AGRA

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Job Reference: PSI/PD/02/2024

AGRA and its Work

AGRA is an African-led institution that actively supports the drive towards inclusive agricultural transformation and sustainable food systems. We do this by empowering the continent’s 33 million smallholder farming households to transform their agriculture from a struggle to survive to profitable businesses. The continent’s farmers regularly face challenges, and we aspire to provide uniquely African solutions that respond to their agricultural and environmental challenges, leading to increased harvests for reduced hunger and more income. 

Working in alignment with the development priorities of our focus countries, we enable farmers to access improved and high-yielding seeds, gain knowledge on sustainable farming, and linkages to profitable markets. 

In our work, we aspire to build the alliances, partnerships, and networks required to drive an inclusive agricultural transformation. We work with our partners to create an equitable youth-friendly environment that harnesses the youth dividend on the continent to drive growth and facilitate open employment opportunities for young women and men. We achieve our key objectives through a focus on the following four areas of intervention:

1. Policy and state capability – We support governments in creating an enabling environment for private sector involvement in agricultural transformation. 
2. Seed systems – We trigger higher productivity by increasing the availability and access to improved seeds by farmers allowing them to increase their harvests for food security and better incomes. 
3. Sustainable farming – We support farmers in building resilient farming systems for sustained high yields through interventions such as mechanization and irrigation. 
4. Inclusive markets and trade – We work to increase the linkages between farmers, and other market actors for a positive, sustained cycle of commercialization and reinvestment. 

Implementing Our New Strategy Through People

People are the heart of our organization and remain the true drivers of our delivery and our impact.

We work with incredible people and partners who have roots in farming communities across the continent combined with an inclusive and diverse workforce from over 24 nationalities. Our commitment to a call to action goes beyond ourselves as we arise to catalyze African Food Systems transformation by being Deeply collaborative, Executing Excellently, Sincerely Constructive and Increasingly Entrepreneurial aligned with our values of (I-RISE; Integrity, Respect, Innovation, Stewardship and Equity).

We are looking for people who are passionate about Africa to join our innovative, growing, and multidisciplinary team. Together, we can grow Africa’s food systems improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Want to join us?

The Position

Specialist – Private Sector Investments Job Reference: PSI/PD/02/2024

In realizing its mission to catalyze the growth of sustainable food systems across Africa, AGRA has identified aligning, influencing, and leveraging partners as a critical mechanism to build a robust enabling environment where private sector thrives and smallholder farmers, especially women and youth, are empowered to produce sufficient, healthy food and go from subsistence farming to operating thriving agri-businesses.

The ideal candidate will lead in investment mobilization and facilitation for actors within AGRA’s priority value chains, growth corridors and countries. The role will build and manage a network of impact investors, including development finance institutions, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, private equity, angel investors to drive high visibility and impact investments into country level food systems both at a national level and at the SME level. Additionally, he/ she will also represent AGRA at various investment, finance and private sector related engagements, networks, memberships, and platforms.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Strengthen the ecosystem for investment facilitation for actors in priority value chains and/or growth corridors.

• Contribute to the design and implementation of investment strategies and interventions.

• Strengthen government investment facilitation capacity, specifically as relates to priority value chains and/or growth corridors.

• Represent AGRA at various investment, finance and private sector related engagements, networks, membership, and platforms.

• Contribute to pipeline development and portfolio performance of the investable private sector opportunities. 

• Drive a strong advocacy agenda for investments through a range of external facing communication and advocacy strategies.

• Work closely with country teams to design grants, technical assistance, and partnership strategies to drive private sector investments.

• Build alliances and partnerships to support pipeline building and investment facilitation.

• Support in identifying additional resources for implementation of investment programs.

• Facilitate a partner portfolio of the top 100 high growth food companies across Africa.

Key Qualifications and Experience required:

• Master’s degree in project finance, Investment Banking, Corporate Governance, Economics, or related field.
• Experience in project finance, investment, banking, private sector development, public private partnerships, agribusiness development, business administration or similar work.
• Working experience in Africa, working on private sector development and investment related work. 
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with a team orientation and strong collaborative skills.
• Ability to work with donors as well as manage and build strategic private sector and other institutional relationships.
• Sound understanding of the investment, transaction and financing landscape and processes.
• Strong project management skills.
• Outstanding people skills and a demonstrated ability to influence a wide range of individuals from different backgrounds and at different levels.
• Social and humanitarian awareness and diplomacy.

If you believe you are the right candidate for this position, kindly submit your application with a detailed CV (including your e-mail and telephone contacts) to recruit@agra.org. Please quote the job reference number in the subject line of the application e-mail.

Applications must be received on or before 29th February 2024. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

For more information on the AGRA, visit www.agra.org. 

AGRA is an Equal Opportunity Employer