Grade: PL3
Position N°: 50102212
Reference: ADB/20/145
Publication date: 09-Oct-2020
Closing date: 08-Nov-2020
Duty station: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Objectives
THE BANK:
Established in 1964, the African Development Bank (the “Bank”) is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 81 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries or “RMCs”). 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 (“High 5s”), all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up economic development, namely; energy, agro-business, industrialization, integration and improving the quality of life for the people of Africa.
THE COMPLEX:
The Vice Presidency for Finance (FIVP) oversees the financial management of the Bank. This encompasses the Bank’s treasury activities including borrowings from the capital markets and investment activities; controllership functions including financial reporting and loan administration; strategic resource mobilization, the strengthening of the non-statutory financial resources and instruments; and the overall asset/liability management for the Bank. The Vice Presidency for Finance is also responsible syndications, co-financing, balance sheet optimization activities as well as the innovation, development and marketing of the Bank’s financial products and services. In addition, the Administrator of the Staff Retirement Plan reports to the Vice-President Finance.
THE HIRING DEPARTMENT/DIVISION:
The Syndication, Co-Financing and Client Solutions Department is responsible for the design and introduction of new financial products as well as the provision of structured finance solutions to the Bank’s clients and the design of balance sheet management transactions including secondary market sales and securitization of the Bank’s asset portfolio. The Department is also responsible for the syndication and co-financing of all the Bank’s transactions.
The Client Solutions Division (the “Division” or “FIST2”) has primary responsibility for the innovation, development and marketing / dissemination of the Bank Group’s financial products. The Division also provides financial technical expertise and advisory services on project teams, supporting task managers and investment officers in originating, structuring, appraising, negotiating, restructuring, and closing of transactions. The Division also designs balance sheet optimization operations for efficient and effective risk capital management, helping to ensure compliance with the Bank’s prudential ratios. The Division has the additional joint responsibility with the accounting department for the lending rate management of the Bank, particularly with respect to assisting Bank clients to manage market related risk through the execution of derivative-based hedging solutions.
THE POSITION:
Reporting to the Division Manager, the Chief Financial Analyst will be part of a team of finance specialists providing financial solutions and specific finance expertise in support of investments across all sectors and Regional Member Countries of the Bank. S/He will develop, structure and implement innovative financial solutions on a transaction-by-transaction basis, ideate, develop and process new products for Board approval and deploy a range of Bank products to attract financing from the private sector. This will include, but not be limited to, activities related to the deployment of the Bank’s Guarantee Program. S/He would also contribute to the design of capital management transactions to recycle or free up headroom for additional deal flow with balance sheet optimization initiatives.
Duties and responsibilities
Under the overall supervision and guidance of the Division Manager, the Chief Financial Analyst will perform the following:
1- Balance Sheet Optimization Activities
- Design balance sheet optimization transactions to assist the Bank with proactive management and preservation of its risk capital in compliance with its prudential limits, including asset sell downs, guarantee structures, reinsurance and risk participations on the Bank’s sovereign and/or non-sovereign portfolio.
- In collaboration with the Chief Risk Officer, support in the monitoring of the transactions which have been guaranteed/insured to assure compliance with the policy signed with the risk protection seller, and Board expectations.
- Assist in the calculation and payment of insurance premium, guarantee fees or other compensation payable to risk protection seller to ensure active risk cover at all times during the life of the insured transactions.
- Scope and build relationships with new potential sovereign or private sector risk mitigation providers able to reinsure/re-guarantee the Bank’s portfolio of assets in the line with the Balance Sheet Optimization Framework, Asset-Liability Management (ALM) and other internal policies.
- Engage in reporting on balance sheet optimization activities to internal and external audiences demonstrating strong command of all possible risk transfer instruments, the technical details of each BSO transaction in the portfolio as well as relevant implications in terms of capital preservation, treatment of Preferred Creditor Status, Basel III treatment etc.
2- Development and Marketing of Financial Products
- Lead the design of new and/or enhanced financial products and their associated operational guidelines (product specification, technical guidelines and implementation modalities), including coordinating feedback from various implicated departments (legal, accounting, risk, financial management etc.).
- Manage the processing and implementation of new financial products by ensuring cross-departmental buy-in and clearance of the concept proposals through the relevant internal committees including Asset-Liability Management Committee (ALCO) all the way to Board of Directors.
- Assist operational teams to help resolve important funding or hedging needs, while applying a broad knowledge of international financial markets to ensure high quality outcomes for the Bank and its clients, including new guarantee approaches and/or other risk mitigation financial instruments to meet the changing needs of commercial lenders and institutional investors.
- Support the general dissemination and implementation of the Bank’s financial products through training sessions (physical and virtual), e-learning, marketing and communication campaigns, brochures and handbooks, among other communication products.
- Identify sources of risks in the Bank’s lending and non-loan products and develop processes to assess and mitigate such risks and provide technical support to borrowers in identifying, monitoring and managing risks arising from the implementation of the financial products.
- Contribute to the development of relevant pricing methodologies for new products and assess their impact on relevant financial, risk management and financial product policies and the long-term financial sustainability of the institution.
- Monitor the performance of financial products and services, and where necessary, analyze, develop and implement changes to the existing product range to ensure that they continue to adequately meet borrower needs.
- Share experiences, benchmark and exchange information with similar divisions in other MDBs and keep abreast of financial innovation that can help the Bank’s borrowers. In addition, monitor economic and political trends in the international capital and money markets, and assess their impact on the Bank’s borrowing terms and conditions.
3- Structured Finance, Financial Solutions, Advisory and Technical Support
- Provide financial technical expertise and advisory services on project teams to support task managers to design appropriate structures and solutions to meet the growing and evolving needs of clients.
- Participate in upstream preparation/originating, structuring, appraising, negotiating, restructuring and closing of Bank transactions in various sectors utilizing the breadth of available instruments, with a focus on risk mitigation products (e.g. guarantees and hedging).
- Equip operational staff to assist borrowers in making decisions on the choice of lending or non-lending product(s) and the packaging of loans consistent with their financial and economic circumstances.
- Contribute to the drafting, review and processing of internal operational documents to be cleared by various due diligence committees including project appraisal reports and summary credit notes.
- Draft, review and/or negotiate external project documentation, including mandate letters, term sheets, loan and common term agreements in collaboration with legal counsel.
- Design structured transactions (partial credit guarantees, securitizations, credit enhancements, and risk sharing facilities) to assist clients mobilize capital from a wide range of investors including possibly local currency via the domestic capital markets, syndicated loan structures or institutional investors.
4 – Local Currency Funding
- Assist the Treasury Department to issue domestic bonds in African Capital markets and on-lend to projects.
- Assist the Treasury Department with the internal documentation required to seek approval to designate specific Regional Member Countries’ currencies as approved lending currencies of the Bank to enable the Bank to establish Medium Term Note (MTN) programs in the underlying countries.
- Lead the development of derivative based local currency funding strategies for Bank projects utilizing cross currency swaps or synthetic derivative structures.
5- Support to the Division Manager
- Support the Management of the Division with regards to tasks related to staffing and recruitment, budget and internal reporting requirements.
- Assist and supervise the successful implementation of ad hoc Special Initiatives and on various matters that relate to strategic Bank interventions or taskforces.
- Participate and represent the Division as a key member of all the Asset and Liability Management Committee working groups and other senior management technical working groups as needed.
- Mentor Financial Analysts in the Division to understand the full breadth of the Division’s activities and support their personal development by helping to establish knowledge sharing and peer learning programs to keep them abreast of new finance concepts and techniques.
Selection Criteria
- Hold at least a Master’s Degree (or its equivalent) in Finance, Banking, Business Administration, Economics, Accounting or related discipline.
- Have a minimum of seven (7) years of relevant professional experience with good financial market knowledge – particularly in relation to transaction structuring, financial products development and marketing, serving on a trading desk executing derivative transactions, local currency financing, project finance due diligence, financial modeling, and risk and capital management instruments.
- A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder or an International Capital Markets Association certification will be a plus.
- Strong background in investment and/or development banking with experience working with private sector projects, state owned entities, utilities/infrastructure authorities and African governments.
- Knowledge of market instruments and market sources of financing (sovereign bond financing, municipal/sub-sovereign financing, syndicated lending/infrastructure finance), other sources of financing (e.g., other IFIs, export credit agencies, concessionary bilateral financing, etc.); and risk management/hedging products (e.g., swaps, forwards, futures, options, etc.).
- Understanding of the treatment of supranationals by international credit rating agencies
- Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French, preferably with a working knowledge (verbal and written) of the other language.
- Good knowledge of the use of standard software (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and web tools).
- Knowledge of Accounting Systems including SAP, Summit, Reuters and Bloomberg applications a plus
THIS POSITION IS CLASSIFIED INTERNATIONAL STATUS AND ATTRACTS INTERNATIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
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Apply for this position
To apply for this position, you need to be national of one of AfDB member countries.
Applicants who fully meet the Bank’s requirements and are considered for interview will be contacted. Only online applications submitted with a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae (CV) and copies of the required degrees will be considered. The President, AfDB, reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level. The African Development Bank is an equal opportunities employer. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) does not ask for payments of any kind from applicants throughout the recruitment process (job application, CV review, interview meeting, and final processing of applications). In addition, the Bank does not request information on applicants’ bank accounts. The African Development Bank Group declines all responsibility for the fraudulent publications of job offers in its name or, in general, for the fraudulent use of its name in any way whatsoever.