Impact and Knowledge Officer

Finance for Inclusive Growth in Somalia (FIG-Somalia) 

Funded by the European Union, FIG-Somalia is a component of the Inclusive Local and Economic Development (ILED) program, whose objective is to revitalize and expand the local economy with a focus on livelihood enhancement, job creation, and broad-based inclusive growth for Somali women, youth and producers through:

  • Designing and offering appropriate and sustainable financial products and services to clients through Somali Financial Institutions (FI) and ensuring targeted clients grow and become more bankable.
  • Catalyzing sustainable increase in lending to economic actors in Somalia, esp. youth, women, and producers.
  • Building the capacity of the partner financial institutions to increasingly provide appropriate financial services for a wider scope of customers living in urban centers, and rural and decentralized areas in Somalia.
  • Building the capacity of targeted end clients to profitably use the financing for business growth.

The Impact and Knowledge Officer is a key member of the FIG – Somalia delivery team and is responsible for supporting ongoing data collection, verification and analysis, impact measurement, and insight generation across the FIG portfolio of partner MFIs, their end clients, and other partners and activities. The incumbent will be an integral part of the AECF Impact and Knowledge team and will contribute to feeding data, insights, analysis, and impact stories into thought leadership, storytelling, and dissemination of learnings of the AECF on an ongoing basis.

This role will report to the Programme Manager, FIG-Somalia.

Key responsibilities

  • Update and improve the portfolio monitoring plan of the MFIs and other future partners in FIG’s portfolio in line with AECF policies and procedures and the donor(s) and partner(s) requirements.
  • Support the development of investee monitoring plans, targets, and budgets during the process of investee selection and reviewing as needed throughout the project lifecycle.
  • Provide an evidence-based feedback loop to the program’s team on an ongoing basis, and contribute to producing, packaging and disseminating impact and change stories.
  • Collaborate with partner MFIs to address any data discrepancies or inconsistencies, ensuring data integrity.  Support partners in designing and disseminating research studies by providing relevant input.
  • Ensure accurate and timely compliance with all reporting requirements both at FIG program level and at AECF institutional level (incl. supporting the preparation of annual AECF Impact reports, periodic donor reports, and ongoing ad hoc knowledge pieces).
  • Maintain a dashboard to track performance against key impact indicators, providing feedback to all relevant teams on projects’ performance as and when needed.
  • Share learning from results measurement and impact analyses with the wider team.
  • Develop and disseminate monthly short evidenced-based articles, updated project summary briefs, reports, human interest stories, website content, etc., in Somali and English.

Suitable candidates should possess:

  •  A Bachelor’s Degree in economics, statistics, social sciences, or a related discipline. A Master’s Degree is desirable.  Minimum five (5) years of experience in the same role.
  • Priority will be given to professionals with experience in sustainable agriculture, climate finance, women’s economic empowerment, or financial inclusion.
  • Understand the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) standards for private sector-led development in relevant sectors.
  • Demonstrate productive drive in working with peers, partners, consultants, and others to achieve pre-targeted and measurable business results.
  • Experience working with EU-funded projects or projects funded by other donors is highly desirable, as is familiarity with requirements and compliance standards.
  • Fluent in Somali and English for effective communication is required.

How to apply

The AECF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants will be considered based on merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. AECF does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, processing, training, or other fees).

If you believe you can demonstrate your abilities to meet the relevant criteria for the role, register and apply at https://recruitment.aecfafrica.org.

To be considered, your application must be received by May 23, 2024. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

About AECF

AECF (Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund) is a leading non-profit development organisation that supports innovative enterprises in the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors with the aim of reducing rural poverty, promoting resilient communities, and creating jobs.

We catalyze the private sector by surfacing and commercializing new ideas, business models and technologies designed to increase agricultural productivity, improve farmer incomes, expand clean energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve resilience to the effects of climate change. We finance high-risk businesses that struggle to access commercial funding; we are committed to working in frontier markets, fragile contexts, and high-risk economies where few mainstream financing institutions dare to go.

To date, we have supported over 400  businesses in 26 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, impacted more than 30 million lives, created over 27,000 direct jobs, and leveraged US $771 million in matching funds.