The purpose of the five-year, USD $29.75M Hinga Wunguke Activity is to support increased agriculture productivity and income, access to finance and markets, and access and consumption of nutritious food products in Rwanda, while increasing the resilience of the agriculture and food systems to the changing climate. To achieve this goal, the Activity will sustainably increase agricultural productivity, increase access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses, improve producers’ nutrition and market outcomes, and strengthen the enabling environment to foster market-driven outcomes in agriculture.
Position Description
Reporting to the Director of Finance and Investment, the Climate Finance Advisor will support a team identifying and shaping public and private sector partnerships that drive financing for climate change mitigation and adaptation in the agriculture sector. He/she will identify and facilitate provision of financial resources to support climate resilient development outcomes in Hinga Wunguke activities. This position will provide research, analysis, and administrative support to the Activity’s mandate of providing innovative technical approaches across multiple sectors and clients.
The Advisor will work with other technical staff in the unit and across teams to facilitate interventions that support farmers to increase their use of climate information, implement climate change risk reducing actions, and increase their climate resilience. The Climate Finance Advisor will be based in Kigali.
- Collaborate with the Hinga Wunguke team in research, technical analysis, and stakeholder and partner interactions and relationship building to facilitate access to climate finance.
- Compile documentation to provide written analyses and summaries of relevant technical topics, to include USAID, Development Finance Corporation, Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, World Bank, and other relevant development finance institutions and donor projects and programs in Rwanda.
- Lead collaboration with Rwandan and multilateral climate funds projects and programs such as FONERWA, Green Gicumbi, Global Environment Facility, Adaptation Fund, Climate Investment Funds, etc.
- Research and facilitate innovative climate finance vehicles such as blended finance, green banks, green and sustainability linked bonds, debt swaps, and multilateral development bank concessional loans when appropriate to the Rwandan context.
- Support private sector sustainability and climate initiatives such as ESG, supply chain greening, industry certifications, improved sourcing, and emissions reductions and offsetting.
- In collaboration with CNFA HQ and the USAID Rwanda Mission, conduct research to write or contribute to climate and climate finance related blogs, op-eds, articles, and other forms of public-facing and internal media.
- Guide the facilitation of new and existing financing instruments that will incentivize the private sector to invest in climate change adaptation and mitigation programs and projects.
- Facilitate or support deal-making between financial institutions/investors and agribusinesses.
- Facilitate capacity building of borrowers/investees to improve their investment-readiness.
- Digest and synthesize technical information, such as proposed project financial data and climate finance grant funding application requirements, and effectively communicate that information to broader audiences.
- Provide technical inputs on climate rationale, theory of change, logical framework, investment criteria, and budget and procurement plans.
- Prepare agendas and meeting minutes, draft PowerPoint presentations, and maintain file organization, to ensure key points are communicated and captured from internal and external meetings.
- Collaborate with the Gender and Social Inclusion Advisor to ensure all climate finance activities are inclusive of women, youth, people with disabilities, and other groups.
- Participate in activities to build a strong knowledge culture at Hinga Wunguke by developing technical briefs, training decks, and other knowledge sharing content and disseminating it through networks and knowledge management systems.
- Undertake other assignments or tasks at the request of the Chief of Party or the Director of Finance and Investment or their designates.
- Bachelor’s degree in Climate Science, Climate Change, Agronomy, Agricultural Economics, Finance, Businesses, International Development or related area of study or equivalent work experience, with a Master’s degree preferred;
- At least five years of work experience in climate smart agriculture, capacity building, finance, and/or project design and planning related to climate change and adaptation;
- Demonstrated experience with resilience approaches and concepts;
- Understanding and experience working with or collaborating with the private sector or banking sector;
- Demonstrated knowledge of climate-smart agriculture and climate finance;
- Preferred experience in USAID-funded or donor-funded climate program(s), preferably in Rwanda;
- Demonstrated ability to interact and communicate with wide range of stakeholders both verbally and in writing;
- Ability to manage tasks independently and as part of a team;
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate, willingness to innovate and ability to think systematically;
- Proven experience in managing multiple and competing tasks while maintaining quality of deliverables within deadlines;
- Advanced oral and written communication skills in English required; Fluent Kinyarwanda required, good French skills are considered an asset.
