African Development Bank (AfDB) 2022 Virtual Internship Program (Monthly Stipend Available)


Established in 1964, the African Development Bank (AfDB) 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).  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, namely: energy, agro-business, industrialization, integration and improving the quality of life for the people of Africa. The Internship program is part of a wider Talent Management Framework which facilitates the Bank to deliver on the Ten-Year Strategy and the High 5s.  

Participants in the Program are selected on a competitive basis, based on business needs of the Bank.

Objectives:

The broad objectives of the program are to:

  • Provide students with an opportunity to acquire professional and practical experience at the African Development Bank.
  • Provide the Bank with a pool of potential candidates for future recruitment purposes.

However, applicants should not expect the internship to lead to immediate employment with the Bank.

The Fields of Study Required for the Internship:

  • The fields of study from which interns are selected must be within the job families of the Bank, particularly Economics, Agriculture, Private Sector Development, Human Capital Development (Education and Health), Environment, Finance, Infrastructure Development, Human Resources Management, Information Technology, Communications, Law, Internal Audit, Budget, Governance or any other field of study that the Bank may deem relevant to its operations. 
  • Special consideration shall be given to students who are working on projects that have a direct bearing on the mission of the Bank.

Timeline for the Session 1 of the 2022 Program:

The Session 1 of the 2022 Internship Program will run from March 2022 through June 2022

Terms and Conditions

  • Internships shall be granted to each candidate for a period not less than three (3) months and not more than six (6) months. The internship is authorized only once for any candidate.
  • Due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, interns shall not be required to travel to the duty station. The internship shall be done remotely from the interns’ respective locations. As such, interns are expected to have access to a personal computer, reliable internet connection and a conducive living environment that facilitates smooth and uninterrupted remote working.
  • In a few cases, and especially where the duties and responsibilities to be assigned to interns cannot be performed remotely, the Bank may approve on-site internships on an exceptional basis. In such instances:
  • interns shall be responsible for their air travel (in case of) to and from the Bank’s location as well as their upkeep.
  • only interns who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 shall be authorised to access Bank’s office premises.
  • the Bank will use reasonable efforts to assist the concerned interns in obtaining their entry and residence visas.
  • Interns will benefit from a medical insurance coverage paid by the Bank during the period of their internship. 
  • Eligible interns will be provided with a monthly stipend.

Eligibility Criteria:

To be eligible for internship, applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • Must have attained the age of majority in their country of nationality or origin and be not more than Thirty (30) years old at the time of commencement of the internship program.
  • Be currently enrolled in a master’s level degree program in a recognized public or private educational institution of higher learning.
  • The candidate can apply for an internship within one (1) year of having obtained such a degree.
  • Be nationals of the member Countries of the African Development Bank.
  • Provide a letter from their school confirming their enrollment or a copy of the above-mentioned Degree.
  • Applicants must be fluent in at least one of the Banks’s two working languages (English or French).
  • Be able to use the Bank's standard software packages (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access); knowledge of SAP is desirable.

Strategic Focus areas:

The specific disciplines and specialist professional areas are aligned to the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy (TYS) and the gender strategy.  In addition to the fields that are in the job families of the Bank, focus will be on the following areas:

  • Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth
  • Agriculture, Human & Social Development
  • Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization
  • Economics, Statistics
  • Governance and Knowledge Management
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Human Resources and Corporate Services: IT, Language Services, General Services & Procurement, HR Management
  • Audit, Anti-Corruption
  • Evaluation
  • Communication & External Relations
  • Public Relations
  • Gender
  • Environmental and Social Assessment

Application Procedure:

Applicants will only be considered if they submit an online complete application and attach a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae (CV).

The Bank will run two (2) internship sessions during the year 2022. This announcement is for session 1, which will run from March through June 2022. The announcement for session 2 will be made in April 2022 and session 2 will run from June through December 2022.

Should you encounter technical difficulties in submitting your application, please send an email with a precise description of the issue and/or a screenshot showing the problem to: HR Direct [email protected]4

Closing Date: 23-Mar-2022