Current Openings at Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF)

The finance officer will be part of the core finance team at AECF, which is responsible for overall financial management. The incumbent will serve as the finance liaison to AECF’s donors and will represent AECF at any donor and program partner meetings and ensure consolidation of the periodic award budgets, financial reports, strong tracking of program expenditures, continual analysis of program cash flow, ensuring compliance with AECF’s and donor policies.

The role holder will also have responsibility over the program's general ledger monthly review, ensuring ledger data is up to date and accurate to assist in the preparation of financial reports to management, donors, and the board.

This role will report to the Senior Finance Officer.

Key Responsibilities

• Assist with financial planning, including preparation of project budgets, project cash flow forecasts, and implementation of appropriate budgetary controls.
• Producing monthly actual vs budget (variance) reports for programs and participating in quarterly meetings with portfolio teams to review the reports.
• Ensure timely processing of program financial and accounting data, confirming such data is in accordance with the laid down procedures and policies, accurate, complete, adequately supported by all underlying appropriate documents, correctly assigned to appropriate expenses and project budget lines, and donor conditions.
• Monthly review of project ledger, ensuring accuracy of postings and alignment to program design and budgets.
• Prepare bank reconciliation statements for select bank accounts on a monthly basis.
• Maintain primary relationship and correspond with donors on all requests relating to budgets and donor financial reports.
• Tracking of cost share for programs that require a contribution.
• Assist in external audit coordination of the project, including preparation of relevant audit schedules, as may be assigned.
• Preparation of project financial reports in an accurate and timely manner, in line with program reporting templates, donor, and AECF policies.
• Review and approve travel advance requests and surrenders as per policy.
• Support for proposal budgets.

Suitable candidates should:

• Have a bachelor’s degree in economics, statistics, commerce, or finance from a recognized university.
• Have professional qualifications in finance (CPA, ACCA) ora related field.
• Be a member of a professional body.
• Haveat least five (5) years of experience managing the finances of >$20 million international non-profit organization with a mix of funding sources, preferably bilateral donors.
• Have working experience with FCDO, GAC, Kfw, IFC, EU, World Bank, and SIDA.
• Experience working in an ERP environment.
• Have strong proficiency in advanced Excel features.
• Be fluent in English. Proficiency in additional languages such as French is preferred

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We are seeking an Operations Assistant who will work closely with the Director of Operations and Finance(DOF) to design strategies that maximize AECF’s business operations efficiency. The role holder will also provide administrative support to the DOF’s office.

The role will report to the Director of Operations & Finance.

Key Responsibilities

• Assist with developing and implementing strategies and processes that maximize the productivity of AECF’s business functions.
• With guidance from the DOF, carry out research on current trends and propose process improvements.
• Regularly monitor the implementation of department service level agreements for improved turn-around times.
• Support the DOF to gather daily intelligence from all Countries of operation on all matters (PESTEL) that may affect AECF work.
• Schedule meetings and follow up on matters arising with relevant team members.
• Maintain the annual departmental calendar on critical compliance tasks.
• Provide administrative assistance to the DOF’s office.

Suitable candidates should:

• Possess a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, ICT, Finance, Statistics, or any other business-related discipline.
• Be computer proficient and be familiar with MS Office.
• Have a minimum of three (3) years of work experience.
• Be able to demonstrate proactive approaches to problem-solving.
• Be able to demonstrate the ability to achieve goals and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Be proficient in English and Swahili, with French as an added advantage.

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The Business Analyst will be responsible for the sector’s performance. This includes providing performance and decision-making support for the Agribusiness sector against the set targets and KPIs per the approved program plan for the year.

The role-holder will develop and maintain the sector’s reporting to ensure the achievement of annual performance targets. They will build dashboards and reports at the program level that will facilitate thorough analysis of outcomes to better understand how well we meet our strategic objectives.

The incumbent will guide budget spending and cost monitoring for the different programs and ensure adherence to donor requirements.

The role will report to the Associate Director – Agribusiness.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic:

• Support the Associate Director in program implementation, including developing sector insight to support execution and business envelopment.
• Consolidating and ensuring delivery of the weekly program management dashboard report for the Agriculture Sector.
• Support and review all investment memos and ensure compliance with AECF investment policies and donor requirements.
• Identify key impact realization risks inherent at the program level and work with relevant program teams to correct courses.
• Development of Strategic reviews- Operational review board meeting reports.

Operational:

• Issue weekly and monthly performance reports against targets across all program KPIs, review activity outcomes, and highlight what is required to deliver against lagging KPIs.
• Carry out monthly performance stress-testing of planned disbursements and portfolio construction targets, identifying gaps that need to be fixed. Implement strategies/initiatives to plug these gaps.
• Ensure all audit issues raised that affect program performance have been effected and measures put in place to prevent their re-occurrence.
• Prepare inputs for presentations required for the sector at various forums, management forums, donor reports, etc.
• Operate in a manner that is quick to solve and agile, particularly in response to ad hoc requests and requirements.

Suitable candidates should:

• Possess a bachelor’s degree in finance/accounting/economics or a business-related field.
• Possess professional qualification in CPA/ACCA or Agriculture Value chain analysis.
• Have at least five(5) years of experience in a commercial role and agriculture sector.
• Have a high degree in analytical skills, good knowledge of value chain analysis, process and detail orientation.
• Have good communication and influencing skills and be a team player.
• Be able to work with change and have the ability to set Targets and Monitor performance

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The Program Administration Assistant will be responsible for providing comprehensive support to the Director of Programs and the programs department. The role holder will provide end-to-end support on the program activities, manage documentation, and ensure that project timelines and objectives are met. This dynamic position requires the ability to anticipate needs, think critically, and offer solutions to problems with a high level of professionalism and confidentiality.

This role will report to the Director of Programs.

Key Responsibilities

• Proactively manage and coordinate the diary of the Director of Programs, arranging internal and external meetings and ensuring appropriate briefing papers are prepared and provided.
• The role holder is expected to anticipate and prepare research and briefing papers in advance of appointments and presentations and draft subsequent correspondence and follow up as necessary.
• Support the Director of Programs and program heads of departments administratively, including in all matters relating to their travels (travel authorization requests and accountabilities) and procurement.
• Provide support for meetings within the programmes as may be directed by the DOP by ensuring they are properly organized and serviced. This will include drafting agendas, collating papers and reports, taking minutes and following up on action points.
• Coordinate and support preparation of key reports and presentations including Board documents for the Director of Programmes.
• Co-ordinate the articles from programs for the bi-annual newsletter.
• Organize and manage Portfolio Management Committee (PMC) meetings including scheduling, managing papers, recording minutes and tracking closure of actions.
• Manage the Portfolio Leadership Meetings including scheduling, managing papers, recording minutes and tracking closure of actions.
• Manage the monthly program managers meeting including scheduling, managing and consolidating the presentations from portfolio leadership team and program managers, recording minutes and tracking closure of actions.
• Responsible for consolidating and ensuring delivery of the monthly program key activities and Important Goals for the programs.
• Manage the department’s calendar of events. Support in the classification of events and maintain an electronic calendar of events for the portfolio team, and help prioritize meetings and activities.
• Maintain a Program Donor Compliance Tracker to ensure timely delivery of relevant documents.
• Maintain an effective and up-to-date record and filing system for programme documents, project activities, templates, trackers and other programme documents for quick and easy reference.
• Manage portfolio conference and workshop logistics by preparing draft budgets, making travel and hotel bookings, sending invitations, preparing workshop materials and arranging for per diems and other reimbursements.

Suitable candidates should:

• Possess a bachelor’s degree in finance/accounting/economics, or a business-related field.
• Have at least three (3) years of experience in a development or commercial environment.
• Have a working knowledge of PowerPoint for creating presentations, Excel, Word, and report writing skills.
• Have good collaboration, communication, and influencing skills, and be a team player.
• Be proactive and self-driven.

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The Program Operations Assistant will work with all program staff to support strategic program implementation by providing day-to-day support in the consolidation and coordination of the program activities. The role-holder is also responsible for supporting program transition activities that lead to the successful launch of programs and supporting the competition and implementation activities of different programs. This role is central to the efficient and timely delivery of program commitments at AECF, and the role holder is required to be agile, innovative, and provide a speedy turnaround for processes.

This role will report to the Head of Program Operations.

Key Responsibilities

Program Operations – 60%

• Work in the competition’s office to support the inception and launch of programs. This will include, but will not be limited to, planning & coordinating physical and virtual program launches and management of the online competitions platform.
• Support the automation of critical program processes in systems like Project Management System (PMIS), Salesforce, etc. This will include participating in design workshops, participating in the system testing, and the subsequent roll-out activities.
• Support the Program Operations Officer in planning and coordinating program management committees like the Internal Investments Committee (IIRC) and the Portfolio Management Committee (PMC), and other program forums as required
• Support in developing and generating weekly dashboards with key program performance data.
• Support data analysis and development of data visualization dashboards for key program activities.
• Contribute to the review of the portfolio management manual, program handbook, and any other supporting documents.
• Contribute to undertaking desktop research that informs program design and development of funding proposals.
• Support the implementation activities of the programs, including marking, due diligence, ESG review, and preparation of investment memos.
• Support performance monitoring activities as may be required.

Suitable candidates should:

• Possess a bachelor’s degree in business, economics, agriculture, renewable energy, or a related discipline relevant to AECF’s areas of focus.
• Have at least three (3) years of experience, preferably in the development sector, agribusiness, energy, environment, and/or climate sectors.
• Possess knowledge of MS Project or any project and task management tool (trello.com, Outlook tasks).
• Be computer proficient in: Word, Excel, Outlook, Internet search skills, PowerPoint, and have the ability to learn new applications quickly.
• Possess strong planning, organizational, and administrative skills, able to develop clear action plans with defined goals, allocate appropriate resources, and ensure successful execution.
• Be able to demonstrate a high level of accuracy, attention to detail, thoroughness, and an ability to maintain a timely and efficient workflow.
• Be fluent in English. Proficiency in additional languages, e.g., French, is an added advantage