Investment Officer at World Bank Group

The selected candidate will be based in one of the IFC offices in West and North Africa (Abidjan, Accra or Dakar) and will be an integral part of the investment team working across the business cycle (business development, “upstream”, new investments, and portfolio), but with a focus on business development, processing and managing IFC’s investments in infrastructure and the digital economy. 

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. The Investment Officer will identify new investment opportunities, execute transactions, and actively manage portfolio projects in infrastructure and the digital economy predominantly in West and North Africa. The successful candidate will focus on investment opportunities that promote competition, private sector investment and innovation in the digital economy with the aim of enabling people, businesses and governments to be digitally enabled by 2030.
2. Business Development: Source and assess opportunities, identify bankable projects anticipating market trends and employing sector/country knowledge; synthesize information into internal reports for decision making purposes.
3. Structuring and Negotiation: Evaluate, structure, negotiate, and close new debt and equity transactions, portfolio restructurings, etc. Develop innovative and appropriate financial structures for complex transactions.
4. Deal Execution and Transaction Management: Deliver all transactions and accountabilities of the role efficiently, on a timely and expeditious basis and using best practice standards. Ensure that defined transactional requirements recorded in documentation are executed accordingly. Monitor the portfolio and report development results internally and externally. Coordinate closely with social, environmental, legal, and technical assistance colleagues in structuring transactions, to add value to our clients' businesses, find pragmatic solutions to project and sector challenges, and achieve sustainable development impact.
5. Strategy Development and Knowledge Sharing: Contribute to drafting strategies for sectors, countries, or regions for business development; and develop and execute strategies for more complex client engagements with the objective of building a robust investment pipeline. Build IFC's knowledge base for best practices and participate in knowledge sharing and dissemination. Initiate collaboration and share expertise as a subject matter expert, providing advice, peer review and contribution to knowledge products across WBG to strengthen internal and/or external client solutions. Promoting the IFC brand and representing IFC at various conferences and workshops.
6. Coordination with WBG: Support World Bank and MIGA colleagues on sector reform and unblocking constraints to attracting private sector capital.
7. Mentoring and coaching: mentor and coach less-experienced colleagues to help build talent and grow the skill base of staff.

Selection Criteria

• Master’s degree in finance or similar relevant education.
• 8 to 12 years of experience with a development finance institution, a commercial bank, an international financial institution or a private equity firm with tasks related to private sector infrastructure financing and development.
• Strong technical and operational skills demonstrated by a track-record of structuring and closing investments in infrastructure sectors and portfolio supervision of complex projects. 
• Knowledge of the various infra core sectors (power, transportation, utilities, telecoms, natural resources); equity investment, project finance and renewable energy finance experience is essential. 
• Good understanding of digital technologies, digital transformation of society and digitally enabled business model trends relevant to socio-economic development in the African context and enthusiasm to stay abreast of new innovations is a plus. 
• Excellent presentation skills, using charts, graphs and other data presentation techniques appropriately to communicate data, technical information, or complex concepts to non-specialists.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English as demonstrated by a proven track record of effectively delivering technical information in a clear, easily understandable and effective manner; French or Arabic is a plus.
• Strong business development and client relationship skills demonstrated by track record; sound business judgment in screening and identifying leads.
• Proven ability to function effectively as a team member of multi-disciplinary teams and resolve conflicts constructively. 
• Prior work experience in Africa (especially West and/or North Africa), and good knowledge of sector issues in the region is a plus. 
• Willingness and ability to travel.
• Genuine commitment to sustainable development.