Research Assistant in Economics at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) – 2 Openings Full Time NEW

Job Title: Data Analyst

Position Number: 50111961; 50111962
Locations: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Pretoria, South Africa
Position Grade: GS8

The Complex

• The core mandate of the Vice Presidency (ECVP) is to lead the Bank Group on prioritizing the generation, analysis, dissemination, brokering and implementation of relevant knowledge solutions in all High-5 operational priorities and the cross-cutting themes of its Ten-Year Strategy. Such solutions must be a clear response to priority development challenges facing regional member countries (RMCs), individually or collectively and need to involve RMCs in both the planning and implementation of the solutions.

The solutions include:

• Research on major development issues facing Africa and their relation to global economic governance and other major global public goods;
• Country diagnostics and future perspectives;
• Policy dialogue and advisory services;
• Economic, sector, and thematic knowledge work;
• Improving national and sub-regional statistical systems;
• Preparation, design and support to the implementation of public financial management and Governance operations;
• Capacity development for policy formulation and implementation;
• Technical assistance and advice related to RMCs’ management of natural resources; and
• Knowledge dissemination and development of national, regional, and inter-regional knowledge networks.

The Hiring Department / Division

• The mandate of the Country Economics Department is to position the Bank at the center of socio-economic knowledge-led Country and Regional strategies, policy dialogues and operations.
• The Department leads the knowledge work that informs:
  • The production of Country and Regional Strategy documents, including the Country Strategy Papers, Regional Integration Strategy Papers, Country Diagnostic Notes, and Regional Diagnostic Notes to inform country lending programs,
  • Regional and Country Economic Reports: produces the Regional Economic Outlooks Reports, the Country Focus Reports, and the African Economic Outlook Country Notes to update on the economic, political and social developments in the country,
  • Policy Dialogue: the department plays a key role in Country/Regional policy dialogues and in the Bank’s collaboration with other Development partners, including participation in Country Thematic Groups in line with Paris Declaration on Aid effectiveness and Accra Plan of Action, and
  • Economic and Sector Work: the Country Economics Department leads in the research and analysis of economic and sector issues at the country level to inform the design of Bank’s strategy and programs in the country.
• The Country Economics Department is composed of the Office of the Senior Director (ECCE.0) the Lead Economists report to, and two (2) divisions, each overseen by a Division Manager: The Country Economics Department Division 1 (ECCE.1), which covers Central, North, and West Africa, and the Country Economics Division 2 (ECCE.2), which covers Nigeria, Eastern and Southern Africa.
• The two (2) Division Managers and the Lead Economists report to the Director of the Country Economics Department.

The Position

• The Data Analysts work under the supervision of the Division Managers in the Country Economics Department and assist the Lead Economists (on technical matters).
• They provide statistics on different topics and contribute to macroeconomic modeling and forecasts for the African Economic Outlook Country Notes in collaboration with the Country Economists and the Statistics Department.
• They maintain updated databases and produce data analysis, econometrics and graphs for all ECCE deliverables requiring data work. These include knowledge work, Economic and Sector Works, programming documents (including Country Strategy Papers and their derivatives, Country/Regional Diagnostic Notes), Policy Notes, Thought leadership pieces, etc..

Key Functions
The Data Analysts will:

• Develop and maintain databases on topics/sectors of interest, including prospectives ones, for the Department at country, regional and international levels.
• Produce statistics, historical data and econometric analysis as well as graphs and charts on different topics of interest for Africa’s development.
• Collect, clean and update data information to ensure quality and integrity.
• Work closely with the Research Assistants to produce sound economic analysis, econometric analysis, and graphs and charts on different topics of interest to Regional Member Countries.
• Work with the Statistics Department to use Bank’s data and sources and contribute to macroeconomic modelling and forecasting.
• Analyze the economic and financial situations of assigned Regional Member Countries, using reliable data and macroeconomic forecasts for the preparation of programming documents (including Country Strategy Papers and their derivatives, Country/Regional Diagnostic Notes), Bank’s knowledge work, Country Notes for African Economic Outlook reports, Country Focus Reports, etc.
• Undertake data collection for the preparation of Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA), Country Fragility and Resilience Assessment, Country Risk Assessment, etc.

Requirements

• Hold at least a Bachelor’s Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Economics or other relevant fields and related disciplines.
• Have a minimum of six (6) years of relevant experience in statistics, data analysis and the economics of development, working on African development issues.
• Demonstrated knowledge of quantitative skills for economic analysis.
• A working understanding of economic modelling and forecasting.
• Proven writing skills, in particular the ability to write professional reports and analysis.
• Ability to communicate in a clear and concise manner; present oral information with clarity and appropriate style and adapt language and style to the needs of a particular audience.
• Ability to work as a team, to build strong working relationships with colleagues and contribute to the creation of a positive environment for teamwork; Good interpersonal skills and ability to provide and receive feedback.
• Ability to handle the high-level demands of a complex organization, including the ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines.
• Professionalism, maturity, reliability, integrity, adaptability and initiative are essential to perform this function
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English or French, with a good working knowledge of the other language.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite applications, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel and SAP
• Competence in the use of standard econometric software for empirical analysis (Eviews, Stata, R, Matlab, etc).

Application Closing Date
4th December, 2024.