Senior Disbursement Assistant - African Development Bank Group

The Vice Presidency for Finance oversees the financial management of the Bank Group. This encompasses the Bank Group’s treasury activities including borrowings from the capital markets and investment activities; controllership functions including financial reporting and loan administration; strategic resource mobilization and the strengthening of the non-statutory financial resources and instruments; the overall asset/liability management for the Bank Group.

THE HIRING DEPARTMENT/DIVISION:

The Financial Control Department of the African Development Bank (The Bank) is responsible for accounting for the financial consequences of the Bank Group’s transactions and decisions, and for the preparation, fair presentation and overall integrity of the internal financial reports and published financial statements.

The department is also responsible for loan administration and accounting and related fiduciary responsibilities, including the disbursement of funds to projects and programs financed by the Bank Group. Lastly, the department provides decision support and expertise in the development and implementation of financial control policies, operational and financial strategies and related information systems.

The primary objective of the Loan Disbursement Division is to ensure compliance with key fiduciary-related articles in the Agreement Establishing the African Development Bank and Fund. Ensure that adequate controls are maintained around the disbursement of Bank Group financed projects.

THE POSITION:

Under the general supervision of the Disbursement Officer, the Disbursement Assistant is primarily responsible for the determination of the completeness of borrowers’ requests in accordance with the Bank’s policies and procedures, Verification of documentation and processing of disbursements or special commitment requests. The Incumbent provides support to negotiations, mission preparation, and disbursement seminars and ensures timely disbursements of proceeds from Bank Group and co-financed projects in accordance with relevant loan and protocol agreements and Bank Group policies.

KEY FUNCTIONS:

The Disbursement Assistant functions will include the following:

Disbursement Transactions Processing:

• Analyze and determine the appropriateness of borrowers’ requests for disbursements and the supporting documentation.
• Determine whether they should be approved, reduced or rejected in accordance with Bank’s policies and procedures. This requires the identification of irregularities and non-compliance with Bank procedures and policies, as well as highlighting circumstances for further investigation where the Bank may be exposed to financial risk.
• Review and recommend changes to disbursement systems, policies and procedures to promote timeliness, accuracy and efficiency in processing while maintaining appropriate internal controls.
• Draft clear and concise correspondence to borrowers of operational staff on disbursement-related issues.
• Process special commitment amendments and prepare amendment letters.

Project Management

• Respond to questions from Task Team Leaders, borrowers, commercial banks, and suppliers on payments, balances, and application status.
• Cooperate with concerned departments and stakeholders to resolve disbursement issues promptly.
• Monitor borrowers’ utilization of special account funds, ensuring that the funds are properly accounted for and used in accordance with Bank procedures.
• Participate in loan disbursement missions to verify use of resources and resolve disbursement issues.
• Contribute to improving the efficiency of disbursement operations by ensuring that records and reports are properly maintained and updated at all times.
• Participate in technical discussions and loan negotiations to ensure that disbursement arrangements are compliant with Bank Group disbursement policies.
• Provide input on audit reviews, and monitor borrower compliance with audit findings, as requested by the Disbursement Officer.

Capacity Building

• Provide input into the training of Executing Agencies, Projects, and Bank Staff.
• Participate in the design of materials for disbursement seminars.
• Respond to questions regarding disbursement procedures.
• Answer questions from Task Team Leaders, borrowers, commercial banks, and suppliers on payments, balances, and application status.

Departmental/Divisional Tasks

• Participate in departmental/divisional task forces.
• Identify issues relating to disbursement policies, procedures and guidelines and propose actions or enhancements.
• Undertake ad-hoc assignments at the discretion of the Country Manager or Division Manager.
• Participate in the review of project documents such as Appraisal Reports, Country Strategy Papers, and Project Completion Reports and provide input to supervisors.

COMPETENCIES (skills, experience and knowledge):

• Hold at least a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Business Administration.
• Have a minimum of six (6) years of directly relevant experience preferably in accounting in a large organization.
• Familiarity with disbursement policies, guidelines and procedures of multilateral development institutions
• Good understanding of basic general accounting concepts and principles, and their application.
• Analytical, systematic, strong numerical skills, attention to detail.
• Ability to plan and coordinate schedules in order to meet tight deadlines
• Good understanding of internal control concepts and business aptitude for figures and attention to detail
• Ability to adopt new policies, systems and processes in a timely fashion.
• Good Client Orientation, Achieving Results and Problem Solving, Communication and Knowledge Sharing, Innovation and Change.
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French preferably with a good working knowledge of the other language.
• Proficient in the use of standard MS Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project Knowledge of SAP would be an advantage.