Aceli Africa is a market-enabling facility to mobilize over $600M in private sector lending for agricultural SMEs in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania by 2025. To achieve this goal, Aceli Africa will provide financial incentives to increase the risk appetite of 25+ financial institutions (both global and local) to make loans ranging from USD $25K-$1.5M to inclusive agricultural SMEs while also facilitating technical assistance to expand the ability of high-potential SMEs to qualify for and manage financing.

Financial incentives have been designed based on a dataset that Aceli Africa gathered and analyzed in collaboration with Dalberg Advisors. This data incorporates loan-level and portfolio-level profitability for agricultural SME lending from 35 financial institutions, including commercial banks, local non-bank financial institutions, and global social lenders, and covers 13,000+ transactions totaling $4B+.

With $32M in funding from leading bilateral and philanthropic donors, including IKEA Foundation, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and USAID, Aceli Africa launched in September 2020. Aceli Africa is an initiative of the Global Development Incubator (GDI), a nonprofit incubator of social impact initiatives based in the United States with an affiliated entity based in Kenya

 The role holder will be a core member of Aceli Africa’s dynamic and growing team and will be responsible for supporting Aceli product development and adjustments of financial incentives to unlock financing for agri-SMEs. The incumbent must have experience in business and product performance analytics, possess a mastery of financial analytics and modelling tools, and be adept at engaging a range of stakeholders from commercial banks and other lenders serving agricultural SMEs to data and learning partners, and donors. The role will report to the Head of Product and Operations and is a fulltime position with GDI Kenya, a non-profit entity registered under Kenyan law and affiliated with GDI, Inc., a non profit registered in the United States of America.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform data analysis and market intelligence to guide in the calibration of Aceli Financial Incentives with the aim of catalyzing investment in agri-SMEs;
• Lead the annual budget preparations and make the necessary updates in the five-year projections for the Aceli financial incentives program;
• Be the focal point for the annual financial benchmarking study and work with Aceli data partners in collecting, analyzing and reporting data on agricultural lending trends in East Africa;
• Work closely with Aceli country representatives to ensure partner lending institutions have a good understanding of Aceli financial incentives and their feedback is regularly collected to inform future product iterations;
• Ensure incentives earned by partner lending institutions are accurately calculated and paid in a timely manner;
• Provide partner lending institutions with periodic reports on their earned financial incentives and address any related queries in coordination with Aceli country representatives;
• Create or adapt internal documentation (including policies and guidelines) and tools to support the process of product development and enhancement of the financial incentives as well as training of partner lending institutions;
• Practice the highest degree of professionalism and integrity to build Aceli Africa’s excellent reputation;
• Collaborate with the Aceli team at the regional and global levels to ensure that all of the above responsibilities are well-coordinated with Aceli’s strategic priorities and operating processes.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Finance, Economics, Statistics or other quantitative fields;
• Minimum of 8 years professional experience in East Africa;
• Demonstrated financial modeling skills and knowledge of business intelligence tools;
• Ability to perform client and industry analysis to identify gaps/opportunities and structure appropriate solutions;
• Strategic thinker who is adept at connecting big picture objectives with an action orientation;
• Go-getter who takes initiative and is able to work independently and collaborate with a multi- country team in a rapidly evolving environment;
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and relationship management skills;
• Professional with a demonstrated record of the highest integrity and ethical conduct;
• Keen interest and understanding of the agricultural finance market in East Africa, and;
• Passion for applying financial and business acumen to have a positive impact on farmer livelihoods, food security, and economic development in East Africa.

Global Development Incubator is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers all applicants based on merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. East African nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.

If you believe you can clearly demonstrate your abilities to meet the relevant criteria for the role, please submit your application quoting in the subject line the Job Title “Senior Associate - Product & Operations, Aceli Africa”, and attach your detailed CV, cover letter stating your interest in and qualifications for the position, e-mail address and telephone contacts. Applications that do not include a cover letter tailored to this position will not be considered. The application deadline is 5pm East Africa time Thursday, September 23, 2021.