Trade Catalyst Africa - Board Chair

BOARD CHAIR SEPTEMBER 2022

About Trade Catalyst Africa

Trade Catalyst Africa (TCA) is a catalytic finance fund wholly owned by TradeMark East Africa (TradeMark); that is aimed to increase exports and intra-regional trade from Africa. TCA will pilot commercially viable projects for creating trade infrastructure (both physical and digital) as well as increasing access to Trade Finance for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). TCA will identify, develop, derisk, invest in, mobilize financing for and manage such projects thus alleviating the financing gap in the current environment of constrained donor and Government financing.

USAID has provided the initial capital of US$ 25 Million to operationalise TCA. TCA will leverage this funding to raise additional capital from development finance institutions (DFIs), commercial banks, private equity funds, microfinance institutions, FinTechs and other financial institutions for investment. Ultimately, TCA will be an evergreen fund and will revolve its funding across multiple projects by recouping its investments using a transparent revenue model.

TCA will have two components:

• A Developer Window to support the development of trade infrastructure projects and;

• A Trade Finance window to support increased availability of Trade Finance in specific sectors.

TradeMark is a Not-for-Profit aid-for-trade organisation established in 2010, with the aim of growing prosperity through trade. TCA will implement projects on the back of TradeMark’s in-depth experience in project design, implementation, and stakeholder engagements. TCA, in turn, will support TradeMark to expand and sustain the scale of its impact, in line with its development objectives. We believe this will amplify the gains made by TradeMark in trade facilitation and in spurring Africa’s economic and trade growth.

The Role

Time commitment: Up to 20 days a year on Board meetings, plus additional time spent on representational duties. The Chair is expected to have regular meetings with the Chief Executive of TCA and represent TCA at various events and meetings with key stakeholders.

Remuneration: Per TradeMark scales

Location: Should be resident in Eastern/Horn of Africa

Trade Catalyst Africa is seeking a dynamic and visionary individual with strategic leadership experience, solid professional networks and regional influence to join TCA’s Board as Board Chair. The Board will oversee the strategy, policy, and direction of TCA, and facilitate the achievement of its mission, vision, objectives, and impact.

The Chair will lead and drive the agenda of Board meetings, perform non-executive duties, oversee the Chief Executive, and exercise the powers and functions of Board Chair detailed below. The imcumbent will report to the sole shareholder, TMA, and act as an ambassador and be the public face of TCA in partnership with the CEO and the Board.

Responsibilities

• Provide visionary and inclusive leadership to TCA in its start-up and operational phase.

• Demonstrate a commitment to TCA’s vision, mission, objectives, and operations, keeping up to date with issues and trends that may affect the organisation.

• Through regular engagement with TCA’s financiers, understand the context in which TCA operates and in this initial period, lead relationships with USAID, ensuring alignment with USAID’s and TCA’s strategic direction.

• Undertake representational duties as necessary including participating in key strategic events and engaging with key regional stakeholders.

• Drive participation in the Board meetings including preparing for these meetings by studying documents, agreements and other papers provided.

• Review TCA strategy and business plans and policies and ensure that TCA operates in a manner that is consistent with the TCA Constitution, and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

• Ensure the effective management of TCA’s risk profile and accept fiduciary and other responsibilities as required by companies’ legislation.

• Understand and monitor the organisation’s financial affairs, including adoption and oversight of annual budgets.

• Work with TCA’s CEO to identify new investment opportunities in support of TCA’s strategy.

• Establish and maintain an effective, independent and collegial Board presence for the effective governance of TCA, and work collaboratively with the TradeMark Board and donor Council, which represent the parent company of TCA, to ensure effective governance between the organisations.

Qualifications, skills and experience

Additional Skills

• Financial expert combining public sector investment experience with a strong background in development finance.

• Experience in Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and/ or commercial institutions, with an understanding of deal-making, private equity, impact investment and innovative SME finance

• Previous experience of Board membership: experience as a Board Chair is essential.

• A minimum of 10 years’ management experience (including five at c-suite level) in an area relevant to TCA’s operations

• Professional experience and geographic expertise acquired in one or more of the countries in which TCA operates in Eastern/Horn of Africa.

• Proven intellectual and strategic thinking skills.

• Strong strategy formulation and oversight skills including the ability to communicate effectively and concisely.

• Excellent visionary leadership

• Ability to establish and maintain strong collaborative partnerships/ relationships with high-ranking government officials, investors, private sector organisations and other stakeholders.

• Adept at leading diverse teams, delivering change and demonstrating value for money.

• Ability to influence others to achieve objectives and gain consensus and collaboration.

• Sound decision-making and judgment capabilities.

We are looking for a candidate whose profile is as follows:

Terms of Service

The initial appointment will be for three years. Appointments are renewable once for a further 3 years, subject to satisfactorily completing annual board evaluation assessments.

TCA will reimburse all reasonable and properly documented expenses incurred in the performance of official duties in accordance with approved organisational policies. TCA will

also meet the cost of flights for attendance to meetings and other work related activities, pay for hotel accommodation on a bed and breakfast basis and other incidental expenses. Board meetings will be held quarterly while committee meetings will be held a few weeks before full Board meetings as required.

How to Apply

All correspondence, at this stage, should be via Oxford HR. To apply for this post, click on the “Apply” button on the job advert page, complete our online application form, and submit your CV and cover letter in two different documents, which should be prepared before applying as they will be considered in the application process.

The cover letter should be no more than two pages long and explain why you are interested in this post and how your skills and experience make you a good fit. Visit here for tips on preparing cover letters and CVs. The documents should be saved as a PDF in the following format: Your First Name-Your Last NameDocument Name-Date (mmyy) e.g., Janet-Mbugua-CV-092022-TCA or JanetMbugua-CoverLetter-092022-TCA.

Timeline

Closing date: 7th November 2022

Preliminary interviews: Week of 29th November 2022

Final panel interviews: 12th December 2022

Start date: January 2023

Equality statement

Diversity, Inclusion and Equality, are at the core of TCA’s values. Board members and staff are expected to work collectively and individually to promote a constructive and sensitive approach to others from a variety of backgrounds, where the work of others is valued and respected.

Selection process

All candidates will be notified about the status of their applications. Shortlisted candidates may be required to undergo a background check and references prior to final appointment. We advise candidates to add the role email to their safe senders list and regularly check their spam folder.

Queries

If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information, or would like to have an informal discussion, please email tca-board-chair@oxfordhr.co.uk in the first instance.

About Oxford HR

Oxford HR operates globally - mainly within the international development and charity sectors. We carry out retained executive search mandates at board and senior management levels. We also offer human resource and organisational development consultancy.

Oxford HR has many years of experience in search as well as an extensive network of international development, social sector, corporate, public sector, and academic contacts from across the world. We carry out comprehensive and often international searches designed to meet the specific needs of our clients.

Oxford HR’s team members have significant personal experience of working in international development and the social sector as well as the corporate and governmental sectors. We are in a unique position to find and assess talented individuals from a variety of backgrounds.