French Development Agency Internship Opportunity 2017

In a context of high unemployment and a shortage of qualified labor to support the economic development of the country, AFD has decided to have vocational training and higher education as one of its three strategic priorities in South Africa for the period 2016-2020. AFD thus wishes to expand its operations to the following sectors :

– Secondary and post-secondary vocational training,

– Higher-education (universities);

– Student loans;

– Student housing programmes.

AFD wishes to recruit a trainee to assist (i) in gaining a better understanding of the sector and (ii) in identifying prospects that could benefit from AFD’s support (technical assistance and loan financing).

DUTIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES:

Main objectives of the internship are for the trainee to:

(i) conduct sectorial studies and sector mapping reviews (reviewing policy documents, identifying key South African actors, reviewing strategy of other development financing institutions and donors);

(ii) review existing benchmark transactions on AFD portfolio in other countries and determine key factors of success for replication in the South African context;

(iii) contribute to potential projects identification;

(iv) prepare and participate in prospection meetings (prepare AFD focused marketing material);

(v) prepare and participate in prospection missions with the technical experts at headquarters;

(vi) participate in the appraisal of the first project.

Depending on the needs and workload of the trainee, he or she may participate on an ad hoc basis in the other operational activities of the agency.

SELECTION CRITERIA:

• Qualifications : Honour’s or Master’s degree or University degree in Education, Social Sciences, Economics, Sociology or other relevant field

• Knowledge of the higher education and vocational training sector

• Prior experience in the education and vocational training fields is a plus