UNCDF designs and implements partnerships and transactions with public and private sector actors across the development finance architecture to catalyze capital at scale to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNCDF is increasingly working as the SDG investment platform for the UN development system, combining its unique financing and investment expertise with the sector specific knowledge and programming of other UN entities to deliver innovative financing solutions, achieve transformational impact and accelerate delivery of the SDGs.

UNCDF’s LDC Investment Platform (LDCIP) serves as the organization’s centre of excellence for investment transactions, including loans and guarantees. LDCIP seeks to create the conditions for increased capital flows to support SDG-positive investments in sustainable businesses in financially underserved areas.

UNCDF BRIDGE[1] Facility is a catalytic financing mechanism offering loans and guarantees specifically designed to fill the missing middle gap for SMEs, local infrastructure projects, and financial service providers. The BRIDGE Facility can provide financing that enables projects to be viable for commercial lenders, resulting in the opportunity to scale. The BRIDGE Facility is among the few instruments that provide concessional revolving capital bridging the development finance gap, helping build track record and targeting companies in frontier markets & LDCs.

Based in Dakar, Senegal the selected Investment Specialist  will lead the investment process for selected BRIDGE transactions including but not limited to screening/pre-assessment, due-diligence (including credit appraisal), preparation and negotiation of transaction documentation and term sheet, approval from credit committee, implementation, loan monitoring and termination of investments. The position will primarily focus on transactions in the West Africa region. The candidate may also be requested to support transactions elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa from time to time.

Under the supervision of the UNCDF LDCIP Investment Specialist based in Cotonou and in close collaboration with other colleagues in the LDCIP team, the Investment Specialist will contribute to capital deployment and delivery of investment transactions in the form of loans and guarantees, with particular focus on specialized BRIDGE windows serving other UN agencies e.g. UNICEF, WFP, UNFPA, IFAD among others.

The Investment Specialist  will be responsible for leading and executing the following tasks and deliverables:

1.Screening/Pre-assessment of potential investees 

Conduct initial interviews of prospects for investments originated and sourced from UN Agencies or UNCDF by gathering introductory information to determine whether the prospects meet the investment criteria for BRIDGE. The objective of such screening/pre-assessment work is to perform an initial appraisal of the prospect and select prospects for further due diligence by completion of a set of tools and deliverables.

2.Conduct due diligence of potential investees and presentation to credit committee for approval

Upon completion of screening/pre-assesment and initial selection of potential investees, he/she will carry out a full evaluation of the prospect (i.e., underwriting) and define prospective terms and conditions for the provision of investment finance. This will also include a completion of a set of tools and deliverables; and also a referral (or not) of the prospect to UNCDF Invesment and Disbursment Impact Committee (IDIC) for approval.

3.Capital deployment, loan & guarantee monitoring, termination and evaluation 

The Investment Specialist will be responsible for building a portfolio of investable financial service providers and/or SMEs/MSMEs via deployment of concessional loans and/or guarantees to selected and approved investees by IDIC. Furthermore, the Investment Specialist will be expected to work closely with UNCDF LDCIP Portfolio Management (PM) team in HQ to provide regular updates and reports on the financial & impact performance of individual investees. During the tenor of the investment, the Investment Specialist will conduct regular monitoring visits to the investees in order to collect information and data while ensuring that the investee complies with its financial obligation towards UNCDF. At maturity of the provided facilities, the Investment Specialist will work with the PM team in HQ to communicate with the borrower or guaranteed party to inform and close-out/terminate the loan or guarantee.

4. Matchmaking with additional private sector capital

In view of increasing leverage ratio[2] by using the seed funding provided by Donor to attract additional private sector capital, the Investment Specialist during the investment process will be responsible for identifying opportunities to either co-finance or match-make investees with interested risk-tolerant investors as a mean to attract additional private sector capital.

5.Provision and needs assessments of Investment Technical Assistance (TA)

The Investment Specialist works with selected investees to support them with basic business advisory services meant to improve the investment readiness and bankability of the companies. This could include helping investees in building business plans, financial projections, pitch decks for future investors, etc. Furthermore, the Investment Specialist will work closely with UNCDF LDCIP TA Facility Manager to identify prospects who received financing from BRIDGE and may need or benefit from further pre-investment TA (“investment readiness”) or post-investment TA (“core business advisory support”) inclusive of any need for impact and ESG management support.

The job description gives a general outline of the main tasks and responsibilities and is not exhaustive.

Institutional Arrangement

The incumbent will report to the UNCDF LDCIP Investment Specialist based in Cotonou, Benin and as needed to other LDCIP colleagues in the regional office/HQ based, country and across the region.

This position is office-based in Dakar, Senegal.