1. Nature & scope
The role of the position holder will be to participate in the Bank’s research and economic analysis activities especially in trade development and financial economics. The role will also include conduct of sector and country studies as well as the preparation of the Bank’s various reports for Senior Management, the Board and shareholders.
2. Duties and responsibilities
a) Consolidation and contribution to the enhancement of research methodology in the preparation of required studies in the areas of world trade, trade finance and economic development issues important to Africa;
b) Monitoring and collation of key economic data covering the globe, major trading regions, as well as Africa into suitably organized information to inform and guide Bank policies and operations;
c) Participation in the conduct of cutting edge research in economics, ranging from theoretical methodological issues to applied economics touching on trade development and financial issues covering sectors such as commodities agriculture, manufacturing and services;
d) Producing 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;
e) Preparation of risk based sector and country studies including detailed country risk analyses;
f) Contributing research necessary for setting up the Bank’s strategic agenda and designing products and schemes aimed at enhancing the Bank’s strategic and business activities;
e) Preparation of reports, including half-year, annual as well as other periodic reports and their presentation to colleagues, senior management and the Board in enhancement of the Bank’s knowledge management capabilities;
f) 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;
g) Analyses of the operations of the Bank and those of other leading organisations active in African trade finance with a view to drawing conclusions for the enhancement of the activities of the Bank;
h) Participating in organizing seminars and conferences relevant to the research and development activities of the Bank;
i) Supporting the publications activities of the Bank, including the Journal of African Trade;
j) Any other duties as may be assigned by Senior Management.
3. Skills, Knowledge and Attitude
• PhD degree or equivalent in Economics or other related field from a recognized University;
• Sound experience of at least 8 years in economic research and analysis in a reputable organisation and experience in trade and development economics will be an advantage. Evidence of publications in scholarly journals will be required as evidence;
• Demonstrated experience in preparing and presenting research papers for use by the financial services industry and an expert understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methods, especially econometric and operations research;
• Demonstrated experience in development impact analysis;
• Ability to communicate and function in a culturally diverse and change oriented setting with good knowledge of banking practices in Africa;
• Ability to interact with senior officials of banks, corporates and governments and to represent the Bank at important professional fora where oral presentation of technical and professional papers will be necessary to a technical and professional audience;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. Knowledge of the Bank’s other working languages is an added advantage (French, Arabic and Portuguese);
• Knowledge of broad analytical techniques, such as statistics, econometrics as well as mathematical and operations research tools. In particular, ability to analyse, and draw reasonable inferences from the analyses of financial and economic data;
• Knowledge of computer software necessary for analysing large volumes of statistical data (e.g. SPSS, STATA, MICROFIT, PcGive etc.)