Senior Analyst – SME Development Finance

About Afreximbank: African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade.

For 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries to effectively participate in the AfCFTA. At the end of December 2023, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at over US$37.3 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$6.1 billion. The Bank disbursed more than US$104 billion between 2016 and 2023. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure, (together, “the Group”). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.

Job Purpose:

The overarching objective of this role is to support the provision of financial interventions to African SMEs and Financial Intermediaries under the Bank’s Export SME Development Programme (ESDP). The ESDP is focused on integrating export-oriented SMEs into global value chains by facilitating access to finance, skills development (through capacity building) and market access to SMEs in priority sectors (including Agribusiness, Manufacturing, Creatives, Women and Youth).

Core Responsibilities:

• Draft term sheets for prospective transactions in line with SME Finance Facility guidelines.
• Undertake detailed financial analysis by calculating relevant financial ratios including leverage, profitability, efficiency, and cover ratios, etc.
• Support the development of credit memos for presentation at Pre-Assessment Committee (PAC)
• Assist in evaluating the underlying financial assumptions of client proposals to ensure that they are credible and realistic.
• Analyze historical and projected financial statements.
• Work with relevant internal teams (e.g. Specialized Finance, Treasury) to secure favorable pricing for SMEs transactions.
• Review financing proposals presented to the SME team and make business / commercial recommendations
• Assist with the review, development, and distribution of marketing collateral to various target customers of the Bank.
• Provide requisite information to clients to ensure that their financing proposals conform to the Bank’s requirements.
• Develop, update, and manage a database of SME Finance Intermediaries.
• Represent the SME Development Department in internal & external meetings as and when required to do so.
• Support the development of financial products under the Bank’s Export SME Development Programme
• Understand and adhere to the Bank's AML, Regulatory and Conduct Compliance policies and procedures, notably.
• Staff Handbook (has code of conduct provisions)
• Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Counter Financing of Terrorism and Counter Proliferation Financing
• Conflicts of Interest and Policies on Staff Involvement in External Engagements/Activities
• Anti-Bribery & Corruption
• Insider Trading Guidelines
• Report any suspicious or non-compliant activities or matters relating to the Bank’s staff or the customers to the Compliance Department.
• Complete the Annual Compliance Training/Assessment.
• Understand your customer portfolio, their business and related parties and proactively inform Compliance team of any changes as part of ongoing monitoring
• Obtain required Compliance and KYC documentation through effective and efficient communication with relevant internal and external parties.
• In collaboration with the Compliance team, ensure the Bank's products comply with relevant country legislation and sufficient due diligence is conducted to mitigate risk of financial crimes.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Relevant bachelor’s and master’s degree or professional qualification in lieu of master’s degree.

Years & Nature of Experience:

• Sound experience of at least 3 years with a leading financial institution
• Familiarity with the financial and non-financial barriers to SME trade including access to finance, access to markets, limited technical capacity and policy constraints
• Ability to communicate and function in a culturally diverse and change oriented setting
• Ability to meet senior officials of banks, corporates and governments and win their confidence
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. Knowledge of the Bank's other working languages is an added advantage
• Willingness to travel extensively and to work long hours where required in order to achieve the Bank's objectives.
• Demonstrated leadership capabilities, including ability to organize and manage human resources to attain goals.

Technical Competencies:

Proficiency Level: Developing Professional 2

• Qualified and experienced post-graduate. Team collaboration and independent task performance skill required.
• As part of their role may communicate directly with clients.
• May have responsibility to support with handling complex information or make decisions that impact the tasks and activities of others.

Leadership Skills

• Where relevant, actively contributes to the coordination and supervision of activities of junior colleagues, including allocating work, following up on task completion and dealing with day-to- day staff management issues.
• Supports in the upskilling of junior colleagues by identifying learning opportunities, mentoring, providing basic technical guidance and inputting to the preparation and delivering of training.
• The ability to communicate effectively and collaborate with others influences internal and external stakeholders.

Interpersonal Skills

• Builds and maintains effective working relationships with colleagues at all levels and (where relevant) external counterparts.
• Offers professional advice, opinions and recommendations, in order to support decision making within the team.
• Articulates information clearly and provides instruction to support effective allocation and completion of tasks at a junior level.

Problem Solving & Business Impact

• Solves non-routine problems based on the analysis of multiple sources of information (both internal and external), technical knowledge and previous experience.
• Impacts own area and own function (to a limited extent) through knowledge sharing and providing basic technical advice.

Supporting Afreximbank Mandate

• Has a good understanding of Afreximbank Group’s values and mission and some knowledge of Afreximbank Group’s products and services and how own area fits in the wider business.
• Has some knowledge of the political, economic and trade landscape in which Afreximbank Group operates and is able to comfortably talk about major historical and current affairs developments on the Continent and the African diaspora internally.

Afreximbank’s Core Values:

• Commitment to Africa and supporting the emancipation and empowerment of Africans
• Uncompromising integrity
• Passion for Learning and Drive
• Teamwork
• Trust and Respect for the Individual
• Innovation, Excellence and Flexibility
• Professionalism and Responsiveness