Senior Investment Officer at International Finance Corporation (IFC)

International Finance Corporation (IFC) a sister organization of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. The Bank Group has set two goals for the world to achieve by 2030: end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity in every country.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Senior Investment Officer

Job ID: req27120
Location: Lagos
Sector: Investment
Grade: GG
Term Duration: 3 years 0 months
Job Type: Full-time
Business Segment: Business & Commercial Banking

Description

• IFC has embarked on an ambitious new growth strategy, the outcome of which will be to double our volume of business by 2030 and triple the work we do in Low Income Countries (LICs) and Fragile and Conflict affected States (FCS). To do so, IFC will need to deploy its full range of financing, mobilization, advisory, convening and thought leadership skills.
• This also calls for the need to generate our own opportunities by proactively working “Upstream” to create, deepen, and expand markets and opportunities for the private sector and to imagine, design and implement investment projects.
• This strategy also relies on a closer WBG collaboration through the “Cascade” approach: working with clients, we will first seek private sector solutions to address development challenges—where such solutions are advisable and can be effective—and reserve public financing for projects only when other options are suboptimal.
• Blended Finance is a key tool in the execution of IFC’s 3.0 Creating Markets strategy. The Blended Finance Division (BFD) of the Blended Finance and Corporate Strategy Department manages a pool of contributor funds of over $5 billion dollars focused on accelerating IFC’s engagement in the most developmentally impactful areas: IDA and FCS countries, gender, climate, SME and agriculture and food security.
• The blended concessional facilities managed by BFD are structured to co-finance, along with IFC funding, investment projects to address market barriers in private sector projects. These funds are deployed alongside IFC's own resources, thus enabling IFC to invest in projects that would not otherwise take place without a co-investment on concessional terms or a performance-based incentive structure that encourages the achievement of additional development outcomes.
• The BFD’s role is to optimize the co-investment of funds from contributors on concessional terms, considering the contributors' strategic priorities and risk appetite, in line with IFC’s blended finance governance framework.   
• The Blended Finance – New Business and Portfolio (CBFNP) division sits in the Blended Finance and Corporate Strategy Department.  Within this division, there are investment officers focusing on blended finance transactions supporting IFC’s Operations.  These blended finance transactions may use different blended finance facilities, including the IDA Private Sector Window (PSW) or multilateral or bilateral Blended Finance facilities.
• The goal of this work is to enable industry and regional departments of IFC to have a much deeper impact and footprint in the most difficult countries and sectors, primarily but not exclusively in IDA and fragile countries. Investment officers in the Department also promote engagement in more upstream work to generate more deal-flow and impact in the hardest to reach sectors and countries.
• CBFNP seeks a Senior Investment Officer (SIO) to work regionally, across Africa, primarily on IFC’s Financial Institutions Group (FIG) projects but also on Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services (MAS) sector investment projects which need blended concessional finance solutions to proceed.
• Being part of CBFNP, this position will also provide the successful candidate with an opportunity to work across different industry groups and regions within a creative and results-oriented environment.  Location will be in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Roles & Responsibilities
Blended finance anchor for Africa:

• The SIO will work with other blended finance and partnership colleagues on the ground to be the first “port of call” for blended finance inquiries in Africa, coordinating with the blended finance global team and providing preliminary advice/response to operation colleagues in the region.
• He/she is expected to manage relationship with regional/country and industry management in Africa, facilitates effective collaboration between blended finance and Africa operation team.

Financial structuring:

• Technical ability to translate risk tolerance of individual contributors across a wide spectrum ranging from Returnable Capital to Consumable Capital to a financial structure and model.
• Flexibility to dovetail this understanding to financial structuring needed for an investment, which neither the client nor IFC could complete without a Blended Finance co-investment.

Origination proactiveness:

• Help project teams put IFC’s best foot forward in front of clients to help origination in areas of strategic importance for IFC investments, particularly in FIG and MAS in Africa. Attend relevant pipeline meetings of industry departments.

Deal processing:

• Maintain accountability to the Blended Finance Committee with clear, unbiased presentation of the financial and impact rationale of the Blended Finance co-investment(s).
• Attend appraisals where necessary, especially if the Blended Finance co-investment has significantly different interests from IFC’s own account investment.
• Attend IRM, pre-IRMs etc. Focus on parallel processing of the Blended Finance co-investment from PDS-Concept to Commitment. 

Supervision:

• Liaise with project teams to fulfill reporting requirements to contributors (both financial outcomes and impacts). 
• In addition, particularly for projects benefiting from a de-risking tranche from Blended Finance, monitor early warning signals of cascading risks with assistance from the project’s supervision team including on existing projects. Also process disbursements, waivers, amendments pertaining to the Blended Finance co-investment etc.

Fund-raising assistance:

• Contribute to new concessional fund-raising efforts to provide color and nuance on projects benefiting from a Blended Finance co-investment.
• Gather lessons of experience for shaping future fund-raising activities and impact stories to be shared with contributors and other internal and external stakeholders.

Knowledge Management:

• Build up understanding of competitive landscape in the region, especially pertaining to the use of Blended Finance co-investments for challenging FIG and MAS sector projects. 

Selection Criteria

• 10+ years relevant experience in working on cross-border emerging market investments with a track-record of structuring / executing investment transactions.
• Keen commercial interest in development financing and strengthening sustainable development using tailored Blended Finance co-investments.
• Clarity in the presentation and delivery of information, and adaptability to work well under time and workload pressure with minimal supervision. 
• Ability to manage and complete multiple projects simultaneously and to meet deadlines under pressure.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. Fluency in other languages, such as French, Portuguese would be a plus.
• MBA or Master degree, specialization in finance/investment strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with application of the DFI Enhanced Blended Finance Principles to Blended Finance co-investments alongside investment on commercial terms from DFIs.
• Experience with IFC's investment and portfolio management processes, IFC's loan and investment documentation, accounting and financial statement analysis is preferred.
• Understanding of FIG and/or MAS investment practices with knowledge of current issues, challenges and opportunities in implementing blended finance co-investments will be a plus.
• Strong knowledge of IFC products, operations and IFC’s loan pricing model, preferably also, its approach to blending concessional finance alongside IFC's investments for its own account. 
• Ability to grasp details, problem solve, identify key issues for action and manage/incorporate stakeholder interests, and explain issues clearly and confidently.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply

Application Deadline  30th April, 2024; 11:59pm UTC