SME Advisor at Energy 4 Impact

Role

This role is within Advisory Services, a Nairobi-based team of professionals from a range of private sector backgrounds including investment banking and private equity, management consulting, law, entrepreneurship, infrastructure project development, micro-finance and engineering.

Our clients are primarily based in East Africa and range in the stage of their development from ideation/pre-pilot to scale-up. We work with companies employing a range of business models and technologies. Many are developing small-scale assets for power generation and distribution (e.g. through mini-grids) using solar, biomass gasification, or hydropower, while others produce or distribute solar lights or home systems, clean cook-stoves or biomass-based fuels.

Our common near-term aim is to help our client develop into a business that will withstand a due diligence process designed to assess its financial, operational and technical robustness. Our ultimate goal is to increase the likelihood that the company matures into a profitable commercial enterprise that plays a meaningful role in electrifying the 1.3 billion people currently without power. In short, we work with companies to increase their prospects for survival and growth.

We help companies develop their business model, enhance operational execution, and access financing. Engagements typically consist of some combination of management consulting or capital advisory, market research, and assistance developing new partnerships. Many clients find significant value in our knowledge of, and preparation for, financiers – from commercial private equity firms, to impact investors or donors.

We have completed more than 220 engagements with more than 112 companies, and our clients have raised a cumulative $83 million of debt, equity and grants since engaging with us.

Responsibilities for the role include:

• Conducting advisory engagements (which span strategy consulting, investment readiness, partnership facilitation, project development support, and “customized projects”) with SMEs, social enterprises and project developers working in the energy access sector.
• Supporting clients to access financing, and using Energy 4 Impact institutional knowledge and relationships with financiers, investment requirements, and transaction structures to advise clients and help them be successful in closing transactions.
• Developing pipeline projects that fit Energy 4 Impact’s priorities/capabilities with current or new clients.
• Helping to develop Energy 4 Impact’s internal processes and knowledge of technologies, business models, regulatory issues, financing process, etc.
• Delivering high quality work product and providing high quality inputs to colleagues, with attention to detail and a focus on results.
• Provide guidance and mentoring to Business Analysts and Senior Analysts who would be supporting the SME Advisor in delivering the project.