Manager, Credit Quality Assurance (Assurances & Safeguards - Eastern & Southern Africa) at the African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank)

African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) was established in Abuja, Nigeria in October, 1993 by African Governments, African private and institutional investors as well as non-African financial institutions and private investors for the purpose of financing, promoting and expanding intra-African and extra-African trade.

The Bank, headquartered in Cairo, the capital of the Arab Republic of Egypt, commenced operations on 30 September, 1994, following the signature of a Headquarters Agreement with the host Government in August, 1994. It has branch offices in Harare, Abuja and Abidjan and will open an East Africa branch office shortly.

CA Global Headhunters has been retained by the Afreximbank based in Cairo, Egypt to recruit for the position below:

Job Title: Manager, Credit Quality Assurance (Assurances & Safeguards - Eastern & Southern Africa)

Reference Number: RSBBLR013
Location: Harare, Zimbabwe

Responsibilities

• The main purpose of the role is to support the Senior Manager in the delivery of a robust Credit Quality Assurance program that ensures sound quality in the credit portfolio through effective monitoring and review of the credit environment, processes and related developments, and ensuring compliance with policies and approval terms and conditions throughout the life of the credit facility.
• The credit quality assurance process is expected to provide transparency and assurance on how effectively credit risks are being managed, including conducting of monitoring and evaluation procedures provided for under the RMPPs, formulating and implementing corrective action plans, and early warning indicators, bringing to management’s attention any notable adverse credit developments, thus allowing for timely remedial actions to be taken by the Credit Quality Assurance Unit (CQAU) or other departments as the case may be.
• The CQA Manager shall execute his/her duties with a focus on portfolio monitoring; review; remediation of facilities in an assigned portfolio, as well as, providing timely and comprehensive reports as advised by the Senior Manager. Allocation of responsibilities may be by geography, product or other specialism as may be determined by the Senior Manager.

Credit Quality Monitoring:

• Perform scheduled and event-triggered credit quality monitoring activities, including site visits,  on specific credit facilities and the credit environment including assessment and monitoring of the following:
  • Adherence to credit policies, procedures, methodologies, approach, and systems used in credit risk management and recommend/monitor implementation of corrective actions as considered appropriate.
  • Adherence to credit covenants, undertakings and other terms and conditions of a credit facility.
  • Adherence to margining requirements for security (collateral) held to ensure security values do not fall below the set thresholds and call for security enhancement or top-up as necessary.
  • Financial and operational performance of the borrower (s).
  • Impact of trigger-events and other emerging credit problem areas.
  • Country, industry, and sector risk developments.

Credit Portfolio Review:

• Perform scheduled and event-triggered credit portfolio reviews on the credit portfolio. The reviews shall cover at the minimum:
  • Asset quality reviews - appraisal of the conduct and profitability of individual credit facility; risk grade review; analysis of the borrower’s financial statements and other qualitative attributes.
  • Credit approval process review - examining the approval process credit facility went through, including pre-assessment, credit approval, disbursement, and credit administration.
  • Administrative and documentation review - verifying the existence and adequacy of the documents associated with credit facility files, including completeness of credit grading and accuracy of loan grades assigned by credit officers.
  • Collateral (security) review - physical check of all security and loan documents, confirmation of registration status, assessment of the value and enforceability of collateral.
  • Compliance review - compliance with internal policies and procedures including mandate requirements, adherence to loan covenants.

Loan Remediation:

• Quality of Assigned Portfolio - Manage an assigned portfolio of distressed credit facilities / loans to within approved risk appetite limits, and performance metrics.
• Remedial Strategies - Define and recommend appropriate loan work-out /remedial strategies including but not limited to restructuring, rescheduling to that reduce the Bank’s credit risk and maximize return by and maintaining acceptable asset quality.
• Strong Partnerships - Collaborate with other key stakeholders in the Bank including Business Development, Credit Assessment, and Operations for the timely resolution of sub-performing credit facilities.
• Engagement with Legal - Work closely with and support legal counsel for the initiation and implementation of approved acceleration and enforcement work out plans.
• Risk Measurement - Ensure the appropriate risk grading and staging of all facilities in the assigned portfolio as well as the preparation and submission of timely, reliable, and comprehensive remediation Internal Memos and Reports.
• Record Keeping - Maintain appropriate records including comprehensive and up-to-date customer credit information, correspondences, minutes, work-out memoranda, and such other relevant information for all facilities in the assigned portfolio.
• Collateral Adequacy - Ensure that the security package for all facilities in the assigned portfolio is perfected, with the most recent asset valuations as appropriate.
• Credit Governance - Support the Loan Quality Committee with reliable and timely information necessary for informing the staging and loan loss provisioning process of the Bank.

Reporting:

• Prepare and submit accurate and timely reports to Senior Manager for review and sign-off on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and annual basis for Management, RISTRAC, EXMAF and relevant Board committees, highlighting performance against defined credit quality parameters.

Relationship Management:

• Develop and maintain effective internal and external relationships through individual contacts and Bank facilitated forums.
• Represent the CQA Unit as delegated by the Senior Manager, in internal and external meetings and committees.
• Maintain a high-level relationship with rating agencies to understand and implement compliance requirements to maintain a high rating for the Bank.
• Maintain high-level relationships with industry associations and CQA heads of peer organizations to enhance capacity building and benchmarking of best practices, executing joint projects to address shared risks and concerns, developing outlines of new methodologies and frameworks, etc.
• Any other duties as may be assigned by Senior Management from time to time.

Requirements
Qualifications and Skills:

• Postgraduate Degree in Commerce, Banking, Finance, Accounting, Economics, or Risk Management. A professional qualification in a relevant area such as banking, risk management, or accounting may be accepted in lieu of a post – graduate degree.
• At least 8 years banking experience, specifically covering credit risk management, debt restructuring / recovery, country, and sector risk analysis, structured and project finance.
• Good written and oral communication skills in English.
• Understanding of credit risk and country risk management processes and methodologies.
• Understanding of credit risk mitigations and financing mechanisms including structured trade finance, project finance, and syndications.
• Knowledge of Africa and its banking industry.
• Broad knowledge of applicable statutes, laws and regulations that govern banking and lending activities in different parts of Africa.
• Understanding of the Bank’s systems, policies, procedures, and practices.
• Good written and oral communication skills.
• Competency in MS suite (Word, Excel, PPT).
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Good leadership and people skills.

Benefits and Contractual information

• Permanent
• Willing and able to relocate to Harare, Zimbabwe.
• Suitably qualified candidates from all African nationalities are encouraged to apply.

Application Closing Date
18th June, 2021.