Financial Analyst – PL6  

THE BANK:

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 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 (2024 – 2033) 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 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, and the overall asset/liability management for the Bank Group.

THE HIRING DEPARTMENT/DIVISION:

The Syndication, Client Solutions and Africa Investment Forum Department (FIST) is responsible for delivering and reporting on the private sector and public sector mobilization targets of the Bank Group. Its work encompasses business development, designing innovative leveraged solutions (e.g., securitization, funded risk participations etc.) to crowd in private capital and structuring support for sovereign and non-sovereign projects. The Department is the Bank Group’s internal advisory function assisting sector departments to structure project finance transactions, corporate loans, lines of credit and other facilities to ensure optimal use of the Bank Group’s scarce resources. Instruments at the disposal of the team include long-tenored loans, derivative solutions and hedges, blended finance, local currency loans, A/B loans, credit risk insurance, guarantees, securitization, and many other financing tools to address client needs.

The hiring division is the Client Solutions team (the “Division” or “FIST2”). It has primary responsibility for:

1. Innovation, development, revision and marketing / dissemination of the Bank Group’s financial products and services internally and externally.
2. Provision of financial technical expertise and advisory services on sector operation due diligence teams, supporting task managers and investment officers in originating, structuring, appraising, negotiating, restructuring, and closing of transactions involving risk mitigation products or leveraged solutions (e.g. partial credit guarantees).
3. Design of balance sheet optimization operations (significant risk transfers) on a portfolio or single obligor basis for efficient and effective risk capital management, helping to ensure compliance with the Bank’s prudential ratios as advised by the risk department.
4. Jointly with the accounting department, the lending rate management of the Bank Group’s client facilities, particularly with respect to assisting Bank Group clients to manage market related risk through the execution of derivative-based hedging solutions.
5. Jointly with the Treasury department, onshore fundraising of local African currencies.

THE POSITION:

Reporting to the Division Manager, the Financial Analyst (entry-level position) will be part of a team of finance specialists providing financial solutions and specific finance expertise in support of investments across all sectors and Regional Member Countries of the Bank Group. S/He will:

1. Participate in sector project appraisal teams to develop, structure and implement innovative financial solutions on a transaction-by-transaction basis given the Bank’s financial product policies and guidelines.
2. Support the Client Solutions team to ideate, develop and process new financial products for Board of Directors approval.
3. Assist in the marketing, knowledge transfer and dissemination of Bank Group financial products to prospective clients, including drafting of marketing collateral such as brochures, e-learning tools, and PowerPoint presentations and organizing webinars and other outreach events.
4. Support post execution activities (back and middle office activities) related to capital management transactions (significant risk transfers) in line with balance sheet optimization initiatives, and reporting requirements with respect to credit protection sellers
5. Support on the execution of routine derivative booking activities particularly with respect to loan interest rate fixing and base rate resetting activities.

KEY FUNCTIONS:

Under the overall supervision and guidance of the Division Manager, and chief/lead analysts, the Financial Analyst may perform the following tasks:

1. Balance Sheet Optimization Activities

• Assist lead analysts in the underlying economic and financial modeling underpinning balance sheet optimization transactions to assist the Bank with proactive capital management, including preservation of its risk capital in compliance with credit rating agency methodologies and the Bank’s prudential limits, through the use of asset sell downs, guarantee structures, reinsurance and risk participations on the Bank’s sovereign and/or non-sovereign seasoned asset portfolio.
• Support the monitoring of executed significant risk transfer transactions which have been included in balance sheet optimization initiatives to ensure compliance with the risk transfer policy (e.g. legal contracting) signed with the credit risk protection seller.
• Lead in back-office activities post-execution including:
  • review of the calculation and payment of insurance premiums or other compensation payable to risk protection sellers to ensure active risk cover during the life of the credit enhanced transactions;
  • IT-driven improvements to back-office functionality and timely delivery on other compliance and reporting requirements.
  • aggregation and delivery of data points for various post-execution reporting both internally (Credit Risk Committee, Board of Directors) as well as externally (credit rating agencies, risk protection sellers etc.)
• Scope and contribute partners into the customer relationship management tool (CRM) with respect to existing and prospective sovereign or private sector investors and risk mitigation providers including institutional investors.
• Engage in knowledge sharing activities of balance sheet optimization transactions targeted to internal and external audiences

1. Development and Marketing of Bank Group Financial Products

• Assist lead/chief analysts in the drafting of new and/or enhanced financial products and their associated operational guidelines by supporting research around benchmarking, client demand analysis, and).
• Support the processing and implementation of new financial products by ensuring cross-departmental buy-in and clearance of concept proposals through coordination of feedback from various implicated departments (legal, accounting, risk, financial management etc.)
• Assist with the internal processing of financial product policy documents through the relevant internal committees including Asset-Liability Management Committee (ALCO) all the way to Board of Directors.
• Support the general dissemination and implementation of the Bank Group’s new financial products and terms through training sessions (physical and/or virtual), by leading in the development of e-learning, marketing and communication campaigns, press events, brochures and handbooks, among other communication products.
• Assist chief/lead analysts in the identification of gaps and sources of risk in the Bank Group’s loan and non-loan products and suggest business process reengineering solutions or other improvements to the enterprise architect to streamline operationalization of new instruments.
• Monitor the performance and utilization of various financial products and services by operational sectors to enable reporting and briefings to various internal committees and the Chief Finance Officer.
• Lead on regular benchmarking of pricing and other financial terms and conditions of the Bank’s financial products with respect to peer multilateral development institutions.

1. Structured Finance, Financial Solutions, Advisory and Technical Support to Sector Operations

• Participate in business development and origination processes to assist sector operations staff in making decisions on the choice of lending or non-lending product(s) to present to external clients.
• Support chief/lead analysts in upstream project preparation, structuring, appraisal, negotiation, restructuring and closing of Bank Group transactions in various sectors utilizing the breadth of available instruments, with a focus on risk mitigation products (e.g., guarantees and hedging).
• Provide financial technical expertise and advisory services on sector project teams to support task managers to design appropriate structures and solutions to meet the growing and evolving needs of public and private sector clients.
• Contribute to the drafting, review and processing of internal operational documents to be cleared by various due diligence committees including project appraisal reports and summary credit notes.
• Draft, review and/or negotiate external project documentation, including mandate letters, term sheets, loan and common term agreements in collaboration with assigned legal counsel.  

1. Local Currency Funding

• In collaboration with the Treasury Department, research and benchmark local currency solution activities of peer regional institutions.
• Assist the Treasury Department to obtain and monitor the authorizations and waivers required to fundraise onshore in African currencies.
• Lead in the development and execution of local currency funding solutions for the Bank Group’s projects utilizing cross currency swaps, local commercial bank borrowing, guarantees or synthetic derivative structures.

1. Administrative Support

• Support senior analysts and management of the Division with regards to tasks related to procurement, budget management and internal reporting/briefing requirements to the Vice President’s front office.
• Assist with administrative functions such as archiving, automation, production of operations manuals and translation and/or editing.
• Participate and represent the Division in key working groups, taskforces and technical working groups as needed.
• Support knowledge sharing activities and personal development by helping to establish peer learning programs to keep the team, abreast of new finance concepts and techniques.

COMPETENCIES (skills, experience and knowledge):

1. Hold at least a Master degree in Finance, Banking, Business Administration, Economics, Accounting or related discipline.
2. Have a minimum of four (4) years of relevant professional experience with demonstrated financial market knowledge
3. Some experience working with private sector project sponsors, state owned entities, utilities/infrastructure authorities and/or African sector ministries and debt management offices.
4. Knowledge of project finance due diligence, including the drafting and negotiation of transaction processing documents to internal review committees.
5. Demonstrated experience serving on a trading desk executing derivative transactions, including knowledge of risk management/hedging products (e.g., swaps, forwards, futures, options, etc.).
6. Previous work experience in a multinational development institution, a plus.
7. Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English and/or French, preferably with a working knowledge (verbal and written) of the other language.
8. Comfort using accounting and financial systems including SAP, Summit, Dealogic, Reuters and Bloomberg, Microsoft Power BI etc, a plus.

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How cinfo Can Support You in the Application Process for This Position

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