Trade Catalyst Africa - CEO

CHIEF

About Trade Catalyst Africa

Trade Catalyst Africa (TCA) is a catalytic finance fund wholly owned by TradeMark East Africa (TradeMark); that aims to deliver investments that increase exports and intra-regional trade in 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, mobilise financing for and manage such projects; thus alleviating the financing gap in the current environment of constrained donor and Government financing for trade infrastructure and systems.

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 CEO has the overall responsibility for ensuring that TCA’s goals are delivered. Their role is to drive the strategy, operation, governance, and culture of TCA, under delegated authority from the Board of Directors, and in relationship with TradeMark, ensuring that longterm profitable growth is delivered for TCA and that value is delivered to its stakeholders, including direct donors, parent company TradeMark Africa and associated development partners.

The CEO is expected to acquire and maintain the technical knowledge necessary to carry out this role, and to have a proficient understanding of TCA,

its business, and the environment in which it operates. The CEO is expected to use this knowledge and understanding to help define the TCA’s s strategy, manage its resources judiciously, invest in TCA’s employees, and cultivate its network.

The CEO must attend diligently to the affairs of TCA, participate fully in its governance, and question and challenge the Board when necessary. The CEO must demonstrate a capacity to collaborate with Board and Committee members, the TMA Management team, and the rest of the TCA and TMA in making decisions.

Management Arrangements

TCA is being setup as a new entity and will deliver projects based on the expertise built with TradeMark in ten countries across Eastern and Central Africa and the Horn for the implementation of projects. In the initial phase, TCA will be managed by 2 core full time staff – the CEO and Investment Director -and a five-member Board. The Board will also act as the Investment Committee (IC) for TCA investments. The CEO will have a matrix management

relationship with TradeMark, through the CEO and Chief of Party. The latter will work closely with TCA to provide project development and implementation, as well as corporate support. TradeMark will provide operational and project services to TCA under a service level agreement (SLA).

TCA Board of

and

Committee

CEO

TMA CEO

TMEA Services to TCA based on SLA

Chief of Party

Principal Responsibilities

• To oversee all TCA operations, including relations with all stakeholders such as Governments, shareholders, and clients; and ensuring appropriate management of the day-to-day business affairs for TCA;

• To deliver TCA’s financial and operating objectives, as approved by the Board, ensuring that TCA develops and implements a sound strategy for delivering operational goals and financial targets; and making recommendations as required by the delegation of authority, as to TCA’s strategic direction, operational changes, policies, major capital, and recurring expenditure;

• To report regularly to the Board, providing timely, relevant, and accurate information about TCA to enable the Board to discharge its responsibilities;

• To support TCA’s outreach efforts attending key meetings with clients and prospective clients; leading the appointed Management team in raising capital for TCA’s investments;

• To ensure that TCA maintains achievement of development results in a sustainable commercial manner as its core objective, closely aligned with

the intended outcomes of its parent company, TradeMark; maintaining close operational coordination with TradeMark, and providing accountability to the parent company for funds channeled through it;

• To support the Chairman by ensuring there are appropriate standards of governance in place;

• To attract and retain an effective Management team and apportion and delegate responsibilities as appropriate; leading the Management team to execute its mandate including its long-term vision;

• To serve as chief spokesperson for TCA and custodian of relationships with shareholders, investors, TradeMark and any donors, ensuring that all stakeholders are clearly and properly informed of TCA’s business performance and corporate stance on relevant issues.

• To ensure the corporate culture promotes ethical practices, sustainability, and social responsibility, and that these practices are embedded in TCA’s policies and corporate values, and accord with those of its parent company;

Qualifications, skills and experience

Academic and Professional Qualifications

• Minimum of a Masters degree, preferably in Economics, Development Economics, International Trade or Management from a recognised university or equivalent. Desirable also a professional qualification in economics, banking, finance, investment banking, or other related fields;

Work Experience and Technical Skills

• Over fifteen years of increasingly senior experience in organisational management and executive leadership, developing and delivering strategies, effectively managing Board relationships, and building and empowering high performing teams;

• Over ten years of experience in project development, development finance operations, and/or financial investments in emerging markets;

• Entrepreneurial ability to develop and leverage a network of relationships with development partners, development finance institutions (DFIs) and commercial financial institutions, in order to drive successful and impactful deals and build strong operational partnerships

• Robust focus on and knowledge of how to deliver development results through commercially sustainable investments, with the ability to drive and demonstrate development impact thereby;

•

Persuasive and strategic in positively influencing national and regional structures, strategy and operational reform in the EAC and more broadly, in order to enhance economic integration and promote effective trade policy;

•

High level of investment literacy, to oversee successful analysis of markets, identification of potentially productive assets, establishment of a healthy and diverse portfolio, and structuring of effective deals; experience in setting up funds is essential;

• Effective, collaborative and inspiring organisational leader, who can deliver development and financial results for donors, and develop close working relationship with parent company;

• Expertise in oversight of or leading end to end deal processing i.e. from origination to negotiations, financial close, post close management and exit;

• Previous professional experience in Africa is desirable.

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 in MS Word in the following format: Your First Name-Your Last Name-Document Name-Date (yymm) e.g., Janet-Mbugua-CV-2210-TCA or Janet-Mbugua-CoverLetter-2210-TCA.

Timeline

Closing date: 5th December 2022

First stage interviews: w/c 5th January 2023

Final interviews: w/c 30th January 2023

Selection process

All candidates will receive an update regarding their application after the closing date. We advise candidates to add the role email to their safe senders list and regularly check their spam folder.

Equality statement

Equality and diversity are at the core of TCA’s values. 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.

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 at tca-ceo@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 client.