Group Chief Risk Officer (GCRO) at African Guarantee Fund (AGF)

Position Summary

• The Group Chief Risk Officer (GCRO) is responsible for providing strategic leadership and independent oversight of AGF’s enterprise-wide credit and portfolio risk management framework across all guarantee, counter-guarantee, and treasury activities.
• The role ensures that AGF’s portfolio growth objectives are pursued within prudent risk parameters, while safeguarding the institution’s capital adequacy, financial sustainability, development mandate, and credit rating profile.
• The GCRO leads the identification, assessment, monitoring, mitigation, and reporting of risks arising from AGF’s guarantee operations and treasury-related exposures, ensuring alignment with Boardapproved risk appetite, regulatory expectations, IFRS9 requirements, and development finance best practices.
• The role also serves as a strategic adviser to Executive Committee and the Board on portfolio quality, expected credit losses, stress scenarios, concentration risks, utilization dynamics, and emerging market developments across AGF’s Pan-African operations.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

Risk Management Strategy & Governance

• Develop and maintain the Group Risk strategy in line with AGFs mandate and risk appetite.
• Lead the design and periodic review of credit risk policies, frameworks and standards for guarantees.
• Serve as principal adviser to the ExCo and the Board on credit risk trends, exposures, concentrations, and emerging risks.
• Ensure alignment between risk strategy, capital adequacy, and portfolio growth ambitions.
• Drive a strong culture of analytical rigor, accountability, and independent challenge within the Risk function.

Portfolio Risk Management & Monitoring

• Ensure high analytical standards, consistency, and quality assurance in transaction underwriting, portfolio analytics, and risk reporting across all regions and products.
• Oversee portfolio performance, including Expected Credit Loss (ECL) and lead portfolio stress testing and scenario analysis to support capital planning and strategic decision-making.
• Lead early warning systems and corrective actions for deteriorating exposure.

Risk Monitoring, Remedial & Recoveries

• Establish robust frameworks, including strengthened data quality, for claims management, restructurings, and recoveries.
• Oversee remedial strategies for impaired guarantees in collaboration with Legal and Business Development teams.
• Ensure lessons learned from defaults inform future underwriting and policy refinements.

Regulatory, Accounting & Compliance

• Ensure robustness, transparency and compliance with relevant prudential standards, IFRS9,
• Basel aligned frameworks and donor requirements.
• Lead engagement with external auditors, rating agencies, regulators, development partners and due diligence missions on all risk-related matters.
• Maintain high standards of documentation, transparency, and defensibility of credit decisions.

Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and transform the Group Risk function into a high-performing, analytically rigorous, and strategically engaged team across all regions.
• Strengthen systems, tools, and data analytics for credit decision-making.
• Act as a constructive counterweight to business origination – independent, credible, and solutions-oriented.

Desirable qualifications, skills, knowledge and experiences

• Full professional fluency in both English and French is mandatory.
• Master’s degree in Finance, Economics, Risk Management or related field.
• Professional risk certifications (FRM, PRM, CFA) strongly preferred.
• Strong expertise in IFRS9, Expected Credit Loss modelling, portfolio analytics, and capital adequacy frameworks.
• Minimum of 15 years’ experience in credit risk, with senior leadership responsibility.
• Proven experience either in guarantee funds, development finance institutions, banks, or multilateral financial institutions.
• Deep understanding of SME, infrastructure, and development-oriented credit risk.
• Strong Board-level engagement and regulatory exposure.
• Detail oriented, highly analytical and intellectually rigorous with a high level of accuracy and ability to challenge assumptions constructively.
• Political and cultural sensitivity with experience in working constructively with a wide range of
• African and international organizations, across different geographical locations and in a culturally diverse setting.
• Willingness and ability to travel as required to support organizational objectives and stakeholder engagement.
• Self-driven individual with a passion and flair for helping SMEs succeed