Chief Investment Officer at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

African Development Bank (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: Chief Investment Officer

Reference: ADB/18/044

Location: Côte d’Ivoire

Grade: PL3

Position N°: 50001312

The Complexes

• The main focus of the Vice Presidency for ‘Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization’ (PIVP) is on: (i) developing the private sector; (ii) deepening the financial sector; (iii) improving infrastructure (transport, urban, ICT; cross-cutting); (iv) accelerating industrialization; and (v) boosting intra-African trade.  PIVP plays the lead role in: (i) preparing and supervising Non-Sovereign Operations (NSO) in PIVP Sectors; (ii) coordinating NSO processes; (iii) developing and sharing relevant Sector Knowledge; (iv) support the Regions on Sovereign sector operations; and (v) managing Complex Sovereign operations.  PIVP combines analytical work and policy dialogue in its sector with financing of specific operations, be they loans or equity investments.
• The Vice Presidency for ‘Agriculture, Human, and Social Development’ is a Sector Complex focusing on “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”. The complex objectives are (i) to develop, policy and strategy; (ii) provide deep sector expertise to the Regions by gathering pools of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide sector expertise on complex transactions; (iii) develop new financing instruments.

The Position

• The chief investment officer is being recruited to originate, develop, and lead the due diligence up to approval and financial closure as well as the monitoring and supervision of private sector transactions in the above-mentioned sectors. 
• Applicants will be considered for a variety of investment officer positions that match their specific skills, expertise and background. While most positions are based in Abidjan, some may be based in Tunis, Nairobi, Pretoria or other locations.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the direct supervision of the Division Manager, the chief investment officer will:

Project Development and Processing:

• Liaise and coordinate with other Investment Officers and Bank staff in business development and the origination of a good quality investment pipeline.
• Proactively identify potential investment partners and opportunities based on industry experience, reputation, market potential, financial capability, and strategic fit;
• Assess the attractiveness of specific investment opportunities with a strong focus on credit quality and development impact and make recommendations management.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with other departments, clients, banking and multilateral partners and government officials to develop specific investment opportunities;
• Prepare project appraisal reports for presentation to the department, review committees, senior management and finally to the Board of Directors.
• Execute loan, [equity, and mezzanine] financings including processing mandates, conducting due diligence, structuring deals, negotiating terms and documentation, arranging syndications, and processing internal approvals.;
• Coordinate with sector colleagues, the internal approvals to proactively find pragmatic solutions to emerging/specific sector challenges.
• Develop investment promotion strategies in Africa, including targeting potential investors and promoting AfDB’s products and services proactively;
• Work with the legal department to ensure that all deals have appropriate legal documentation and that financial close is achieved, and hand over projects to portfolio management staff.

Project supervision and monitoring:

• Monitor project progress through field visit/desk review and prepare relevant reports (including, inter-alia, the quarterly Portfolio Status Report (PSR) and Project Completion Reports (XSR / PCR) for submission to Senior Management as periodic updates on implementation progress;
• Review periodic Reports (including but not limited to quarterly, half-yearly, and annual operational, technical, environmental and financial reports) of assigned projects to ensure compliance with covenants and project implementation timelines, highlighting implementation issues and challenges and keep regular communication with related Country and Head Office staff;
• Lead the review of restructuring and waiver requests from clients and advise management on financial impact and coordinate the preparation and submission of documentation from the regions for presentation to internal appropriate approving authorities to seek and obtain necessary credit approvals.
• Advise and be a member of the origination teams on transactions with focus on improving the design, preparation and implementation of initiatives/programs to strengthen the quality of the portfolio at entry; and
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, banking and multilateral partners and government officials to develop a strong pipeline for new investment opportunities.

Design specific innovative transactions, projects and initiatives:

• Undertakes the work on aspects of investments and industrial development and aligns them with institutional objectives.
• Works with regional teams/country offices to design and implement sector development support programs;
• Evaluate, structure, negotiate, and close new transactions, with a strong focus on credit and asset quality (include processing mandates, due diligence, negotiating term sheets and other documentation, syndications and board approval);
• Provide support to other industry and portfolio teams in processing and supervising projects.

External Liaison and Knowledge Sharing:

• Contribute to the documentation of lessons learned from investment operations and emerging best practices in areas of expertise
• Participate in and contribute to information and experience sharing sessions with internal and external stakeholders
• Participate in and contribute to activities for advocacy, dissemination and knowledge building relating to AfDB’s investments/operations, products and initiatives.
• Provide peer review to other colleagues to share industry knowledge and information on respective sector
• Provide technical leadership and support to knowledge and lesson sharing approaches and events with internal and external stakeholders.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, banking and multilateral partners and government officials to develop specific investment opportunities;

Policy and Project Evaluation:

• Provide input and comments on project, policy and other papers related to respective sector operations and development across a range of key themes and sectors.

Strategy, Planning and Reporting:

• Participate in relevant teams for planning and programming purposes.
• Contribute to and coordinate in the investments inputs development of strategies at  regional level
• Assist in the development of the relevant Department’s knowledge management strategy, and assist in execution of this strategy;
• Coordinate closely with social, environmental, advisory and technical assistance colleagues in order to champion AfDB’s value to our clients’ businesses, find pragmatic solutions to the specific sector challenges, and achieve sustainable development impact;

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Must have a minimum of a Master’s degree in Business Administration, Finance or other relevant field;
• Have a minimum of Seven (7) Years professional experience in project finance, banking, consultancy, with specific experience in Africa;
• Ability for business development, structure and negotiate deals;
• Strong analytical and financial structuring skills (including financial modeling experience) and sound business judgment”;
• Working experience in multinational organization in Africa and/or specialized experience in similar organization/s would be considered an advantage
• Demonstrates ability to coordinate, participate in, and act as a catalyst for, strategic cross-sector dialogues within the networks, across the country, among Bank colleagues and other development institutions, governments and other organizations.
• Knowledge of economic developments and market trends in Africa
• Ability to contribute to sound decisions and contribute to the execution of the decisions
• Ability to initiate, effectively and independently interact with the senior government officials, senior management of potential clients
• Strong commitment to search for and produce innovative and creative approaches to activities in order to enhance performance and create added benefits to the Bank and its clients.
• Excellent problem solving capabilities, applies business…