National Finance Expert

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. The mission of UNIDO, as described in the Lima Declaration adopted at the fifteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in 2013 as well as the Abu Dhabi Declaration adopted at the eighteenth session of UNIDO General Conference in 2019, is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in Member States. The relevance of ISID as an integrated approach to all three pillars of sustainable development is recognized by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will frame United Nations and country efforts towards sustainable development. UNIDO’s mandate is fully recognized in SDG-9, which calls to “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. The relevance of ISID, however, applies in greater or lesser extent to all SDGs. Accordingly, the Organization’s programmatic focus is structured in four strategic priorities: Creating shared prosperity; Advancing economic competitiveness; Safeguarding the environment; and Strengthening knowledge and institutions.

Each of these programmatic fields of activity contains a number of individual programmes, which are implemented in a holistic manner to achieve effective outcomes and impacts through UNIDO’s four enabling functions: (i) technical cooperation; (ii) analytical and research functions and policy advisory services; (iii) normative functions and standards and quality-related activities; and (iv) convening and partnerships for knowledge transfer, networking and industrial cooperation. Such core functions are carried out in Divisions/Offices in its Headquarters, Regional Offices and Hubs and Country Offices.

DIRECTORATE OF SDG INNOVATION AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION (IET)

• Under the overall direction of the Director General, and in close collaboration with all organizational entities within UNIDO, in particular the Office of Change Management (ODG/CHM), the Office of Legal Affairs and Compliance (ODG/LEG), the Strategic Planning and UN Engagement Division (ODG/SPU), and the Office of Evaluation and Internal Oversight (EIO), the Directorate of SDG Innovation and Economic Transformation (IET), headed by a Managing Director, is responsible for the development of innovative UNIDO services in the areas of agro-industry and agribusiness, sustainability standards and fair production, and climate-relevant or climate-improving technologies.
• It is also, in collaboration with ODG, responsible for developing innovative technical cooperation concepts, identifying new sources and means of finance and entering into new partnerships with a broad range of relevant stakeholders.
• The Directorate houses the Divisions of Coordination and Integration Support (IET/CIS), Quality, Impact and Accountability (IET/QUA), Agribusiness and Infrastructure Development (IET/AGR), Innovative Finance and International Financial Institutions (IET/IFI), Fair Production, Sustainability Standards and Trade (IET/PST), Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), and Climate and Technology Partnerships (CTP).
• The Directorate also ensures close coordination and collaboration among the Divisions and relevant entities in the Directorate of Global Partnerships and External Relations (GLO) and the Directorate of Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Industrial Development (TCS).

Division of Agribusiness and Infrastructure Development (IET/AGR)

• Under the overall guidance of the Director General, the direct supervision of the Managing Director, Directorate of SDG Innovation and Economic Transformation (IET), and in close coordination with other organizational entities within UNIDO, the Division of Agribusiness and Infrastructure Development (IET/AGR) supports Member States in their efforts to pave the way to sustainable rural development and a structurally transformed and modernized agribusiness sector.
• Capitalizing on the experience gained by UNIDO in this field over decades and on tried-and-tested and to-be-developed service modules, the Division will explore innovative approaches to maximise the potential that exists in agribusiness development, addressing emerging global trends, in particular food security, poverty alleviation and climate change.
• It will explore new ways to contribute to global efforts to reduce hunger, accelerate food systems transition, and generate income and employment, especially among women and youth.
• The Division provides technical cooperation services to assist the modernization of agriculture and agro-industry, especially in less-developed countries, ensuring that enterprises add value to primary agricultural production, substitute the imports of food and other value-added agricultural products, and participate effectively in local, regional and global value chains.
• Where needed, it will develop infrastructure and agro-industrial parks and capacities for agro-industrialization, value addition, quality assurance and food safety. It will also bring innovative approaches to Member States to fully benefit from carbon-neutral and biodiversity-enhancing agricultural and agro-industrial production and development opportunities in the green and blue bioeconomy.

Rural Development, Agro-industries and Industrial Parks Unit (IET/AGR/RAP)

• The Rural Development, Agroindustries and Industrial Parks Unit (IET/AGR/RAP) aims to improve rural livelihoods by extending and professionalizing agro-industrial production, infrastructure supply and employment.
• It provides technical cooperation services to develop formal and informal enterprises and entrepreneurs that produce and source agricultural products– directly or through business-development service agents – with support for business planning, technology adoption, investment planning, product improvement, quality compliance and marketing.
• The Unit also promotes the planning for developing the necessary infrastructure for the transportation of intermediary and final products and related basic infrastructure (land, electricity, water, communication, waste treatment, etc.) required for agro-processing and value addition, making use, among others, of sustainable agro-industrial park development schemes.

Project 220203

• As a follow-up to the official request from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Republic of Mozambique, UNIDO has formulated a technical assistance project – “Improving inclusive and sustainable development of agro-value chains”- aimed at increasing local capacities, technology upgrading, and know-how transfer for strengthening agribusiness models and contributing to the development of the agro-industry in Mozambique.
• Agro-industry development has been understood as the primary driver of structural transformation in rural areas of Mozambique. In cooperation with the local institutions, agricultural aggregation points, processing facilities, and related services for agricultural enterprises are strategic for supporting the Government of Mozambique in its efforts toward a structural transformation in agro-industry development.
• The project will be implemented in Manica, and Cabo Delgado Provinces and will work in close cooperation with the donor (AICS), and other initiatives funded by the Italian Agency for Development and Cooperation – AICS – and/or partners in the target areas. As a scaling up of the project 170217, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), the project will be focusing on promoting value addition and improving agro-processing performances in horticulture, coffee and grains production.
• The main outputs of the project are: i) Agro-processing hubs for horticulture and grains are established/upgraded and are made operational; ii) Coffee producers are supported in applying value addition and scaling up climate-resilient production.

MINIMUM ORGANIZATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Education: Advanced university degree in informatic, finance and economics, business administration, business development or other relevant discipline in financial product and mechanism for supporting financial access to agriculture value chain actors, is required. A first level university degree or an advanced technical college diploma may be acceptable provided it is combined with a substantial number of years or professional hands-on experience that is directly relevant to the expertise required by the specific assignment.

Technical and Functional Experience:

• At least seven (7) years of professional experience in supporting financial instruments involved in agricultural value chains is required.
• Experience in evaluating the needs for de-risking investment for agricultural entrepreneurs is required.
• Experience/knowledge of other developed agencies donor communities, private sectors, government and relevant institutions is desirable.
• Exposure to work with financial institution and familiarity with products and instruments for the agricultural sector in Mozambique is an advantage.
• Exposure to establishing affordable credit to allow farmers to invest in improvements and innovations without prohibitive upfront costs is an advantage.
• Experience with weather-indexed insurance schemes for farmers is desirable.
• Languages: Fluency in written and spoken English and Portuguese is required.

Source: https://careers.unido.org/job/Maputo-National-Finance-Expert/990684755/