REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK Financial Sector Development - Trade Finance Division CCIA Rue Jean-Paul II Plateau Abidjan, Cote d Ivoire Tel: +225 20 26 1276, email: b.nekati@afdb.org JUNIOR TRADE FINANCE CONSULTANT: RESEARCH & ANALYTICAL SUPPORT Department making the request: Financial Sector Development - Trade Finance Division Place of assignment: Abidjan, Cote d Ivoire Period of assignment: August 2017 to December 2017 (Five months) Expected start date of the assignment: 1st August 2017 Last date for expressing interest: 9th June 2017 Expression of interest to be submitted to: b.nekati@afdb.org and c.orwothwun@afdb.org Please attach an updated Curriculum Vitae on the basis of the template in Annex I below: Any questions/clarifications needed to be addressed to: Mr. Bleming Nekati, Chief Trade Finance Officer Tel: +225 20 26 1276, email: b.nekati@afdb.org 1. BACKGROUND The Financial Sector Development Department (PIFD) of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has primary responsibility for leading the implementation of the Bank Group s Financial Sector Development Strategy & Policy, bringing together all financial sector development initiatives across the Bank under one roof, in line with the Bank's strategy, in order to create a solid platform providing leadership, and coherence to address challenges relating to the persistence of systemic financing gaps affecting critical sectors across Africa, spiralling number of financial actors, amid shifting regulatory concerns. PIFD is fully responsible for the Bank s sovereign and non-sovereign financial sector operations in Africa s 54 Regional Member Countries (RMCs) including the provision of: equity participation, guarantees, and lines of credit to financial intermediaries, loans to qualified corporates and technical assistance among others. One of the main division in PIFD is the Trade Development Division, which is responsible for providing trade finance solutions to financial institutions and soft commodity facility for corporates engaged in supporting regional and international trade in Africa. The need to increase trade amongst RMCs with the rest of the world is therefore a key priority of the AfDB. Africa s trade has tripled in volume over the past decade, and this has generated increased demand for trade finance that is not fully met by the available supply. EOI Individual Consultant Trade Finance Research & Analytical Support 1 /6
To help bridge the continent s trade finance gap, the AfDB launched a Trade Finance Program (TFP) in February 2013. The TFP offers 3 complementary products which provide liquidity and risk mitigation support to financial institutions (FIs) and commodity corporates in Africa: (i) Trade Finance Line of Credit; (ii) Soft Commodity Finance Facility (SCFF); and (iii) Risk Participation Agreement (RPA). The experience gained from implementing the TFP as well as signals from the market show that there is further demand for other trade finance products such as direct guarantees (DGs). The DG would be provided by the Bank to a confirming Bank for the risk taken on an African FI. The immense demand for AfDB s trade finance (TF) products coupled with the highly specialized nature of TF transactions in a dynamic global business environment necessitates a need for continuous re-defining of the Bank s TF solutions to match market developments and the changing TF demands, in order to provide comprehensive TF solutions as well as technical assistance to FI s and corporates in RMC s. In light of the foregoing, the Bank is requesting for expressions of interest from suitably qualified individual Consultants to carry out research and analytical work and support the development of technical assistance function for the Trade Finance Cluster. 2. OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT The objective of this request is to hire a Consultant, experienced in trade finance and/or financial sector operations, strategy development and execution, capacity building in financial services, and SME finance to carry out identified tasks related to research and analytical work, with a view to: Support the development of internal capacity to manage technical assistance requests, review policies and processes of accessing resources from various in-house trust funds applicable to TFP projects; Support the TF technical assistance function and help strengthen the capacity of financial institutions (FIs) and related corporate clients in RMC s to effectively mitigate operational risks associated with TF transactions; Provide research, analysis and requisite support to develop the development of the Trade Finance Capacity Development Programme for SMEs and emerging banks; Work with a wider multi-disciplinary team in the review of the Bank s TFP in line with the current operating environment and the Bank s strategic direction. 3. MAIN ACTIVITIES AND DELIVERABLES Under the supervision of the Division Manager and with guidance from the Chief Trade Finance Officer (who will be the Task Manager for this assignment), the successful candidate will be expected to undertake functions including, but not limited to the following: 3.1 Conduct due diligence on potential beneficiaries of the TF technical assistance throughout the region and other counterparties and where applicable prepare a technical appraisal proposal in coordination with the origination team; EOI Individual Consultant Trade Finance Research & Analytical Support 2 /6
3.2 Participate in supervision and due diligence missions in order to assess, ex-ante and ex-post, the commercial and developmental impact of the Bank s interventions and to verify fitness of the Bank s support to beneficiaries and counter parties; 3.3 The Consultant from time to time, will travel with the investment officers/project teams to understand and collect data for the proper technical analysis of TF projects for consideration for funding and technical assistance; 3.4 Participate in knowledge sharing and dissemination of knowledge on the TF technical assistance to both internal and external stake holders through conferences, workshops and learning programs; Perform any other duties as may be assigned by the Division Manager, which will include but not limited to the following. 3.5 Reviewing and providing comments for the improvement of quality of project documents (strategy documents, concept notes and project appraisal documents); 3.6 Drafting internal project documents, primarily project concept notes and project appraisal documents and ensuring that they meet the desired thresholds and are responsive to the internal approval processes of the Bank s ecosystem; 3.7 Participate in various Bank committees as required, taking minutes and ensuring that there is follow up on decisions adopted; 3.8 Provide advice to the Task Manager on any knowledge management and learning activities on Trade Finance, and contribute to dissemination activities such as conferences, workshops and learning programs; 4. ADMINISTRATION/REPORTING The successful Consultant will administratively report to the Division Manager (Trade Finance Division), Financial Sector Development Department, and will work under supervision of the Chief Trade Finance Officer (who is the Task Manager for this undertaking). 5. DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT: The services of the Consultant will initially be required for 5 months from August 1 st, 2017, with a possibility for extension subject to satisfactory performance. 6. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE Minimum Educational level of Consultants: A minimum Master s degree or equivalent in Finance/Business, Economics, International Trade, Law or related international development fields: Experience Required: Minimum of two years and a maximum of five years of progressively responsible experience on issues related to Trade Finance, Strategy Development and Execution, Capacity Building in Financial Services, and SME Finance. Operational experience in Africa will be an advantage; understanding of Trade Finance instruments (and their derivatives) and their deployment, intra-african trade issues, and financial sector development issues. Previous consultancy experience with investment banks, multilateral and bilateral institutions. EOI Individual Consultant Trade Finance Research & Analytical Support 3 /6
written and verbal communications skills in English and/or French and with sound working knowledge of the other. organization, research and report writing skills with a proven ability to work without close supervision; computer skills: (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.:). Strongly quantitative and analytical skills with an eye for detail. Be a national of one of the member countries of the Bank; Be under 32 years of age 7. LOCATION OF THE POSITION The Consultant is expected to be based in Abidjan, Cote d Ivoire. The expected commencement date is August 1st, 2017). EOI Individual Consultant Trade Finance Research & Analytical Support 4 /6
ANNEX 1: MODEL CURRICULUM VITAE (CV) Title of the Assignment: Department: Surname: Birth Date: Address: Telephone: First Name: Nationality: Country: E-mail: Are any of your family members (spouse/partner, father/mother, Brother/sister, Son/daughter, etc. employed in the African Development Bank? Yes No If «Yes», the following data must be provided Name Relationship Organisation Unit Place of Assignment Language Level English French Other (specify) Read Written Spoken Key Qualifications: Please provide (i) a summary of your experience and training highlighting the most relevant for the proposed assignment, and (ii) the responsibilities which you exercised. Utilise one half-page maximum. Education (University Level and above only): Name of University - City - Country Period Diploma Obtained Main Topic / Major From To EOI Individual Consultant Trade Finance Research & Analytical Support 5 /6
Professional Training: Name of Training Institution- City - Country Type of Training Period Certificates or Diploma Obtained From From Employment Record: Begin with your most recent employment. For each job since your Master Degree achievement, please indicate: Name of the Employer Type of Activity/Business of the Employer Title / Function Place of Employment Brief Description (three lines maximum) of main accomplishments and responsibilities Reference: Please indicate the name and address of three persons with no family relationship with yourself, familiar with your character and titles. I hereby certify that the responses which I provided above are all, to the best of my knowledge, true, complete and accurate. I acknowledge that an inaccurate statement or essential omission in a personal declaration or another document required by the African Development Bank might result in the rejection of my application, termination of my Contract or any other administrative sanction by the Bank. The African Development Bank may verify any statements which I made in this application. Date: Signature: EOI Individual Consultant Trade Finance Research & Analytical Support 6 /6