Principal Industrial Development Officer 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 Industrial Development Officer

Location: Pretoria, South Africa
Employment Type: Full-time

The Complex

• The Vice-Presidency for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization is central to the Bank’s mission of developing the private sector, improving infrastructure and accelerating industrialization.
• The complex main functions are to:
  • Strengthen the enabling environment for private sector (including financial sector) development conducive to inclusive growth and sustainable development, Support the development of reliable and sustainable infrastructure, including cities and urban development, and
  • Place renewed emphasis on industrial, trade and investment climate performance in support of structural transformation across Africa.
• The Complex leverages knowledge, co-financing, and partnerships to attract private capital and work with governments on delivering the Bank’s development agenda.

The Hiring Department and Division

• The role of the Bank’s Industrial and Trade Development Department is to promote the implementation of the Bank’s 10 Year Strategy and HI 5’s initiatives with special emphasis on the Industrialize Africa strategy.
• The Department leads the Bank’s activities in the area of industrial policies, ICT, trade and investment climate, and private sector investments in industry and services.
• In line with the Bank Ten-Year Strategy, and consistent with the Bank’s Industrialization Strategy for Africa, the hiring Division, Industrial Development, Trade and Investment Climate drives the Bank’s interventions through the implementation of priority programs to scale-up and accelerate industrial transformation in Africa.
• Through strategic partnerships with other co-financiers, the Private Sector, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO),the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Union Commission (AUC) and Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Division actively seeks to support governments in adjusting their national industrial policies, trade policies, identifying potential sectors for industrial development and investment, and providing support for value chain development, advisory and technical assistance as well as operational support through sectoral expertise to operational teams in Regional Hubs.
• This will cover operations, advisory and technical assistance pertaining to industry clusters, investments in Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and linkage projects, technical assistance for Public-Private Partnership-targeted projects and special initiatives and activities dedicated to promoting strategic partnerships.
• In addition, the Division strives to facilitate government and private sector dialogue to foster coordination between all the industrialization stakeholders as well as supporting meaningful complementarities between industrialization initiatives and trade.

The Position

• The job of Principal Industrial Development Officer, reporting to the Manager of the Industrial Development Trade and Investment Climate Division, is key to the implementation of the Bank’s Industrialization Strategy for Africa.
• The incumbent is responsible for implementing programs, projects and initiatives of the Bank on industrial development.
• The incumbent is responsible for providing advice and technical assistance services to governments, institutions and regulatory bodies in the areas of industrial development
• The incumbent is expected to help countries identify most promising products, sectors and commercial opportunities; and forge strategic partnerships with relevant international organizations such as UNIDO and UNECA.
• Assist in defining and expanding the Division’s industrialization agenda and to mainstream in consultation with the Manager, the complementarities with the trade policy/trade facilitation workstreams into the Bank’s operational and analytical work.
• Meaningful contribution to the preparation of the industrialization and trade-related aspects of Country and Regional programming instruments.

Key Functions
Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Manager Industrial Development Trade and Investment Climate Division (PITD1), the incumbent will perform the following:

• Support the Bank’s policy and operations on industrial development to enhance economic diversification and to improve competitiveness by fostering successful policies, and by promoting and driving enterprise development on the continent.
• Support the implementation of the Industrialize Africa Strategy, focusing on flagship programmes (i) Fostering successful industrial policies; (iv) Promoting and driving enterprise development (v) Promoting strategic partnerships; (vi) Supporting governments in developing efficient industry clusters across Africa.
• Develop industrial policies, enterprise development plans and industrial cluster business plans to support the Bank’s work in industrial development.
• Work with the Regional Hubs to support and/or lead the design and delivery of sovereign sectoral operations both in industrialization and trade policy/facilitation.
• Work with the Non-Sovereign Operations, Industry & Services division to support policy developments aimed at unlocking investments in strategic industrial sectors.
• Lead industrial development implementation and trade policy/facilitation support through execution of Country Strategy Papers (CSP)/Regional Integration Strategy Papers (RISP)
• Build and manage relationships with strategic partnerships with other co-financiers, the Private Sector, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and Regional Economic Communities (RECs), etc.
• Lead, jointly with the Bank’s Economic Complex (ECCE), regional offices and the UNECA, efforts on providing technical assistance in developing standards, collecting industrialization and trade data and providing comprehensive statistics across Africa.
• Provide intellectual leadership on industrial policies when needed, lead the review and/or fine-tuning of the Bank’s policy and strategy on industrialization to ensure a coherent approach across regions.
• In consultation with the Manager, establish complementarities between industrialization, trade policy/facilitation work-streams with emphasis on developing projects/programmes that are operationally relevant for the Bank.
• Provide support to other duties as assigned by the Manager.

Competencies (Skills, Experience and Knowledge)

• Hold at least a Master's Degree in Economics, Public Policy, Industrial Policy, International Trade, Business Administration or related fields or related discipline;
• A minimum of six (6) years of relevant experience in a similar institution and/or solid experience in industrial development.
• Strong understanding of Africa’s industrial structure coupled with practical experience in high-level policy dialogue.
• Solid network of contacts within the AUC, RECs and key partner agencies such UNIDO and UNECA.
• Experience in developing countries is desirable.
• Private sector experience is an advantage.
• Communication
• Analytical Skills
• Negotiations and consensus building skills
• Problem Solving
• Client Orientation
• Team working and relations
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French, with a working knowledge of the other.
• Competence in the use of Bank standard software (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint). Knowledge of SAP is desirable.

Application Closing Date
29th February, 2024.