Background / General description:
Equatorial Guinea is the sole Spanish speaking country in Africa and an important reimbursable advisory services (RAS) client of the World Bank. This assignment will be part of RAS2.
Equatorial Guinea is a resource rich country which wishes to diversify its economy. This position will support the authorities' efforts in this regard. The key challenges Equatorial Guinea face to achieve diversification include:
(i) finding ways to develop manufacturing and services that link to the hydrocarbon base,
(ii) encouraging entrepreneurship in a country where there are high levels of public sector employment, and
(iii) finding regional opportunities that take advantage of the country's strong financial capacity and infrastructure base and location in the Gulf of Guinea.
The Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea has identified two development priorities, namely private sector development and human capital formation. These two priorities are aligned with Government's strategic documents: the National Development Plan (Horizon 2020) launched in 2007 and its subset the Industrialization Plan (PEGI 2020).
The proposed position would require the successful candidate to work with all the main practices of the Bank's: Finance and Private Sector Development Network. In particular it is expected that the Competitive Industries and Innovation Entrepreneurship practices will be particular areas of focus. The candidate will also work closely with technical specialists from the Bank and IFC's Africa departments.
Note:
If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 2 year term appointment.
Duties and Accountabilities:
The Senior Private Sector Specialist will report to the Africa FPD West and Central Africa (AFTFW) Sector Manager.
The Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea has a 2-stage national development strategy (i.e. the Transformation phase followed by an Emergence phase):
(i) build basic socio-economic infrastructures (2008-12), and
(ii) diversify the economy through industrialization (2013-20), for which the Industrialization Plan (PEGI 2020) was produced. The second stage was launched at a conference on the industrialization of the economy (November 2011), and will further operationalize with the forthcoming economic diversification (November 2013) which aims at showcasing Equatorial Guinea potential as an investment destination for competitive industries development.
Based on existing Government strategy (Horizonte 2020, PEGI 2020), the Sr. PSD Specialist will review with the Government technical areas of focus to support finance and PSD development in Equatorial Guinea. Three key aspects will be addressed as part of duties of the Sr. PSD Specialist:
(i) help Government to address its most difficult and important problems, and capitalize on their most attractive opportunities,
(ii) stimulate and enable the Government to make and manage sustainable changes, and
(iii) invest and build lasting capabilities in private sector development with forward programmatic options. Technically, there are five dimensions the Government will seek support from the World Bank:
(i) investment promotion activity and market sensing,
(ii) creating a one-stop-shop and supporting local SMEs,
(iii) having a coordinating PPP mechanism cutting across ministries,
(iv) value chain uplifting through industrialization, and
(v) targeted demand driven skills training. For all these five dimensions, FPD Network has practices knowledge and lessons learnt based on international experience to draw upon.
The Specialist's objective will be to help design, prepare and deliver complex, multi-sectoral technical assistance tasks, coordinate policy advice and support key technical analytics.
Specifically, he/she will:
- Undertake analytics in their core area of competency, and support analytics in other areas
- Support the Country's Public Private Dialogue processes.
- Support multi-sector teams (from Bank and IFC) delivering technical assistance in the general areas of private sector growth, competitiveness and diversification, from concept note through program design, project preparation and implementation.
- Participate as requested in the Government's general policy dialogue in this area. This work may include preparation of briefing notes, support to conferences, and support to strategies
- Support capacity building in Equatorial Guinea from both the public and private sector side to share international best practice , this includes the holding of workshops, arranging of study tours etc.
Selection Criteria:
Candidates must have the following technical qualifications:
- Advanced degree in economics, business, technology policy or related discipline; minimum 8 years of relevant work experience, with a strong record of results.
- Proven and successful prior experience in working or assisting Government on similar private sector development programs, preferably in countries which economy are similar to the one of Equatorial Guinea (resources based)
- Proven ability to conceptualize, design and implement major projects, combined with strng strategic ability as well as good communication skills and client focus.
- Ability to undertake core PSD analytics (GIS, Product Space, Value Chains, Innovation, etc.)
- Familiarity with either spatial (SEZ's , growth poles) or sectorial approaches (e.g. manufacturing, agribusiness, mining, construction and/or tourism)
- Ability to coordinate public private dialogue processes
- Capability of understanding and allocating project risks, identifying private sector value added and conceptualizing public private partnerships
- Strong verbal and written communication skills.
- Fluency in English and Spanish is essential. French capability would also be useful.
Candidates should demonstrate excellence in the following qualitative characteristics:
- Ability to deliver on time and in quality, through high standards, good organization and/or soft skills.
- Ability to recognize and learn from failure as well as success
- Ability to work with, and in some cases manage and lead, diverse team members and clients.
- Knowledge of developing country conditions and challenges related to executing a zones and / or parks agenda, plus ideas to overcome those constraints.
- Ability to coach, mentor, and develop junior staff on their team and on the client's team.
The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
Competencies
- Project Design for Impact and Sustainability - - Contributes to the design of projects and programs, based on an understanding of the country and sector context.
- Sector Dialogue - Able to conduct a dialogue with the client on familiar topics, with a narrow scope, based on a solid understanding of the sector.
- Private Sector Development Experience - Demonstrates in depth knowledge of the political, economic, policy, and operational aspects of Private Sector Development; Engages country clients/ governments to develop projects that will build competitive capacity.
- Client Orientation - Maintains client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions and provides evidence-based advice and solutions based on sound diagnosis and knowledge.
- Drive for Results - Identifies the needed resources to accomplish results involving multiple stakeholders and finds solutions to obstacles affecting key deliverables.
- Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion - Shows leadership in ensuring the team stays organized and focused, and actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches.
- Knowledge, Learning and Communication - Leads in the sharing of best practice, trends, knowledge and lessons learned across units and with clients and partners, articulating ideas verbally and in writing in a clear and compelling way across audiences of varied levels.
- Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making - Gathers inputs, assesses risk, considers impact and articulates benefits of decisions for internal and external stakeholders over the long term.
