Public Private Partnership / Microfinance Specialist

Position Title: Public Private Partnership / Microfinance Specialist

Department: Education (SEA-II)

Contract Duration: Six Months with possibility of extension

Duty Station: Kabul

Number of Posts: 1

Closing Date: September 27, 2020

Background

The Asia Foundation:

The Asia Foundation is a non-profit international development organization committed to improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia. Informed by six decades of experience and deep local expertise, our work across the region addresses five overarching goals—strengthen governance, empower women, expand economic opportunity, increase environmental resilience, and promote regional cooperation. Headquartered in San Francisco, The Asia Foundation works through a network of offices in 18 Asian countries and in Washington, DC. Working with public and private partners, the Foundation receives funding from a diverse group of bilateral and multilateral development agencies, foundations, corporations, and individuals. In 2018, we provided $82.9 million in direct program support and distributed textbooks and other educational materials valued at $10.4 million.

About the Project:

The Asia Foundation, with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is implementing a project titled Strengthening Education in Afghanistan (SEA-II). A key deliverable of the project is to support the strengthening and expansion of Affordable Private Schools (APS) in Afghanistan. The activity is implemented in five cities including Jalalabad, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar and Kabul city. Two key deliverables for this activity include:

• Support the Ministry of Education (MoE) to develop Public Private Partnership (PPP) proposals in the areas of school construction, computer courses, printing and distribution of textbooks, expansion of APS and E-learning.
• Facilitate the expansion of APS by making it easier to access funding from lending organizations.

MoE has formed Technical Working Groups (TWG) for each of the above five PPP areas. The Foundation has engaged several banks and microfinance institutions to encourage them to consider developing financial products for the opening and/or expanding APS in Afghanistan.

As part of this activity, the Foundation is seeking to recruit one Public Private Partnership / Microfinance Specialist to help facilitate the implementation of the above deliverables.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Microfinance

· Analyze financing schemes available in Afghanistan that can be further developed to support national APS owners;

· Work with national Microfinance Institute (MFIs) and Banks to develop new financial products for APS;

· Structure specific products for women who do not have access to collateral; and

· Facilitate the development of advocacy materials to raise awareness of the availability of financing options for opening and/or expanding APS.

· Support establishment of a Revolving Loan Fund(RLF) – operated by Private Schools Association – for expansion of affordable private schools and develop advocacy material for initial capitalization of the RLF.

Development of PPPs

· Meet key stakeholders to understand the full end-to-end process for developing PPPs in Afghanistan.

· Document the methodology – including roles and responsibilities – and timeline for developing PPPs and obtain approval from key stakeholders.

· Develop an agenda for PPP TWG meetings / workshops and facilitate the same;

· Ensure that PPP proposals are prepared for competitive market bidding in such a way that all financial and risk components are adequately identified, quantified, and allocated in a manner consistent with prescribed methodologies.

• Ensure that the financial models for the final PPP documents are affordable, financially sound and sustainable.

· Review sector trends and policy & institutional environment and draft PPP proposals accordingly.

· Present the PPP proposals to key stakeholders, update them as needed based on feedback received and submit them for final approval from MoE, the Ministry of Finance, and other relevant stakeholders.

· Develop tools for projects’ feasibility study and provide support accordingly.

· Map existing financial resources for PPPs that require Viability Gap Funding(VGF) from government/development partners.

Deliverables

The final deliverables include but are not limited to:

· PPP proposals,

· Contract template for bidding,

· Approved PPP documents,

· Development of financial products for educational entrepreneurs,

· And so on.

Required Qualifications and Skills

• Master’s degree in Economics, Finance, Accounting, Business Administration or other related field;
• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in microfinance and designing and managing public private partnerships in developing and/or post-conflict regions;
• Demonstrated experience in the development of financial products that support the education sector;
• Knowledge of project design and contract management;

· Demonstrated experience in the development of public private partnership and PPP proposals;

· Extensive experience in business plans and product development with additional experience in costing and budgeting;

• Strong knowledge of financial reports and analysis;

· Excellent interpersonal relationship skills and ability to work with a diverse team of national and international staff and consultants; public and private sectors;

· Established written and verbal communication skills; and

• Experience in Afghanistan preferred but not required.