Description of the mission
NB : This job description is published as part of Expertise France’s response to a request for the provision of intellectual services. The mobilization of the position and the related tasks as described in this document will only be effective upon provided that Expertise France is mandated for the TA mission and that the job description has been validated by the national stakeholders. The description of tasks may therefore be subject to change.
Expertise France is looking for a full-time Long-Term International Technical Assistant in Rural and Agricultural Finance (ATI LT Fin) based in Brazzaville within the UGP MAEP.
Under the hierarchical responsibility of the Long-Term International Technical Assistant Program Management (ATI LT Prog), he/she will work in functional link with the project manager and the project assistant at EF headquarters and in close collaboration with Congolese partners within the UCP and PMUs.
The ATI LT Financing the rural and agricultural world will be responsible for activities linked to investments made by actors in the value chains targeted by Kopekoba in Climate-Smart Agriculture (AIC) and Zero-Deforestation Agriculture (AZD). In particular, he will carry out the following tasks:
• Support to the AT team in operational and administrative management
In close collaboration with the partners involved in the program and at ATI LT Prog, ATI LT Fin will support the Expertise France AT team, particularly with regard to:
– Contribute to the definition of technical and budgetary planning for technical assistance activities (PTBA) and the Program as well as to the identification of technical assistance needs relating to the financing of the rural and agricultural world;
– Contribute to the supervision of experts and operators recruited within the framework of financing the rural and agricultural world;
– Contribute in its field of activity to the quarterly Technical Monitoring Committees and Annual Steering Committee of Kopekoba and to the technical and budgetary execution reporting (RETB) of the PMUs within the Program in accordance with the requirements of the financial partners (AFD/ EU/CAFI);
– Contribute to Expertise France’s internal reporting (management of activities, mobilization forecast, etc.);
– Any task that ATI LT Program Management deems appropriate for the proper advancement of the AT mission.
• Technical support for the Program
In close collaboration with the partners involved in the program and with the AT team, ATI LT Fin will ensure the implementation of the activities entrusted to Expertise France, in particular with regard to:
– Co-lead, guide and monitor the work of local partners in the implementation of activities within the framework of financing the rural and agricultural world in relation to the ATI LT sustainable agriculture, agricultural innovations and PES;
– Analyze and make modifications to existing procedures and/or propose new procedures within the framework of the Program’s Operational Management Procedures Manual (MOP) in order to eliminate any risk for the TA and the PMUs;
– Design a mapping of financial service offers adapted to project leaders made available by the pre-identified structures in the Program pilot territories;
– Support the development of an administrative and financial procedures manual for the shared-cost subsidy fund and the payment for environmental services (PSE) system;
– Support the identification of the organizational and institutional needs of the “Catalyst” in charge of the principle of intervention of the Payments for Environmental Services (PSE) mechanism;
– Support the identification of the organizational and institutional needs of “Incubators”;
– Support the capacity building of officials from banks/microfinance institutions responsible for agricultural credit management/risk analysis;
– Provide expertise in structuring project financing files and refinancing files for Incubators;
– Support the definition of eligibility and admissibility criteria for project leaders;
– Support the definition of an intervention facility in order to support project leaders in setting up and monitoring their projects: from the development of the business plan to the monitoring-evaluation of the concrete implementation of the project;
– Support the preparation of grants (definition of consultation regulations, etc.);
– Support the measurement of risks, in particular through the implementation of evaluation tools, the carrying out of studies in order to determine the risk/profitability relationships in support of the ATI CT SERA.
This job description is not exhaustive; in general, ATI LT Fin is responsible for the activities necessary for the proper execution of the Program, particularly within the framework of Result 2.
Project description or context
1. General presentation of the Program
As part of its partnership with the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI), the Investment Program of the Sustainable Land Use Program (PI-PUDT or Kopekoba in Lingala) is the second component of the PUDT carried by the Government of the Republic of Congo. Kopekoba complements the PUDT, with the ambition of implementing on the ground the major national land use planning guidelines defined by the PUDT.
The general objective of Kopekoba is to diversify the national economy and fight against poverty through agricultural and forestry development following a low-carbon trajectory guaranteeing the integrity of the country’s landscapes and natural resources. It aims in particular to:
• Select pilot territories in which territorial management and development plans will be implemented;
• Support the structuring of resilient agricultural value chains, Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) and Zero-Deforestation Agriculture (AZD) in savannah and forest areas;
• Support research and development, as well as the dissemination of good agricultural practices, by supporting local administration through the rehabilitation of its service offering and the development of new offerings, through sustainable agriculture innovation centers, techniques and a network of relay farms and/or Priority Agricultural Zones (ZAP);
• Make innovative investments in the sustainable agriculture sector;
• Strengthen the capacities of state and non-state actors, particularly in monitoring and evaluation of projects supported under the Program.
The program will intervene more precisely according to 4 main results:
• Result 1. Sustainable agriculture is intensified in accordance with national land use planning strategies;
• Result 2. Investments made by actors in the AIC and AZD value chains are supported;
• Result 3. The master plans for the sustainable supply of wood energy for the cities of Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire are implemented;
• Result 4. Monitoring-evaluation mechanisms make it possible to monitor the results of projects financed by PUDT/Kopekoba and to direct the future development of AIC and AZD towards the most effective practices.
The Program benefits from financial support from the CAFI, the European Union (EU) and the AFD (executing agency chosen by the Government and the CAFI), and is implemented over a period of five (05 ) years from 2024 to 2029 and benefits from a maximum budget of $41M.
2. Program Governance
On the operational level, the main project management of the program will fall, in consistency with the PUDT, to the Ministry of Land Planning, Infrastructure and Road Maintenance (MATIER), through the Coordination Unit of Program (UCP MATERIAL). The UCP MATIER will be strengthened to also ensure the accountability of the Kopekoba and bring the strategic orientations of land use planning into line with the investments made in the Kopekoba.
The management units formed at the PUDT level by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (UGP MAEP) and the Ministry of Forestry Economy (UGP MEF) will provide project management for the activities. falling within their competence.
Technical partners (CIRAD, CIFOR, WCS, WWF, WRI, VCV Network) will support the PMUs in the deployment on the ground of certain activities and operational investments of the program, in their fields and geographical areas of competence.
3. Technical assistance for project management
Among the PMU support partners, Expertise France is mandated by MATIER to mobilize a technical assistance (TA) team to the MAEP and MEF PMUs in order to guarantee the effectiveness of the implementation of program activities and contribute , therefore, to achieving its results in the short, medium and long term. More specifically, the AT team will intervene according to 2 areas of intervention:
• Line of intervention No. 1 : support for the management of the program cycle with the MAEP and MEF PMUs – in a transversal manner, with the rigor of the technical, administrative and financial execution of the program – in order to enable them to ensure a growing and progressively autonomous role in the management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the project.
• Area of intervention No. 2 : responsibility for the direct implementation of activities. In the form of mobilization of expertise (resident and local) and the use of service provision contracts, Expertise France will aim to provide all the expertise necessary for the proper direct implementation of certain activities from Results 1 to 4 and achieving their objectives.
The EF team will be made up of International Technical Assistants (ATI) Long-Term (LT) and Short-Term (CT), a field support team and a “Backstopping” support team at the level of the headquarters of Expertise France.
In terms of skills and human resources, the technical assistance contract should therefore include:
• A team of International Technical Assistants (ATI) Long-Term (LT) or Short-Term (CT)
o An ATI LT specialized in “Program Management” (ATI LT Prog);
o An ATI LT specialized in “sustainable agriculture, agricultural innovations and PES” (ATI LT Agri) positioned in particular on Results 1 and 2;
o An ATI LT specialized in “financing the rural and agricultural world” (ATI LT Fin) positioned in particular on Result 2;
o A Short-Term Expertise pool (ECT pool), including:
§ A pearl ATI in “forest and wood energy” (ATI CT Foret) positioned on Result 3;
§ A pearl ATI in “monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning” (ATI CT SERA) in transversal support on the SERA and Gender aspects of Result 4.
• A field support team:
o An Administrative, Financial and Markets Manager (RAFM);
o An Accounting Assistant (AC);
o A Logistics Assistant (AL);
• A backstopping team is based in Paris.
4. Job-specific context
The development of investments for the deployment of agriculture in Congo in the broad sense, in particular for the AIC and the AZD, comes up against numerous constraints including low technical capacities of project leaders (small producers, cooperatives, companies) and the difficulty of accessing financing for their projects from financial institutions, which are poorly developed and diversified in Congo.
Thus, in Result 2, two Products are identified aimed at:
• Complete the offer of technical agricultural services provided by the Technical Centers and decentralized State structures (Cf. Results 1 and 4) by developing the financial aspect through the strengthening of mechanisms to encourage and support agricultural projects. investments (Output 2.1);
• Establish subsidies for small producers not yet formalized to finance investments and projects whose compatibility with the AIC and the AZD will have been calibrated and verified in advance via the PUDT (Product 2.2).
The program will be able to rely on 17 “Incubator” partners who must be able to organize training for project leaders as part of the Fund’s stimulus and support mechanisms. The “Catalyst” who will be chosen by the Program will then be able to set up a complete technical assistance system for the identified “incubators” and provide them with technical support for their mandate. This “Catalyst” (specialized structure which remains to be defined) will be able to define the main axes of the support strategy for the agricultural sector and will support the definition of the eligibility and admissibility criteria of project leaders. Ultimately, the “Incubators” must be able to select project leaders and be able to support project leaders in the field for the formalization of their projects and the development of their business plan. At the same time, projects with AIC and AZD and wood energy impacts will be selected within the pilot territories according to updated principles and eligibility criteria in order to benefit from subsidies.
Desired profile
1. Qualifications
– Master’s level diploma (bac +5) in business administration, economics, agro-economics, finance, banking or in a related field or other relevant field;
– In-depth knowledge of agro-industrial finance as well as loans to MSMEs, microfinance and/or the banking sector, credit analysis and management, development of financial products for the agricultural sector and preparation and analysis business plans for agricultural projects;
– Excellent interpersonal skills;
– Ability to lead a dialogue with public and private partners;
– Ability to diagnose needs and capacities, strengthen and design action plans adapted to implementing partner structures;
– Strong capacity for work and autonomy, flexibility and organization, responsiveness;
– Strong writing skills and mastery of office tools;
– Excellent command of French, both written and spoken. Fluency in Lingala will be a plus.
2. Professional experience
– At least 10 years of professional experience in setting up and/or structuring financing offers with entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa;
– At least significant experience working in MSME lending activities in agriculture (and/or rural and/or forest resource management and/or climate change adaptation) and the health sector agribusiness, evidenced by project experience;
– At least significant experience working in managing the delivery of successful capacity building activities to financial institutions, such as conducting needs assessments and analyzing results, developing training plans and subsequent coaching, development of training programs and materials, organization and delivery of training;
– Experience working in technical assistance with public institutions (ministries, decentralized services, technical institutes or equivalent) would be an asset;
– Experience working with international donors (AFD, EU, CAFI) and/or an international cooperation agency (GIZ, ENABEL, etc.) within the framework of international cooperation projects/programs and knowledge of their procedures would be an asset;
– Experience working with Expertise France would be an asset;
– Experience in the geographical area (Republic of Congo, Central Africa) would be an asset.
Further information
1. Conditions
– Desired position to take: 2nd Quarter 2024;
– Type of contract: employment contract under French private law (public agents will be seconded to Expertise France for the duration of the mission);
– Attractive remuneration established according to the Expertise France remuneration policy including:
o Fixed base salary based on profession, responsibilities, expertise and experience;
o Bonus linked to the quality of life and the cost of living on site;
o Family package premium if applicable;
o Installation allowance bonus;
o Expenses reimbursed if applicable (based on supporting documents within the limit of the budget allocated by Expertise France) such as accommodation and babysitting costs, school fees for children accompanying the expert in the country of the mission, travel expenses moving, transport costs;
o Social protection and insurance;
o Individual tax support.
2. Documents to provide
– CV including professional references (in French);
– Cover letter (in French).
NB: Candidates interested in this opportunity are invited to submit their application as soon as possible, Expertise France reserving the possibility of proceeding with the pre-selection before this date.
How to apply
https://www.expertisefrance.fr/en/on-recrute#page-cv—upload—vacancy—10822