Background & General Description
Do you want
to build a career that is truly worthwhile? The World Bank Group is one of the
largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique
global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty and
promoting shared prosperity. With 189 member countries and more than 120
offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing
in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop
solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information,
visit www.worldbank.org.
Western and Central Africa (AFW) Region
We need the
best and brightest talent focused on Sub-Saharan African countries in order to
harness the potential and innovation happening across the continent. Africa is
a continent on the move, with a young population and a growing market of nearly
1.2bn people. We are committed to making the Africa regional teams into leading
innovation hubs.
Yet, these
vast opportunities are tempered by persistent gaps in education, health, and
skills, which have Africa only reaching forty percent of its estimated
potential. Moreover, conflict, food insecurity, population growth, and the disruptive
forces of climate change threaten to curtail or even reverse the progress that
has been made over the past decades.
In West and
Central Africa, the World Bank is a leading partner with a growing portfolio of 349 projects totaling more than $60 billion in areas such as
agriculture, trade and transport, energy, education, health, water and
sanitation- all to support job creation, gender equality, poverty reduction,
and better lives. Across the continent, the World Bank’s program has nearly
doubled over the last 10 years. By 2030, about 87% of the world’s extreme poor
are projected to live in Sub-Saharan Africa, so this is where our mission to
end extreme poverty and to promote shared prosperity will be achieved.
Are you
ready to make an impact? We are looking for dedicated professionals to join our
innovative and diverse team to improve people’s lives and help countries build
back better after COVID.
Western and Central Africa (AFW) Region:
https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/western-and-central-africa
UNIT CONTEXT
The World
Bank Group (WBG) supports the Sustainable Energy for All initiative and is
committed to working towards accomplishing the initiative's three goals by
2030: i) universal access to electricity and clean cooking fuels; ii) doubling
the share of the world's energy supplied by renewable sources from 18 percent
to 36 percent, and iii) doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency.
The
Infrastructure Practice Group is charged with developing sustainable solutions
to help close infrastructure gaps in developing and emerging economies. As part
of the Infrastructure Practice Group, the Energy & Extractives (EEX) Global
Practice (GP) focuses on providing affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy
to meet the needs of fast-growing economies, ensure universal access to modern
energy services for people in client countries, strengthen policy and
institutional frameworks to promote transparent and equitable growth of the
extractives sectors for public benefit. There is a strong emphasis on private
sector resource mobilization and catalyzing financing from commercial and other
sources of development and climate finance.
The
Africa energy sector grouping consists of four units across two regions of
Eastern and Southern Africa (AFE) and Western and Central Africa (AFW), each
managed by a Practice Manager. The units together total over 120 staff of which
58% (over 70) are based outside the US, and more than half of the operational
and advisory activities are managed /led by field-based staff. The
Bank is engaged in all aspects of the electricity sector – generation,
transmission, distribution, rural electrification and off-grid.
The Africa Energy Program
in Western and Central Africa currently comprises about 41 projects with a
value of over US$9 billion, covering reforms (sector and corporate governance,
energy security and the environment, regional energy trade, public-private
partnerships, energy efficiency, etc.) and investment support in power
generation, power and gas transmission and distribution, regional connectivity,
rural energy services, renewable energy development, low-carbon and climate
friendly initiatives. The Program uses a variety of instruments, including
investment lending, guarantees for public private partnerships, and development
policy lending. In addition, the Bank manages a strong knowledge agenda to
inform the policy dialogue in the sector.
The AFW Energy Program is
now at a turning point since the Bank has embraced the objective to provide
electricity access to additional 250 million people by 2030. As a result, all
Units are gearing up efforts and new lending is expected to reach approximately
US$2 billion per annum.
The IAWE2
(West Africa) unit seeks a Lead Energy Specialist to be based in Niamey, Niger,
to contribute to the Unit’s strategic, advisory, and operational work on the
energy program in the Mali Country Management Unit (CMU), which covers Niger,
Burkina Faso, Mali, and Chad. He/she will coordinate the overall energy policy
dialogue in the Mali CMU (including the coordination of the Sahel Alliance
Energy Engagement) while contributing to leading strategic dialogue and
business development. The Mali CMU covers the three countries of the Alliance
des Etats du Sahel (AES), which are seeking to develop new partnerships and are
looking for innovative ways to address their energy challenges. He/she will
lead complex operations, advisory services and analytics (ASA) and technical
assistance (TA) activities and contribute to the goals of sustainable energy for
all, transition towards renewable energy, and improved performance of the
sector. Operations would likely include investment project financing
(IPF), program for results (PforR), private-public partnership approaches, and
development policy lending (DPF).
In Mali,
Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad, the World Bank energy program aims to boost
electricity access, develop regional power trade, make the power sector
financially sustainable, and strengthen institutions such as power utilities,
regulators, rural electrification agencies. In Mali, the program now comprises five
national and regional investment operations, in Burkina Faso, the program
consists of three national and regional operations, in Niger, the program now
comprises seven national and regional investment operations, and TA/ASA
spanning the entire value chain in the power sector. In Chad, the current
program comprises two investment projects and technical assistance. Across all
these countries, the energy investment programs may be complemented by
development policy operations.
In coordination with the Senior Energy
Specialists working in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad, the Lead Energy
Specialist will: i) lead policy dialogue on energy sector issues with the
Government; ii) support the implementation to the ongoing investment projects
and address any bottlenecks; iii) deliver technical assistance program,
supported by technical experts; iv) prepare new projects, including development
policy financing; and v) coordinate with other Global Practices of the Bank and
with other donors.
Duties & Accountabilities
Lead and
guide the overall energy engagement across the Mali CMU countries and the
Alliance Sahel energy engagement, in coordination with the energy practice
manager based in HQ. As needed, the Lead Energy Specialist will lead
complex operations, monitor portfolio performance, and ensure that lending
operations and ASA activities are well coordinated and undertaken in a timely
manner.
Specific
duties and responsibilities shall include:
• Lead business development and resulting operations which are part of the
Bank's regional energy program.
• Lead operational work (policy dialogue, lending and supervision, ASA),
including being the Task Team Leader (TTL) for individual projects while also
maintaining sufficient knowledge of individual activities not managed by
him/her to be able to identify and help resolve project-specific or systemic
issues.
• Contribute to developing strategic partnerships with organizations and
individuals so that world-class resources and private capital may be deployed
to client countries.
• Provide guidance and mentoring to junior TTLs.
• Advise colleagues and clients on global best practices in the energy sector
and keep abreast of country sector issues as well as contribute to global
energy knowledge by introducing success and lessons learned in the AFR energy
sector that may have relevance to other clients.
• Lead the coordination with development partners at the country level and
contribute to the coordination and discussion at the regional level.
• Support the Practice Manager in shaping the Bank’s energy strategy,
developing business, and policy dialogue.