Advisor to the Chief Economist at African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

African Development Bank Group (AfDB) – Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Job Title: Advisor to the Chief Economist/Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management

Position Number: 50064843

Location: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Position Grade: PL2

The Complex

• The core mandate of the Vice Presidency (ECVP) is to lead the Bank Group on prioritizing the generation, analysis, dissemination, brokering and implementation of relevant knowledge solutions in all High-5 operational priorities and the cross-cutting themes of its Ten-Year Strategy. Such solutions must be a clear response to priority development challenges facing regional member countries (RMCs), individually or collectively and need to involve RMCs in both the planning and implementation of the solutions.
• The solutions include: (i) research on major development issues facing Africa and their relation to global economic governance and other major global public goods; (ii) country diagnostics and future perspectives; (iii) policy dialogue and advisory services; (iv) economic, sector, and thematic knowledge work; (v) improving national and sub-regional statistical systems; (vi) preparation, design and support to implementation of public financial management and Governance operations; (vii) capacity development for policy formulation and implementation; (viii) technical assistance and advice related to RMCs’ management of natural resources; and (vii) knowledge dissemination and development of national, regional, and inter-regional knowledge networks.

The Hiring Department

• The Office of the Chief Economist and Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management has the main responsibility of providing advice and analysis to the President, Senior Management and Board of Directors on key development issues facing Africa and the Bank in the following areas: research programs, economic issues, financial and non-financial products, knowledge dissemination and communication.
• The Office coordinates the Bank’s efforts to achieving this strategic mandate of being a knowledge institution.

The Position

• The Advisor to Chief Economist/Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management will be responsible for leading the effort to strengthen the link between the research work of the Bank and its economic and sector work, and help ensure that the Bank’s Country Strategy Papers are based on solid research and Economic and Sector Work.
• More generally, the Advisor will provide support to the Chief Economist and Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management to deliver on the Complex mandate.

Key Functions
Under the supervision and guidance of the Chief Economist/Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, the Advisor will:

Technical advisory role:

• Provide leadership to the expanded research program of the Bank.
• Provide advisory services to the Chief Economist and Vice President of the Bank on various subjects, including policy responses to Africa’s development policy challenges in an evolving global economic and political contexts.
• Support the Chief Economist and Vice-President in coordinating the work of the Economic Governance and Knowledge Management Complex, and liaise with Bank’s economists to provide quality assurance on Departmental work programs to ensure timely and quality delivery on the Complex’s key performance indicators each year.
• Provide critical analysis of the Bank’s corporate management policies, directives and procedures and ensure full compliance by the Economic Governance and Knowledge Management Ecosystem across the Bank Group.
• Manage and advise the Chief Economist on various reports/documents and correspondences with the  President’s Office, Senior management Coordination Committees, and Vice Presidencies across the Bank’s Complexes as well as departments and units of the Chief Economist and Vice-President’s complex.
• Prepare briefs on operational policy issues of concern to the Chief Economist and Vice-President complex and monitor as necessary the preparation of papers by the Departments and Units.
• Draft and review technical briefs, speeches and talking points for the Chief Economist/Vice President as may be assigned.
• Facilitate stronger linkages and synergy between the knowledge-generating departments of the Bank, other Units of the Bank Group and key partner institutions.

Office activities coordination:

• Manage the budget and the activities of the Chief Economist’s Office under the guidance of the Chief Economist and Vice President.
• Coordinate and review policies, directives, initiatives and elaborates from Departments and Units in collaboration with relevant departments and Units of the Chief Economist and Vice-President complex.
• Advise the Chief Economist on operational issues of the Office in close consultation with the management of its departments and units.
• Monitor the decisions and the implementation of the decisions made by the Board, the President and the Chief Economist regarding Departments and units under the Chief Economist and Vice-President complex.
• Coordinate and harmonize the preparation of the work programmes of the respective Departments and Units to ensure consistency with the Chief Economist and Vice-President’s complex strategic plan and follow up on their implementation.
• Monitor progress on the implementation of audit recommendations, the annual work program relating to the Chief Economist and Vice-President complex and report periodically on the status of the implementation to the Chief Economist and subsequently to the President and the Board if requested.
• Participate in intra and inter-complex meetings as requested by the Chief Economist.
• Liaise with external and sister organizations and attend meetings as requested by the Chief Economist to share views and best practice examples on key corporate management issues and policies to build synergy in development assistance strategies and initiatives of common interest.
• Undertake ad hoc assignments as requested by the Chief Economist.

Requirements

• Hold at least PhD in Economics, Public Policy, Governance, International development, or related subjects.
• Have a minimum of eight (8) years of relevant work experience, at least three (3) of which should be in a managerial or Lead advisory role in comparable organizations.
• Good understanding of the Multilateral Development Banking systems or related development finance institutions.
• Strong knowledge of African economic and development issues; capacity for conceptual and strategic analysis, and excellent understanding of the political economy of development at continental and global scales.
• Strong technical capabilities and proven experience in economic policy management in Africa and provision of technical advisory services at national or internation levels with evidence policy impacts achieved in previous roles.
• Demonstrated ability to work in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural environments, capacity to multi-task and deliver quality results on tight deadlines.
• Strong inter-personal relations, negotiation skills, and capacity to build and leverage international networks for quality technical research and policy advise at national and international scales. Ability to work with other disciplinary experts outside the economic science to design policy responses in key development sectors (agriculture, energy, industrialisation, infrastructure, etc.) will be a strong advantage.
• Strong communication skills and ability to translate complex economic models and results to accessible forms for policymakers, the civil society and citizens.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English or French languages.
• Competence in the use of standard Bank software, namely MS Office applications (MS Word, Excel, Power-Point etc), SAP.

Application Closing Date
5th March, 2025.

How to Apply: Interested and qualified candidates should Click Here to apply online