E T Consultant

International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Private Sector Development
Dakar (Senegal)
Grade: EC2, Unspecified
Occupations:
Closing soon: 3 Aug 2021

JOB DESCRIPTION
Description
IFC—a member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2020, we invested $22 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

IFC’s corporate strategy – IFC 3.0: A Strategy for Creating Markets – is about being proactive, not reactive. We are committed not just to financing projects but also to creating markets—and mobilizing private capital at significant scale, with greater focus on the poorest and fragile and conflict-affected countries. Bringing together several foundational pillars—the AIMM method for ex-ante impact measurement, new blended finance and other de-risking tools, country strategies based on joint IFC/World Bank diagnostics that identify critical policy reforms, and our Upstream approach to developing new investment opportunities, to name just a few—IFC 3.0 underpinned the $5.5 billion capital increase that shareholders endorsed in 2018 and became effective in 2020.

Context
Financial inclusion and access to credit for MSMEs is a critical pillar of IFC’s strategy in West & Central Africa. Most IFC country strategies in the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) Member States identify access to credit to SMEs as constrained. Inefficient credit infrastructure, weak innovation and technology constrains the supply of finance thus impacting MSME productivity. Of the 1.12 million MSMEs in OHADA, 60.92% are credit constrained with an estimated financing gap of $30.16 billion ($24.3b SMEs, $5.86b micro). The finance gap for women entrepreneurs is estimated at $2.12 billion ($1.39b SME, $0.8b micro). It widens to $24.01 billion if the informal sector is taken into account.

Lack of (appropriate) collateral is among the most widely cited obstacle encountered by MSMEs when seeking finance. A significant proportion of loans require collateral that is usually valued at between 152% to 271% of the total loan amount. The situation is exacerbated as most micro (operating largely informally and on a cash basis) and small business owners do not have landed property usually preferred by FIs and no credit profiles, hampering their ability to access credit from FIs. As a collateral-free means of financing, leasing offers a solution to this challenge for MSMEs.
About the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) Strengthening Credit Infrastructure for MSME Growth Program
The Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) has made considerable progress to achieve its objective of creating a better investment climate in a region with an estimated population of 284.3 million. During the period 2012 to 2017, OHADA instituted 79 Doing Business reforms. Reflective of the progress achieved, the region’s Ease of Doing Business score improved to 48.8% in 2020 compared to 39.14% in 2009. This however, compares unfavorably to SSA’s score of 51.8%, indicating the potential for further improvement.

The OHADA Strengthening Credit Infrastructure for MSME Growth Program is a five-year advisory services markets and enabling environment regional program aimed at promoting access to credit for MSMEs and women-owned enterprises in OHADA countries within the context of the COVID19 pandemic. The program is expected to trigger significant market movement in four OHADA countries (Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, and Gabon – Phase I of the program) by introducing and scaling movable asset-based lending and implementing the business-turnaround provisions of the recently adopted OHADA Insolvency Law to help counteract COVID-19-induced bankruptcies and unemployment. It will do this by enhancing the enabling environment, optimizing the usage of the digital credit infrastructure (credit reporting systems, secured transaction and collateral registry and insolvency regimes) and product innovation.

About IFC’s Africa Leasing Program
IFC has worked to facilitate increased access to finance for MSMEs in Sub Saharan Africa by developing sustainable leasing infrastructure to promote the sector. Since 2005, IFC has helped the enactment of some 50 leasing laws or regulations in the following countries: Burundi, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cameroon, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Tanzania; trained over 24,000 representatives of MSMEs, government, financial institutions and non-financial institutions; and mobilized over US $260 million in investments to enable financial institutions to launch or grow their leasing operations.
The Africa Leasing Program is a three year Creating Markets Advisory Services program that aims to create the business environment for leasing to support future upstream opportunities in four OHADA leasing markets (Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, and Gabon) to increase access to finance for MSMEs. This program will address sector bottlenecks at the policy and industry levels only (not at the firm level). Such bottlenecks include the sector need for clear and unambiguous laws, policies and regulations on leasing to help mitigate sector risks by establishing leasing laws and/or prudential requirements for the leasing business (i.e., those related to asset repossession, VAT, minimum regulations and entry requirements, liquidity requirements, reporting and public disclosure requirements, etc.), as well as the lack of up-to-date market skills and expertise.
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IFC is seeking a highly qualified and motivated individual (extended-term consultant), based in Dakar, Senegal, to support the Creating Markets Advisory portfolio in West and Central Africa, including, but not limited to the OHADA SCIP and Africa Leasing Programs. The ETC will work closely with the OHADA SCIP and Afrileasing Program Leader to support him to effectively deliver upon these two programs, as well as other programs and responsibilities, within the CMA West and Central Africa portfolio. The selected candidate may have limited travel outside Dakar as part of this consultancy.

Duties and responsibilities
The ETC will support the implementation of activities under the portfolio of the Program Leader (PL) for the OHADA SCIP and Africa leasing programs, as well as any additional programs under his portfolio.

Duties may include, but will not be limited to, the following:

*Support the PL to ensure projects within his portfolio move smoothly through the project cycle from design to closure, including compliance with WBG internal systems, Advisory Services project governance, IBIS, legal documentation, and compliance with all procurement processes.
*Support the development/evaluation of action plans, timelines, budgets and staffing plans and other project planning work.
*Monitor the utilization of resources and track updated information for budget monitoring and report to PL on program spending, and overall financials of the program.
*Work with project leader to organize and carry out missions (logistics and coordination with stakeholders), participate in related field missions as needed; and support all follow-on work with the client, project team and consultants to ensure quality and timely deliverables.
*Prepare reports and presentations for policymakers, donors and the World Bank Group teams.
*Collect information relevant to project activities to support project implementation/M & E and prepare briefs and notes.

Selection Criteria
The consultant should combine very good operational and project management capabilities. The consultant should present the following minimum requirements:
*Master’s degree in business, finance, or other relevant fields
*At least five years of relevant experience in the financial services or other relevant sector
*Experience in West and Central Africa
*Previous experience working in the financial sector is a must
*Ability to work independently on the complex problems around private sector development projects design and implementation, consistently applying creativity and independent judgment
*Strong teamwork, flexibility, and adaptability, and ability to successfully navigate complex issues and challenges in a multi-stakeholder, multi-cultural environment
Strong project management capabilities with the ability to multi-task and deliver on tight deadlines
*Strong oral and written communications skills, including demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with clients and colleagues at different levels of the organization in both French and English
*Excellent organizational, analytical and prioritization skills, with ability to follow assigned tasks/projects from conception to completion
*Excellent written and Verbal French/English language skills
Note: The selected candidate will be offered a one-year appointment, renewable for an additional one year, at the discretion of the World Bank Group, and subject to a lifetime maximum ET Appointment of two years. If an ET appointment ends before a full year, it is considered as a full year toward the lifetime maximum. Former and current ET staff who have completed all or any portion of their second-year ET appointment are not eligible for future ET appointments.

World Bank Group Core Competencies
The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.
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