Senior Research Economist 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: Senior Research Economist

Position Number: 50054755
Location: Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Position Grade: PL5

The Complex

• The core mandate of the Vice Presidency (ECVP) is to lead the Bank Group on prioritizing the generation, analysis, dissemination, brokering and implementation of relevant knowledge solutions in all High-5 operational priorities and the cross-cutting themes of its Ten-Year Strategy. Such solutions must be a clear response to priority development challenges facing regional member countries (RMCs), individually or collectively and need to involve RMCs in both the planning and implementation of the solutions.
• The solutions include:
  • Research on major development issues facing Africa and their relation to global economic governance and other major global public goods;
  • Country diagnostics and future perspectives;
  • Policy dialogue and advisory services;
  • Economic, sector, and thematic knowledge work;
  • Improving national and sub-regional statistical systems;
  • Preparation, design and support to implementation of public financial management and Governance operations;
  • Capacity development for policy formulation and implementation;
  • Technical assistance and advice related to RMCs’ management of natural resources; and
  • Knowledge dissemination and development of national, regional, and inter regional knowledge networks.

The Hiring Department / Division

• The Macroeconomics Policy, Forecasting and Research Department (ECMR) is dedicated to research on major development issues facing Africa and their relation to global economic governance and other major global public goods.
• It provides economic research intelligence to support the Bank’s operational effectiveness in the regional member countries through rigorous micro-and macro-economic policy analyses, policy dialogue and technical assistance implemented in collaboration with other Departments in the ECVP Complex, and Sector Complexes of the Bank Group to enhance the operational effectiveness in achieving the High 5s.
• The activities of the Department are structured around two Divisions namely, the Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting and the Microeconomics, Institutional and Development Impact.
• The Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting Division (ECMR1) is responsible for the following, inter alia:
  • Conducting policy research and debt sustainability analysis in order to improve the Bank’s macroeconomic surveillance and understanding of sovereign debt risk profile and the policy tools that Regional Member Countries can deploy to contain debt distress;
  • Conducting macroeconomic analysis, modelling and forecasting to inform decisions made by the Bank’s the Regional Member Countries;
  • Providing cutting edge analytical support to Senior Management through timely and rigorous economic intelligence work;
  • Collaborating with partner institutions; research think tanks and universities, both within and outside Africa, in order to deepen analytical capacity and broaden the scope and outreach of the Bank’s research work,
  • Interface with other units in the ECVP Complex to strengthen quality of analytical rigor of their operations and capacity development,
  • Contribute analytical input on key macroeconomic dynamics to country strategy papers and regional integration strategy papers, country and regional diagnostic notes and investment and budget support operations and
  • Leading the production and dissemination of all the Bank’s flagship publications and other knowledge products on Africa’s emerging macroeconomic and development issues and on the Bank’s High 5s priority areas.

The Position

• The Senior Research Economist is part of the ECMR.1 team and expected to undertake research work focusing on macroeconomic issues that are relevant for the Bank’s regional member countries and its operational engagement, including research on the Bank’s High 5 agenda.
• The role involves the construction of macroeconomic models and conducting debt sustainability analysis to improve the Bank’s modelling portfolio for evidence based and enhanced policy dialogue in the Regional Member Countries and improving macroeconomic analytical content of its operations.

Key Functions
Under the supervision and guidance of the Division Manager, Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting, the Senior Research Economist will:

Develop and lead research programs and projects focusing on macroeconomic issues of particular relevance to the Bank’s RMCs and its High 5 agenda. This involves:

• Initiate, oversee and contribute to research projects focusing on macroeconomic issues using established and proven quantitative techniques/methods.
• Lead the preparation of flagship publications and knowledge products such as the African Economic Outlook; African Development Report; books, reports, etc.
• Lead the design and construction of a suite of structural macro-econometric models; Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium, Global Vector Autoregressive Analysis and other simpler Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average models.
• Provide senior management and regional member countries (RMCs) with comparative research analysis, socio-economic data and macroeconomic projections of the most widely used socio-economic parameters relating to Africa’s economies and Bank Group operations.
• Deliver inputs in collaborative research and knowledge management activities carried out jointly with regional and international organizations, research and capacity building institutions in Africa, development research centers and universities.

Provide technical and analytical inputs into the work of Operations Complexes. This involves:

• Provide support and input to regional, investment and technical assistance project teams on macro-economic issues related to country/regional context, macroeconomic trends, country, region or sector -specific analysis. This entails, among others, providing input into Country Strategy Papers, Regional Integration Strategy Papers, Country and Regional Diagnostic Notes, and budget support operations.
• Carry out simulations and forecasts based on the models developed and lead in the dissemination of results and provide advice to the Bank’s senior management and regional member countries to strengthen policy dialogue.
• Represent the Division in country teams and interdepartmental working groups within the Bank; review operations and strategy documents.

Participate in the Bank’s dissemination efforts of its analytical and research products with the view to help build capacity of RMCs and position the Bank as a thought leader.

• Participate in the dissemination of flagship reports such as African Economic Outlook; African Development Report and other knowledge products such as books, working papers, etc.
• Organize internal Research Seminars and/or International Conferences such as the African Economic Conference on Development Policy Issues.
• Contribute to the training and capacity development activities in the Bank and in regional member countries.
• Publish research output in the Bank’s working paper series and reputable peer reviewed journals.
• Organize and contribute to international and regional conferences, seminars and workshops.

Support management and act as a mentor for junior staff

• Provide leadership in writing and reviewing of policy statements and briefs for Senior Management on economic development issues.
• Prepare funding request proposals to mobilize research funds from Trust Funds within the Bank and from other organizations and agencies.
• Assist in the management of the division’s human resources and financial affairs
• Provide mentorship of the interns and other junior staff in the Division.

Competencies (Skills, Experience and Knowledge)

• Hold a minimum of a Master's Degree in Economics, Economic Modelling, Macroeconomics; Econometrics, Development Macroeconomics; Applied Statistics, or any relevant disciplines.
• Have a minimum of five (5) years of professional experience in development policy research and analysis with focus on Africa or low-income countries.
• Strong publications record in reputable peer review journals.
• Having experience in international financial institutions, or private sector experience will be an added advantage.
• Strong ability to build and maintain large country level and multi-country macroeconomic models.
• Extensive practical knowledge of advanced econometric methods and ability to handle, process and analyze large time series datasets using packages such as Matlab, EViews.
• Ability to lead the identification of appropriate methods and techniques to conduct cutting edge empirical research and present the results.
• Capacity to come up with innovative research ideas and techniques to improve research outcomes.
• Willingness to learn and take advice from the supervisor and peers.
• Capacity to work independently and meet tight deadlines.
• Communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language.
• Competence in the use of standard software: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.

Application Closing Date
30th July, 2023.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• This position is classified international status and attracts international terms and conditions of employment.
• Should you encounter technical difficulties in submitting your application, please send an email with a precise description of the issue and/or a screenshot showing the problem to: HR Direct [email protected]