Recent Job Vacancies at African Development Bank Group (AfDB), 14th May, 2018

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African Development Bank Group (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 Banks 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: Principal Disbursement Officer Reference: ADB/18/070 Location: Nigeria Grade: LP4 Position N°: 50067851 The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for Finance oversees the financial management of the Bank Group. This encompasses the Bank Group’s treasury activities including borrowings from the capital markets and investment activities; controllership functions including financial reporting and loan administration; strategic resource mobilization and the strengthening of the non-statutory financial resources and instruments; the overall asset/liability management for the Bank Group.

The Hiring Department/Division The Financial Control Department of the African Development Bank (The Bank) is responsible for accounting for the financial consequences of the Bank Group’s transactions and decisions, and for the preparation, fair presentation and overall integrity of the internal financial reports and published financial statements. The department is also responsible for loan administration and accounting and related fiduciary responsibilities, including disbursement of funds to projects and programs financed by the Bank Group. Lastly, the department provides decision support and expertise in the development and implementation of financial control policies, operational and financial strategies and related information systems. The primary objective of the Loan Disbursement Division is to ensure compliance with key fiduciary related  articles in the Agreement Establishing the African Development Bank and Fund. Ensure that adequate controls are maintained around the disbursement of Bank Group financed projects. The Local Principal Disbursement Officer is responsible to ensure that the project disbursement activities financed by the Bank in Nigeria are compliant with the Bank’s financial management and disbursement policies. This is done by advising on disbursement arrangements and reviewing disbursement decisions within the project/program operations cycle from the identification to completion stages. The incumbent also contributes to the preparation of the Bank’s Country Strategy Paper, and to building financial management/disbursement capacity of Borrowers which includes training of project staff and advising on disbursement related project matters. The Local Disbursement Officer reports administratively to the Country Operations Manager for Implementation Support (COM IS) and functionally to the Division Manager Disbursements (FIFC). The Position Under the Supervision of the Division Manager, The Principal Disbursement Officer will:

• Ensure compliance with key fiduciary related articles in the Agreement Establishing the African Development Bank and Fund.
• Review disbursement requests for loans/grants financed by the Bank Group or administered by the Bank on behalf of other institutions, such as OPEC Fund, JICA, RWSSI, AWF etc. in accordance with the rules and procedures of the Bank Group. Manage the financial aspects of contracts approved by the country departments in connection with loans/grants authorized by the Bank Group institutions.
• Provide input into disbursement projections as needed with a view ensuring accurate income, cash flow plan and lending program projections.
• Assist and advise borrowers, executing agencies and various third parties on aspects of administration of loans and grants approved by the Bank Group institutions.
• Assist and advise Regional departments and other departments on issues relating to loan administration.

Duties and responsibilities The Principal Disbursement Officer will carry out the following functions: Operational Advice and Support:

• Monitor effectiveness, disbursement ratio, special account ratio, counter- part funding issues and loan closing for Bank Group Financed projects in Nigeria.
• Provide technical support to sector departments, lead review and provide input to country and project teams of project documents such as Appraisal Report, Country Strategy and Program, Project Completion Reports etc.
• Participate in country strategy preparation and midterm reviews including assessing capacity development requirements for financial management at the country level; and assist in completing country financing parameters, where necessary.
• Provide disbursement-related assistance to Operations during project launching, project supervision, and portfolio review missions.
• Assist project teams in the assessment of the financial management capacity of borrowers or executing agencies and in the design of financial, accounting and control systems for project execution.
• Interact with Fiduciary services to improve the quality of procurement arrangements, financial management systems and procedures of executing agencies in managing project funds, maintaining project accounts and submitting timely and reliable financial reports.
• Contribute to the review and update of ADB's fiduciary policies and guidelines and participate in the Fiduciary Community of Practice.
• Participate in resolving audit qualifications to ensure that disbursement activities proceed on an uninterrupted basis.

Loan Disbursements:

• Review disbursement applications to ensure that all conditions and requirements precedent to disbursement are satisfied and that internal rules and procedures are complied with, prior to approval and payment.
• Manage funds flow, ensure appropriate allocation of resources to the principal expenditure categories of goods, works and services and manage the use of Special Accounts;
• Provide training on disbursements policies and procedures in borrowing member countries and to staff in the Bank.
• Verify effectiveness of loans in the case of the first disbursement, and the last disbursement deadline.
• Ensure that the amounts disbursed by the Bank Group will finance only eligible expenditures.
• Provide input into disbursement projections for the portfolio of Regional Member Countries.
• Provide input as needed to internal and external reports on Disbursement related activities.
• Participate in/lead Task Forces on policy and other matters.
• Participate in technical discussions and loan negotiations to ensure that financial management and disbursement arrangements for proposed projects are appropriate and compliant with the African Development Bank disbursement policies
• Ensure the timely resolution of disbursement issues in coordination with concerned departments and stakeholders.
• Conduct loan disbursement missions to verify statements of expenditures, resolve disbursement issues, verify expenditure control measures and general compliance with relevant agreements and policies.
• Ensure the proper liquidation of overdue advances, reconciliation of suspense and special accounts, and ensure the timely closure of completed loans and grants.

Knowledge Sharing:

• Prepare disbursement training material.
• Serve as a training resource person for Disbursements.
• Provide training to executing agencies and Bank Staff to ensure familiarity with and the proper implementation of applicable policies and procedures.
• Assist with capacity building of projects/EAs, specifically in the area of disbursement and financial management.

Continuous Improvement:

• Review and recommend changes to disbursement systems, policies and procedures to promote timeliness, accuracy and efficiency in processing while maintaining appropriate internal controls.
• Undertake or contribute to the implementation of special projects for process and systems improvements.

Staff Supervision:

• Provide leadership and support to Disbursement Assistants.
• Provide clear direction to and monitor the work done by Disbursement Assistants.
• Provide input into the evaluation of Disbursement Assistants.

Selection Criteria Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Master's Degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration or other related disciplines. Membership of an internationally recognized professional association of accountants would be an advantage.
• Have a minimum of six (6) years of relevant and progressive professional experience.
• Proficient understanding of accounting policies, practices and general policies, procedures, guidelines and reporting requirements prevalent in a multilateral institution.
• Knowledge of Project Cycle Management.
• Analytic thinking - ability to interpret and explain patterns in information.
• Ability to apply updated advancements in own knowledge area to relevant task.
• Client Orientation - delivering contributions across a variety of products and services to meet clients’ needs.
• Achieving Results and Problem Solving-using appropriate methods for addressing the causes of issues and monitoring achievement of results according to work plans.
• Working Together-Maintaining collaborative relationships and working with diverse colleagues in and outside the Bank.
• Communication, Knowledge Sharing and Innovation and Change.
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English.
• Proficient in the use of standard MS Office software applications, particularly Word, PowerPoint, and Excel as well as SAP. Knowledge of SAP would be an advantage.

Interested and qualified candidate should:Click here to apply     Job Title: Lead Financial Management Policy Officer - SNFI0 Reference: ADB/17/047/2 Location: Côte d’Ivoire Grade: PL2 Position N°: 50093679 The Complex

• The Senior Vice-President is responsible for supporting the President in the day-to-day management of the Bank Group to achieve it strategic objective, and drive performance culture that will align all processes and systems to deliver high impact results.
• The Senior Vice-President will provide effective leadership and exceptional coordination to ensure implementation and monitoring of key corporate decisions as well as the identification of necessary corrective measures and actions.
• The Senior Vice-President will lead senior management discussions, decisions-making process and the implementation of key board and management decisions.

The Hiring Department/Division

• The Senior Vice-President supervises the Fiduciary Services and Inspection  Department, which acts as the custodian of the procurement (including procurement for private and public partnership) and financial management profession, and has the following responsibilities for its functions:
  • Developing and interpreting fiduciary policy, strategy and related implementing documents (Manuals and Tools), including serving as the secretariat of the Procurement Review Committee (PRC);
  • Providing fiduciary support to operations complexes (Sector Departments, Directorate General) during the whole project cycle, including country strategy papers, to ensure that fiduciary arrangements comply with Bank Fiduciary (Procurement and FM) policies and procedures;
  • Developing and implementing fiduciary capacity building strategy for Bank  Staff and Regional Member Countries (RMCs);
  • Inspecting and reporting on the performance of fiduciary activities undertaken by sector departments and the regions, including preparing annual post review reports on these activities for Board presentation that will contribute to building credibility and trust of the Bank in the countries and with other stakeholders; and
  • Dialoguing with external and global partners with a view to building partnerships and fostering harmonization.

The Position

• Under the general supervision of the Director, Fiduciary Services and Inspection,  the incumbent will play a leading role in:
  • The design of a comprehensive and structured body of financial management policies and procedures applicable to Bank’s financed projects and programs, including revising the current framework or conceiving additional policies, strategies or guidelines on financial management
  • The implementation of aid effectiveness agenda through harmonization of donors practices and encouraging the use of country public financial management systems on one hand and supporting the capacity building strategy of oversight institutions at the continental level on the other hand
  • The conception of specific financial management policies and procedures destined to support the High 5s and the Ten Years Strategy.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Play a leading role in developing, reviewing, updating and implementing changes in the Bank’s financial management (FM) policies, procedures and guidelines regarding the fiduciary safeguards.
• Influence the design and execution of major policy initiatives in the region and across the Bank
• Conceive, develop and promote innovations in Bank policies on financial management to improve its involvement and borrower’s accountability on FM issues.
• Oversee the development of policy and strategies for financial management thematic areas in Regional Member Countries in consultation with relevant government agencies.
• Provide leadership in conducting dialogue with government officials in Regional Member Countries on policy and reforms with respect to the areas of financial management.
• Lead and/or participates in ground-breaking or precedent setting missions and plays a key role in developing innovative practical approaches to difficult policy and operational issues at the Regional, Country and/or Sectoral levels.
• Develop strategies for harmonizing financial management approaches with other donors, playing a leading role in departmental or institutional task forces on developing and implementing policies and practices, FM safeguards and the efficiency and effectiveness of business processes.
• Represent, at the request of the Director, the function in global Financial Management Harmonization working groups
• Act as resource person on financial management issues, providing interpretation of related Bank guidelines, resolution of complex financial management issues.
• Define the Bank strategy on supporting the accountability institutions as Professional Accountancy Organizations, Supreme Audit Institutions, Parliaments and Civil Society Organisations in close consultation with the International Federation of Accountants, the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions and other development partners;
• Serve as the focal point or spokesperson on financial management policy issues with clients and borrowers, other external constituencies and expert groups from the other Multilateral Development Banks.
• Develop training plans and materials for Bank staff on financial management policy and procedures issues;
• Represent, at the request of the Director, the Fiduciary Services and Inspection Department in thematic working groups with respect to financial management or in policy peer-review from other departments;
• Prepare documents for consideration by the Board on financial management documents on policy and strategy;

Contribute to preparing the Annual Report of the Bank and the various other bank reports; including contribution to report on implementation of the financial management related Policy approved by the Board of Executive Directors. Selection Criteria Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• A minimum of a Master's Degree or its equivalent in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Economics or a related discipline and a minimum of a professional accounting certification (CPA, CA, ACCA, Expert Comptable);
• A minimum of eight (8) years of relevant experience, with particular expertise in designing, supporting and implementing financial management operations of which at least three (3) in international financial Institutions. The incumbent shall have a sound knowledge of the African Development Bank’s FM Policy and Procedures or other similar development institution. Experience in supporting private sector operations (banking, auditing, finance, microfinance institutions, agriculture, electricity, water) would be an added advantage;
• Proven ability to implement country or sector level financial management analytical and capacity building initiatives;
• An understanding of cross-cutting issues beyond financial management (e.g. procurement, governance, donors’ practices) at sector/country level;
• Good knowledge of International Financial Reporting Standards, International Public Sector Accounting Standards, International Standards on Auditing, International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions;
• Good knowledge of key aid effectiveness issues especially harmonization of donors’ practices and alignment to borrowers systems;
• Communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language;
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite applications.

Interested and qualified candidate should:Click here to apply     Application Deadline 25th May, 2018.   Note: This position does not attract international terms and conditions (the post holder will be considered as a local staff and will not have international terms and conditions of employment).

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