Deadline: 05 January, 2022

Location: Abidjan, Ivory Coast

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is seeking applications from eligible applicants for the post of Principal Trade Finance Officer.

AfDB’s mission is to spur sustainable economic development and social progress in its regional member countries (RMCs), thus contributing to poverty reduction.

Responsibilities

• Participate in and lead project identification missions and the preliminary evaluation of project proposals to assess their feasibility for financial assistance and/or technical support
• Coordinate and undertake project due diligence missions
• Ensure preparation of project appraisal reports, including various financial and risk analysis, development outcome analysis, strategic alignment, for presentation to the various review committees and finally for approval to the board of directors
• Participate in discussions and negotiations with financial institutions, trade funds, commodity corporates and other potential partners
• Negotiate loan pricing of projects with clients, ensuring compliance with the bank’s pricing guidelines and other prudential limits
• Contribute to the planning of various initiatives designed to facilitate interaction with other AfDB departments, country offices, regional centres and external partner institutions
• Participate in the preparation of annual work programme/budget of the team
• Identify and develop best practices in trade finance project origination
• Work collaboratively with the ‘ecosystem’ both in the region and at headquarters to ensure timely and effective delivery of business objectives
• Undertake seamless handover of lending projects to the portfolio management team after first disbursement or guarantee facilities upon reaching effectiveness in line with the bank’s guidelines and procedures
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with the confirming banks, issuing banks, regional development finance institutions (DFIs), sister multilateral development banks and international trade-oriented organisations among others on trade finance issues and market developments
• Promote collaboration and facilitate teamwork across organisational units
• Maintain closer collaboration with other trade finance investment officers and trade finance middle/back office team to share lessons learnt regularly
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with colleagues in other divisions, such as legal, credit risk, finance, economic research and compliance
• Maintain a high standard of professional integrity and trust
• Treat individuals fairly and respectfully
• Serve as a mentor and role model to junior staff in the performance of their roles
• Communicate effectively with staff and management through the preparation of high quality information notes, presentations and analytical reports on the trade finance sector
• Represent the trade finance division and bank at key trade finance meetings

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Business, Finance, Banking, Economics or a related discipline
• Certification in banking and/or trade finance (desirable)
• Five years, minimum, of post-master’s degree experience for senior trade finance officer and six years of post-master’s degree experience for principal trade finance officer in commercial banking and/or development banking
• Three years, minimum, of experience in trade finance in a multilateral development or commercial bank
• Demonstrated experience in the preparation or contribution to the preparation of private sector project appraisal reports in a multilateral development bank
• Strong financial/credit analysis skills and sound knowledge of trade finance products used by multilateral development bank products, such as guarantees, soft commodity facilities and lines of credit
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the mission, goals and practices of multilateral development financial institutions
• Strong presentation, negotiation and influencing skills that yield positive outcomes in complex stakeholder engagements with senior internal and external counterparts
• Demonstrated experience in initiating and organising trade finance-related webinars, workshops and other seminars and forums
• Excellent writing and verbal skills in English and/or French
• Good working knowing knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel) and SAP

To apply and for more information, click here.

Photo source: Dave Dugdale