Private Sector Specialist/Economist, (Abuja, Nigeria) At The World Bank | Careersngr : Careersngr

Private Sector Specialist/Economist, (Abuja, Nigeria) At The World Bank

Filed in by on October 6, 2021 0 Comments
Fixed Term Appointment Jobs in Nigeria
Posted 2 years ago

Closing date: Friday, 15 October 2021

Job Title: Private Sector Specialist/Economist

Job Location: Abuja, Nigeria

Organization: World Bank

Sector: Private Sector Development

Grade: GF

Term Duration: 4 years 0 months

Recruitment Type: Local Recruitment

Required Language(s): English

Preferred Language(s): Closing Date: 10/15/2021 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org

REGIONAL CONTEXT

Western and Central Africa

Western and Central Africa is a region with diverse cultures, beliefs, languages, and lifestyles – marked by contrasts of stability and conflict; affluence and poverty. Home to about half a billion people, it encompasses 22 countries stretching from the westernmost point of Africa across the equator and partly along the Atlantic Ocean to the Republic of Congo in the South. The sub-region is rich in resources and brimming of opportunities. It made impressive progress in regional cooperation and includes two monetary unions – the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) that cover 13 countries between them.

Yet these vast opportunities are tempered by persistent gaps in education, health, and skills, which have Africa only reaching forty percent of its estimated potential. Moreover, conflict, food insecurity, population growth, and the disruptive forces of climate change threaten to curtail or even reverse the progress that has been made over the past decades. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought back to the forefront the risks posed by weak health systems and poor surveillance. Many countries in the region that learned difficult lessons from the West Africa Ebola outbreak in 2014 are applying some of the lessons and using all existing instruments and expertise to curb the pandemic while prioritizing the poorest and most vulnerable people.

The World Bank Western and Central Africa Region, comprised of approximately 1,139 staff mostly based in about 22 country offices, is committed to helping countries to realize their considerable development potential and become more competitive in the global economy by focusing on the following priorities:

  •  Creating Jobs and Transforming Economies: We are working with countries across Africa to stimulate job creation and economic transformation by leveraging all sources of finance, expertise, and solutions to promote investment.
  •  Building up the Digital Economy: We are supporting Africa’s vision to ensure that every African individual, business, and government is connected by 2030.
  •  Institutions more Efficient and Accountable: Our support is helping governments strengthen public policy processes, manage resources effectively, and reinforce fair and reliable delivery of public services.
  •  Investing in People: We are at the forefront of helping African countries accelerate human capital gains and empower women by improving their access to education and skills acquisition, sexual and reproductive health services, and employment opportunities.
  •  Supporting Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption: In the face of increasing climate-related risks, we are working with African countries to advance efforts to adopt renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, and green infrastructure.
  •  Addressing the Drivers of Fragility, Conflict and Violence: Given the cross-border nature of conflicts in Africa, we are employing an approach that simultaneously focuses on the drivers of fragility while also supporting well-targeted regional initiatives to create opportunities for peace and shared prosperity.
  •  Building Partnerships and Working across the African Continent: We are scaling up our work on regional integration, taking a holistic view of the continent that covers both North and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The World Bank is a dedicated partner for Western and Central African countries, helping them deliver strong development outcomes for their people. A brighter future for the region is a better future for the world.

https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/western-and-central-africa

Nigeria

The Private Specialist will be expected to work on Nigeria.

Nigeria is central to the World Bank’s mission of eliminating global poverty. A multi-ethnic and diverse federation of 36 autonomous states, Nigeria is already Africa’s largest country (over 200 million people) and Africa’s largest economy (nominal GDP of around USD 450 billion in 2019). With its abundance of resources, a young and entrepreneurial population, and a dynamic private sector, Nigeria has the potential to be a giant on the global stage. At the same time, with over 40% of its population (over 80 million people) in poverty, Nigeria has the second largest population of extreme poor in the world. Economic growth, at 2.2% in 2019, has been below the rate of population growth for the last five years, the economy and public finances continue to be highly vulnerable to oil price shocks and not enough jobs are being created for the 3 million plus young Nigerians coming of working age every year, adding to the pool of unemployed and under-employed Fragility, conflict and insecurity afflict many parts of the country, in particular but not only the Northeast, and corruption and weak capacity plague the public sector, eroding the trust that is the basis of the social contract between citizens and the state and on many human development indicators, Nigeria ranks amongst the lowest in the world (6th lowest on the HCI). To provide economic opportunities for its growing population, Nigeria needs to unlock private investment and job creation, and further the structural transformation and diversification of its economy.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?gdpr=0&us_privacy=1—&client=ca-pub-9196538889333991&output=html&h=90&adk=4148601240&adf=1623524685&pi=t.aa~a.1469267200~i.45~rp.4&w=1155&fwrn=4&fwrnh=100&lmt=1633479769&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=3602770679&psa=1&ad_type=text_image&format=1155×90&url=https%3A%2F%2Funjobs.org%2Fvacancies%2F1632768252160&flash=0&fwr=0&pra=3&rh=200&rw=1155&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&wgl=1&fa=27&uach=WyJXaW5kb3dzIiwiNi4zLjAiLCJ4ODYiLCIiLCI5NC4wLjQ2MDYuNzEiLFtdLG51bGwsbnVsbCwiMzIiXQ..&tt_state=W3siaXNzdWVyT3JpZ2luIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9hdHRlc3RhdGlvbi5hbmRyb2lkLmNvbSIsInN0YXRlIjo3fV0.&dt=1633479251584&bpp=11&bdt=10688&idt=11&shv=r20211004&mjsv=m202109290101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D986f34dd5576f08f-229a703032cb00e1%3AT%3D1631645642%3ART%3D1631645642%3AS%3DALNI_MaayJkTBnF8Es7gvYz4uwPwvLF8Eg&prev_fmts=300×600%2C0x0%2C1349x657&nras=3&correlator=3263023914080&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1083726354.1631645606&ga_sid=1633479247&ga_hid=84056354&ga_fc=0&u_tz=60&u_his=1&u_h=768&u_w=1366&u_ah=728&u_aw=1366&u_cd=24&u_java=0&u_nplug=5&u_nmime=2&adx=113&ady=2060&biw=1349&bih=657&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=182982000%2C182982200%2C31062944%2C21067496&oid=2&psts=AGkb-H_vVqkg5auUFGfp_HyhSEbyLihNIaBtoELnu84wiyaTFYVyQYOZYx0os-_7B7pPhXsagemwsVKw0sY1&pvsid=3249979574671831&pem=296&ref=https%3A%2F%2Funjobs.org%2Fduty_stations%2Fabv&eae=0&fc=384&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1366%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1366%2C657&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=1152&bc=31&ifi=5&uci=a!5&btvi=1&fsb=1&xpc=patJijF9Al&p=https%3A//unjobs.org&dtd=M

The low levels of human capital and the slow progress on diversification reflect and also contribute to the low levels and quality of public expenditures. The levels of public spending are in turn constrained by one of the lowest ratios of government revenues to GDP in the world. And the quality of public spending is hampered by a complicated and sometimes unclear division of roles and responsibilities between the federal and sub-national levels, by insufficient transparency and accountability about the performance of government agencies, and by political hurdles to redirecting public expenditures away from regressive and inefficient uses. To realize its considerable potential, and to fulfill the government’s ambition to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030, Nigeria has to make tangible progress on these critical development challenges, at both the federal and sub-national levels, and this will take concerted effort, political will and a sustained focus on robust implementation of prioritized policy and institutional reforms and public investment programs.

The FY20-FY24 World Bank Group Country Partnership Framework defines the areas where the WBG will engage and how we will engage. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/526171611619063445/pdf/Nigeria-Country-Partnership-Framework-for-the-Period-FY21-FY25.pdf

The FCI portfolio in Nigeria is very varied, covering federal and state-level operations, , contribution to development policy operations (DPOs), as well as analytical and advisory services.

Job duties and responsibilities

Duties: Include, but are not limited to, the following main tasks:

  •  Support the FCI dialogue in country with a focus on private sector development: Support the policy dialogue with counterparts on issues relating to private sector development, particularly focusing on creating opportunities for investments supporting economic transformation and employment.
  •  Serve, when needed, as team member or co-TTL/TTL (Task Team Leader) for lending operations, advisory, and analytical work, and contribute to the delivery and quality of financing and knowledge engagements for Nigeria, provide inputs to other Global Practices (Macro, Trade and Investment, Governance, etc.) on private sector related issues. cuO1LzC Dmlsbc
  •  AAA & Advisory work: Support the development and implementation of high-quality AAA and advisory work. Lead/support policy dissemination events with policy makers, stakeholders, and private sector.
  •  Support the dialogue with the CMU and with the region: prepare inputs for WPA discussions, strategic documents such as CPFs, SCDs and CPSDs.
  •  Relationship management: cultivate strategic relationships with government counterparts and other key stakeholders
  •  Collaboration with IFC: Coordinate and work with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as needed on relevant diagnostics, advisory work and operational activities.
  •  Development Partner Collaboration: Support the partnership with the development partner community and facilitate/participate in formal and informal meetings with key development partners, civil society, private sector representatives, and other stakeholders.

Selection Criteria

  •  Master’s degree or PhD in Economics, Business, Public Policy, or relevant qualifications;
  •  At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in private sector development since completing university degree (i.e. Master’s), with solid knowledge in one or more topic areas covered by the FCI Global Practice, such as innovation and entrepreneurship, small and medium enterprise development, trade and export promotion, investment climate reforms, competition policy, productivity and other issues affecting competitiveness.
  •  Excellent writing and presentation skills in English.
  •  Capacity to lead dialogue with senior counterparts and influence policy discussions at the national and subnational level on private sector development issues.
  •  Proven ability to conceptualize, design and implement major projects and to produce major/complex reports or studies. Prior experience with World Bank instruments will be a plus.
  •  Demonstrated team player who can work as a member of a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural team, motivate and lead group efforts and network effectively across boundaries.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Apply Online