The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) founded in 2006, is an African-led African-based organization that seeks to catalyze Agriculture Transformation in Africa. AGRA is focused on putting smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives. As the sector that employs the majority of Africa’s people, nearly all of them small-scale farmers, AGRA recognizes that developing smallholder agriculture into a productive, efficient, and sustainable system is essential to ensuring food security, lifting millions out of poverty, and driving equitable growth across the continent.
We seek to strengthen its Inclusive Finance team with an experienced and exceptional individual in the position of:
Job Title: Program Officer, Inclusive Finance
Job Reference No.: PO/IF/WA/07/2020
Location: Accra, Ghana / Abuja Nigeria
Position Summary
- Reporting to the Regional Head for West Africa and the Head of Inclusive Finance Team (technically), the Program Officer will be responsible for the implementation of the Inclusive Finance strategy in West Africa (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, and Togo) and for contributing to the Inclusive Finance team in furthering the development of its strategy, resources and interventions to make finance work for the agricultural transformation in Africa.
Key Duties and Responsibilities
AGRA’s core activities are Partnership and Grant Development, this means that the Program Officer in close collaboration with Inclusive Finance team and country teams will:
- Engage with Government in the 4 countries to identify opportunities for blended finance instrument deployment to grow the availability of agricultural finance in the country.
- Identify potential partners (Financial institutions and Value Chain Actors) for improving Access to Financial Services for Agribusinesses and Smallholder Farmers using the AGRA models for agricultural finance.
- Identify potential partners for Business Development Services delivery to Agribusinesses that AGRA has invested in view of graduating them to become bankable or investment ready.
- Develop tri-partite relationships (AGRA – Financial Institution – Donor/investors) to facilitate delivery of local financial solutions to AGRA beneficiaries (SMEs and farmers) and other agribusinesses and financial institutions in the 4 focus countries.
- Pro-actively contribute to Resource Mobilization for AGRA in the 6 focus countries.
- Establish and maintain network in agricultural finance and stay abreast of market developments to proactively disseminate knowledge & experience to AGRA’s partners and other stakeholders in Africa.
- Representing AGRA in Inclusive Finance platforms that include stakeholders such as financial institutions, agribusinesses, farmers’ representative bodies, research institutions, donors and investors, international organizations.
Key Qualifications and Experience Required
- Master’s degree in Finance, Business Administration, (Agricultural) Economics or a related field and 10 to 15 years of experience in agricultural finance and/or financial management of agribusinesses.
- Demonstrated experience of having worked with financial institutions, agribusinesses and national and local governments in the West African region as trusted advisor and partner in agricultural finance.
- Demonstrated experience and responsibility in growing an agri-business in terms of turnover, financial management capability, profitability and asset size is an added advantage.
- Be entrepreneurial with a demonstrated capacity for working effectively within multi-disciplinary teams for collective success.
- Ability to excite others about new opportunities and news ways of furthering financial access for smallholder farmers.
- Excellent communication skills in writing and speaking in both English and French.
Remuneration
An attractive remuneration package commensurate with the responsibilities of the position will be negotiated with the successful candidate.
Application Closing Date
10th August, 2020.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Application with a detailed CV (including your e-mail address and telephone contacts) to: [email protected] noting to quote the Job Reference number in the subject line.
Note: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. AGRA is an Equal Opportunity Employer
