The USAID Southern Africa Trade and Investment Hub (the  “Hub”) Recent Job Opportunity

The USAID Southern Africa Trade and Investment Hub (the  “Hub”) project, a  five-year  trade and investment program for Southern Africa, in its third year of implementation, is expected to increase global competitiveness and intra-regional trade and improve food security in Southern Africa. The Hub engages with partners across the region to increase sustainable economic growth, global export competitiveness, and trade in targeted Southern African countries.

It supports these objectives by increasing exports from Southern African countries to South Africa and the United States (under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), boosting capital and technology flows from South Africa to other Southern African countries, and providing targeted trade facilitation support to Zambia. The Hub works with market actors to identify and resolve enterprise constraints and to implement sustainable solutions through market-based trade and investment facilitation services. The Hub partners with USAID bilateral missions through the USAID/Southern Africa Regional Economic Growth Office in the successful delivery of its objectives.

 

 

Job Title: Finance Investment Associate
Location: South Africa

OBJECTIVES AND DUTIES:

The Finance Investment Associate will work closely with and support the Finance and Investment Director in the execution of innovative strategies and activities to facilitate and accelerate access to finance and investment in priority countries in the SADC region.

TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Identify and engage with South African investment firms and financial institutions to facilitate partnerships for financing and investment transactions within agri-business, financial services, consumer goods exporters and processers;
• Facilitate loans and investments throughout the region through creating direct linkages with between export companies supported by the Hub as well as other companies in the region requiring investment or technology and capital or technology providers.
• Support the transaction advisory unit in identifying innovative ways to structure investments for maximum social impact;
• Assist with identifying and appointing the transaction advisory firms to assist in deal structuring and preparation of required documentation on a cost-sharing basis.
• Lead investment facilitation engagements supporting private sector clients with deal structuring, market  intelligence,  strategy,  capital  raising  and  due  diligence  needs  with  support transaction advisors where required;
• Structure and execute an impact investment vehicle to facilitate new commitments and private sector investment in Agriculture and non-Agriculture transactions in Lesotho;
• Identify  South  African  capital  provider  partners  (debt,  equity  and  hybrid)  with  an  interest  in providing trade finance and long-term investments in the region and structure technical assistance or other support required to achieve finance and investment objectives; Monitor the identified capital service providers and work alongside the technical assistance providers to support the design, testing, refinement and implementation of enhanced business models to reach relevant firms in the region with needed capital and technology;
• Support the development of linkages with private sector partners in the region e.g producers, traders and associations that could act as finance and investment catalysts and capital providers thereby developing a pipeline and creating an understanding of the market needs and preferences;
•  Build and track a project pipeline for transactions, including identifying partners, providing technical assistance on structuring business plans towards generating loans and investments, perform initial due diligence for sourced transactions if necessary;
• Support the Hub in the identification of potential partners and firms that are likely to invest along the priority value chains identified;
• Manage Finance and Investment implementing stakeholders on the ground by developing streamlined reporting and budget control systems
• Identify a suitable service provider and work with service provider to develop an interactive financial education solution enabling export companies to make more informed finance and investment decisions, which can be disseminated across the region;
• Organize a learning event and disseminate lessons learnt during the execution of the Hub investment and finance work stream;
• Act as liaison, representing the project, between finance and investment stakeholders and the Hub project team, providing regular communication, coordination, updates, facilitation and reports to the Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party, Communications & MEL teams.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• At least 6 years’ professional experience in the financial services, impact investing, private equity or venture capital sectors.
• MBA strongly preferred or master’s degree in a management or related area.
• Demonstrated experience within financial services with an understanding of how private capital can be deployed to create impact in growth and jobs in Southern Africa.
• Demonstrated experience and understanding of investment structuring, commercial due diligence processes and investing for impact.
• Demonstrated understanding of how innovative technologies can impact the agri-business sector in the Southern Africa region.
• Methodical research skills with analytical capabilities to collect distill and interpret data.
• Highly networked individual in the Southern African investment, private equity and banking sectors.
• An  innovative  and  pragmatic  problem  solver  with  demonstrable  skills  for  prioritization  and organization of tasks within a complex project setting.
• Demonstrated leadership skills and the ability to work well within a team.
• Excellent English report writing and communication skills

BASE OF OPERATIONS:

•  Pretoria, South Africa

REPORTING:

• The Finance Investment Associate will report to the Finance and Investment Director

Applications for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Interested candidates should submit their CV to [email protected] .  Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Application Deadline: December 20,2019