants will be home based with occasional travels to projects in different regions.

Duration

• The duration of the assignment is six (6) months renewables depending on the needs and implementation performance. The AHGC/AFAWA unit invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in providing the above-described services.
• Interested Consultants shall provide information on their qualifications, experience demonstrating their ability to undertake this Assignment (documents, reference to similar services, experience in similar assignments, etc.) and his/her references.
• The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the Bank’s Rules and Procedure for the Selection of Corporate Consultants. Please, note that interest expressed by a consultant does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include him/her in the shortlist. The assignment is estimated to starting on 01 June 2023.

Application Closing Date
5th May, 2023.