Senior Manager, Research (Trade Information)

The role is expected to help the Bank to achieve its mission “stimulating  a consistent expansion and diversification of African trade so as to rapidly increase Africa’s share of global trade, while operating as a first class, profit oriented, socially responsible financial institution and a centre of excellence in African trade matters” by carrying out various theoretical and applied economic research and participating in preparation of reports and publications as may be required by senior management.

The role of the position holder will be to support the Banks’ research, economic and trade policy analysis and international cooperation activities by developing a repository of information about trade and markets in Africa and abroad which will serve as a tool for decision-making on trade by the Bank, businesses, entrepreneurs and policymakers across Africa. The role will contribute to the growth of advisory services through the production of trade information products.

• Participating in organizing seminars and conferences relevant to the research and development activities of the Bank;
• Preparation of reports, including Trade Report, Africa in Figures, as well as other periodic reports;
• Supporting research on growth and trade forecast and trade policy;
• Build repository of and provide up-to-date information on traders and relevant products across countries and regions in Africa;
• Implement  frameworks for improving the collection of data on informal trade, with a view to enhancing monitoring of both intra-African and total African trade;
• Producing relevant and timely trade information to guide the growing African private sector increasingly interested in investment opportunities at regional and continental levels in a context of deepening economic integration, and support the growth of prospective markets;
• Analyzing trade data to inform the Bank and African policymakers and representatives of the private sector about the dynamics of and direction of African trade with a view of boosting both extra—and intra-African trade;
• Supporting ongoing efforts by the Bank to create and establish trade-facilitating infrastructures to boost African trade;
• Provision of market intelligence services including, trade opportunities, market access requirements and restrictions, price information, trade and commercial policies, trading environment and market participants market access;
• Monitoring and updating of balance of payments dynamics for African countries to inform investment decisions—both public and private;
• Building up of up-to-date information on trade highlighting the dynamics, including trade flows, supply and demand in the various sectors across Africa to enable investors and entrepreneurs identify potential markets and guide their business decisions; and also guide governments to improve policy formulation and investment decisions on trade and economic development;
• Collection, consolidation, timely update and monitoring of trade data covering the globe, major trading regions, global trade with Africa and intra-African trade to guide Bank policies and operations and inform business decisions throughout the continent;
• Leading the preparation of regular research reports which monitor developments in global trade and trade finance as well as the Bank’s key markets and products and providing timely analyses on their likely impact on the African economy and the Bank’s operations;
• Contribute to the growth of advisory services through the production of  trade information products and services and supporting ongoing efforts to build time series data on trade and trade finance in Africa;
• Conducting cutting-edge research in economics and trade, ranging from theoretical methodological issues to applied economics touching on trade development and financial issues covering sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and services;
• Preparation of summary briefings from important economic and banking publications and journals as well as compiling and preparing speeches and presentations for Senior Management as and when required; and
• Any other duties as may be assigned by Senior Management.

• PhD degree or equivalent in Economics or other related field from a recognized University;  
• Sound experience of minimum 10 years in Research or Economic analysis, in a reputable organization and experience in Trade and Development Economics will be an advantage;
• Demonstrated experience in collection, monitoring of large economic and trade data and preparing publications;
• Ability to analyze and draw inference from the analysis of financial and economic data;
• Extensive knowledge of  the banking sector and  the trade environment in Africa;
• Solid Knowledge of the Africa’s political, economic  and trade landscape;
• Extensive knowledge of relevant statistical and econometric software for analyzing large volumes of data (e.g. SPSS, STATA, Eviews, Mathlab, SAS, MICROFIT, PcGive, etc.);
• Familiarity with major trade database including those of ITC, WTO, UNCTAD, and DOT; and other database such as WDI and IFS;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. Knowledge of  the Bank’s other working languages is an added advantage (French, Arabic and Portuguese);
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and ability to build and manage senior level interactions with a range of internal and external stakeholders;