Senior Energy Investment Specialist – PPPs at African Development Bank Group (AfDB) Full Time

Job Title: Senior Energy Investment Specialist – PPPs

Position Number: 50103200
Location: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Position Grade: PL5

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for ‘Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth (PEVP)’ is a Sector Complex focusing broadly on the Bank’s TYS and High 5 priority of “Light up and Power Africa”.  The complex’s objectives are (i) to develop policy and strategy; (ii) provide deep sector technical expertise to the Regions by gathering a pool of experienced individuals who can be consulted for their expertise on complicated transactions; (iii) develop new financing instruments; (iv) act as spokesperson for the Bank with external stakeholders on all aspects of “Light Up and Power Africa”.
• The Complex focuses specifically on areas of power systems development, policy and regulation, renewable energy and climate and green growth. The Complex also ensures that the Bank operates successfully across its Regional Member Countries and oversees the full implementation of all aspects of the Bank’s energy operations.).

The Hiring Department

• The Power Systems Development Department (PESD) provides assistance to the Bank Regional Member Countries (RMCs) and Private Sector in the form of loans and grants to finance energy projects and programs.
• The Department is the Hub of Expertise on Power sector reforms, Project development and advisory services, Regional Power market development and Sustainable Utility Transformation.
• The Division offers to Regional Member Countries (RMC) and private sector clients deep sectoral expertise related to the planning, preparation, and development of sustainable power systems, within the areas of power generation, transmission and distribution, sector reform and development of regional power markets.

The Position

• The Senior Energy Investment Officer – Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) will be required to support in the origination and execution of project development and advisory support mandates in RMCs.

Key Functions
Under the general guidance and supervision of the Division Manager, the Senior Energy Investment Officer –(PPPs) will perform the following duties and responsibilities:

Business Development and Client Management:

• As per the guidelines of the New Deal on Energy for Africa, contribute towards developing a strong pipeline of good quality investment opportunities through proactively undertaking business development missions working with the Regional Hubs.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with Clients, especially regional IPP/PPP developers and sponsors, utilities, service providers, Commercial Banks, multilateral partners, Regulators and government officials to develop and execute specific investment opportunities.
• Have a thorough understanding anticipating market trends and employing sector/country knowledge of the power sector and technologies and provide advice to PEVP team members in the regional hubs concerning the processing of transactions linked to IPP / PPP investments.
• Develop new client relationships and project leads

Project Finance Tasks:

• Contribute to the delivery of flagships as required to ensure delivery of the New Deal on Energy objectives.
• Act as in-house advisor to investment staff in appraising new private sector proposals for investments in the power sector.
• Liaise with client’s technical staff, project engineers and lenders’ engineers and participate in due diligence missions and other project meetings, as necessary.
• Assist in the review of major contracts, including PPA, EPC, FSA, O&M, GCA, and other project agreements and advise on alignment of performance obligations, and adequacy of buffers, procurement mode and risk allocation.
• Assess investment programs and project capital costs and advise on value for money.
• Provide financial analysts with key performance and expenditure (operational and capital) assumptions and scenarios, for incorporation in financial models.
• Hire and supervise Advisors as necessary.
• Assist with the development of new power projects, particularly those using renewable energy.
• Support and provide advice on utility performance management systems.
• Develop suitable industry knowledge and performance benchmarks to share within AfDB and with external clients.
• Undertake any other task as the National and Regional Power Systems Division may assign.

Advisory Tasks:

• Undertake project scoping to assess feasibility of potential projects, participate in origination activities and marketing activities, e.g. supervision of proposal preparation, mandate negotiation with clients
• Assist in the management of different types of Consultants and review legal and technical outputs, documentation and financial models
• Assist in the development of transaction structure options for PPP projects, provide innovative solutions and present recommendations to clients
• Assist in the organization and management of the tendering process of projects, including marketing of projects
• Assist in other projects or strategy related activities as the need may arise
• Understand the legal and regulatory impediments for private sector participation with and work closely with Colleagues leading the Energy policy, Legal and Regulatory aspects to overcome these impediments.
• Coordinate with different Regional Hubs to assess opportunities for PPPs in PEVP operations, where possible and to provide bespoke solutions to our clients to achieve sustainable development impact.

Competencies (Skills, Experience and Knowledge)

• At least a Master’s Degree in Engineering, Economics, Finance, Business Administration, Law, Development Finance or any other related discipline
• Minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience on PPP transaction advisory, M&A or privatization advisory on buy and/or sell side, project finance, private equity, project management
• Minimum three (3) years of experience of sell-side PPP advisory and/or the Energy Sector is considered a plus
• Strong experience in Energy sector with knowledge of sector trends and legal and regulatory requirements and with proven track record of infrastructure/PPP transactions

Strong analytical and financial modelling/structuring skills and demonstrated ability to:

• Support a variety of transaction advisory mandates, debt and equity transactions
• Independently develop own financial models and sound financial analysis of the models to draw conclusions
• Structure or restructure transactions to ensure prudent and sustainable risk sharing among all parties
• Ability to work under pressure and deliver high quality work within deadlines to meet team objectives
• Ability to interact directly and independently with potential clients, financial and technical partners as well as with senior government officials
• Willingness and ability to travel on short notice and frequently, as required
• Experience in a development institution is considered a plus
• Excellent communication skills in English and/or French are essential, and Portuguese would be a plus.
• Competence in the use of the Bank’s standard software (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint). Knowledge of SAP is desirable.

Application Closing Date
31st July, 2022.

Note: This position is classified international status and attracts international terms and conditions of employment.