New AfDB Jobs

Established to promote economic and social development efforts on the continent, the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group comprises three entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB) which is the parent institution, created following an agreement signed by 23 founding member states on August 14, 1963 in Khartoum, Sudan. This became effective on September 10, 1964. The group includes two concessionary windows – the African Development Fund (ADF), established on November 29, 1972 by the African Development Bank and 13 non-African countries; and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF), set up in 1976 by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

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. In order to sharply focus the objectives of the Ten Year Strategy (2013 – 2022) and ensure greater developmental impact, five major areas, all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely; energy, agro-business, industrialization, integration and improving the quality of life for the people of Africa. The Bank is seeking to build a team that will lead the successful implementation of this vision.

Job Description

Job Title: Coordinator, Africa Fertilizer

Job Summary

The AFFM Coordinator will work under the day-to-day supervision of the Director of the African Development Bank’s Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department (OSAN), and be supported by relevant Bank Divisions to coordinate the AFFM through daily supervision of activities at the Bank’s headquarters and to facilitate the implementation of AFFM’s field programmes and allied initiatives at the country level. His/her performance reporting will be both to the Director, OSAN and the Chairperson of the AFFM Governing Council.

Duties and responsibilities

Under the guidance and supervision of the Director of the African Development Bank’s Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department (OSAN), the incumbent will be perform the following duties:

• Ensure that the AFFM Secretariat is fully functional including setting up its operations, accounts, budgets, and information management systems;
• Plan and lead resource mobilization campaigns for the AFFM in consultation with key partners of the Mechanism in line with the approved annual and medium-term work programme and budget;
• Prepare the AFFM’s Operational Manual that will guide the operations of the Mechanism in line with the objectives and goals of the AFFM and the AfDB rules of procedures;
• Supervise staff of the AFFM Secretariat by providing leadership, agreeing with them on their individual work programs; and by reporting on program implementation progress and ensuring that the Mechanism’s objectives are achieved;
• Familiarize AfDB member countries in Africa with the AFFM through effective communication on concept, objective, operations strategy and procedures;
• Prepare and submit projects for AfDB Board of Directors’ approval based on the identified needs for the realization of the AFFM’s objectives;
• Establish a results-based monitoring and evaluation system that tracks, in a timely manner, improvements in fertilizer supply and use against AFFM’s annual and medium-term plans.
• Represent the AFFM in conferences and meetings of the fertilizer sector, meetings of African Union Ministers of Agriculture, the AFFM Governing Council, etc.;
• Undertake any other assignment relevant to the successful implementation and performance of the AFFM;
• Manage the team of staff assigned to AFFM.

Selection Criteria

Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience

• Hold at least a Masters’ degree in Agriculture, Business Administration, Finance or a related field of study with strong agribusiness management experience;
• Have at least fifteen (15) years relevant professional experience of which at least 10 years in the field of fertilizer production and/or Marketing;
• Sound experience with International Development Financing Institutions in developing countries including a satisfactory knowledge of their operational policies and procedures;
• Proven resource mobilization experience with state and non-state actors;
• Extensive private sector experience with demonstrated knowledge of designing and implementing private sector based investment projects, particularly within the fertilizer value chain;
• Successful budget preparation and management experience in an international organization setting and demonstrated leadership of teams working on budget preparation and execution;
• Extensive knowledge of the regional and international policy and regulatory context related to the fertilizer sector and in-depth knowledge of the agriculture sector in Africa;
• Good communication skills and ability to cooperate and work in a diverse multicultural environment;
• Proficiency in the use of standard Microsoft software, especially MS Office environment;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and / or French with a good working knowledge of the other language.

Further information on the position:

This advertisement is posted by the African Development Bank (AfDB) on behalf of AFFM, which is the employer for this position.  Engagement as staff of AFFM does not offer any expectation for future employment as staff in the African Development Bank.  This is a project staff position equivalent to AfDB’s PL2 Manager level and comes with a fixed-term contract of two (2) years initially, with possibility for renewal annually depending on availability of project funding and the coordinator’s performance. The appointed candidate will enjoy all privileges and immunities granted to international organizations.