Position Description
Development of Lending tools, Procedures and Practices
Location Tanzania
Department Programs
Employment Type Volunteer
The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri-Finance Project
Scope of Work
Development of Lending tools , P rocedures and P ractices
Program Description:
The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri Finance Project is an access to finance project working to improve access to finance for smallholders, women, youth, and micro, small, medium (including large) enterprises ( MSMiLs ) in Tanzania by improving the agri -finance ecosystem and strengthening the capacity of both borrowers and lenders. The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri-Finance Project will prioritize interventions that increase availability and adoption of priority technologies, including climate-smart technology, and create more inclusive agricultural finance ecosystems, enable expanded and sustained lending and investment, and increase productivity and incomes.
Project interventions will support 20 financial institutions, 15 demand-side institutions including agricultural enterprises and women and youth groups, train 300 financial institution staff, and reach 18,000 borrowers with $21 million in agricultural finance facilitated in Tanzania. The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri-Finance Project will utilize a system-driven, private sector-led approach to target agricultural market coordination failures and develop commercially oriented solutions that will sustain and scale agri -financing. The project includes two interconnected strategic objectives to achieve tangible, positive impact for smallholder farmers, women, youth, agro -enterprises, and financial institutions.
Objective 1: Improve income and bankability of smallholders, women, youth and micro, small and medium (including large) enterprises.
The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri-Finance Project will deliver targeted technical capacity strengthening and direct training and coaching to smallholders, women, youth, and MSMiLs beneficiaries in financial and money management skills and tools, business planning, finance and investment, development of business funding proposals, records keeping, loan applications, and loan repayment and/or savings strategies.
Objective 2: Strengthen financial institution operational capacity to expand agri – lending.
The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri-Finance Project will provide targeted support to supply side financial institutions to develop new agri -finance products and improve operational capabilities and efficiencies, build capacity and strengthening their motivation to expand agri -lending to smallholders, women, youth, and MSMiLs – with a focus on priority and climate-smart technologies such as irrigation, inputs, storage, and value addition. The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri Finance Project is an access to finance project working to improve access to finance for smallholders, women, youth, and micro, small, medium (including large) enterprises ( MSMiLs ) in Tanzania by improving the Agri finance ecosystem and strengthening the capacity of borrowers and lenders. With a particular emphasis on priority technologies, including climate- smart technologies. The Feed the Future project is working to create more inclusive agricultural finance ecosystems, enable expanded and sustained lending and investment, and increase productivity and incomes. The Recipient interventions will increase supported financial institutions from 9 to 20, train 300 financial institution staff, and reach 18,000 borrowers with $21 million in agricultural finance. The project will utilize a system-driven, private sector-led approach to target agricultural market coordination failures and develop commercially oriented solutions that will sustain and scale agri -financing.
Problem Statement : The lack of proper lending tools , credit standards for borrowers and counterparties, appropriate underwriting standards , and proper portfolio risk management prevent financial institutions from deploying more credits to people and businesses in Tanzania, particularly youth and women. U ntil recently, many financial institutions experienc ed high nonperforming loans resulting mainly from a lack of suitable lending tools and practices to identif y , mitigat e , and reduc e risks . This leav es most stakeholders in the economic sector underfinanced , particularly smallholder farmers, youth and women underfinanced , despite their significant contribution to the nation’s economy and food security .
O n e government agency in Zanzibar has been providing loans to individuals, businesses, and groups to ensure Zanzibaris have access to the capital needed to grow, sustain, and operate their businesses profitably . It w ant s to improve its financing and lending tools , procedures and p ractices to manage the credit risk environment; operate under a sound credit grading process; maintain appropriate credit administration, measurement, and monitoring process es ; ensure adequate controls over credit risk in financing ; and improve portfolio management. In addition, the government agency wants to build the capacity of its staff and management to expand lending. This capacity building will allow the government agency to adopt, customize and develop more lending tools , procedure s , practices , and loan products to help the agency penetrate the new market segment s including the agriculture sector.
Therefore, the F eed the Future Tanzania Agri Finance Project is recruiting a local volunteer expe rt to provide support and technical inputs to the government agency in Zanzibar to review and develop lending tools, procedures and p ractices . Furthermore, the volunteer expert will support the d esign of a risk and loan underwriting matrix , and tools for risk detection and credit issue identification. T he volunteer will provide tailored training to build the capacity of the government agency management and staff to expand its lending activities . This capacity building will allow the government agency to adopt, customize , and develop more lending tools and procedures , and penetrate new market segments , including the agriculture sector.
Objectives of the Assignment:
1. Review the government agency ‘s existing lending tools, procedures, loan process es , and underwriting standards .
2. Work with the government agency staff to design, redesign and improve lending tools, procedures, loan processes , and underwriting standards based on the findings to help manage the credit risk environment and operate under a sound credit grading process .
3. Provide in – class and on-the-job training to the government agency staff and management to help the agency adopt, customize, and develop appropriate lending tools, processes , p rocedures , and loan products on an ongoing basis to meet customer needs and to maintain a sound lending portfolio .
Country Schedule for Assignment:
Day
Activity
Location
Estimated days
PRE-ASSIGNMENT
Pre-Travel Tasks
- Hold call with the Feed the Future Tanzania Agri-Finance Project Chief of Party and Project Agri-Lending Specialist to discuss the needs of assignment and strategy .
- Review the agency ‘s current credit policy and existing lending products, product terms and conditions, tools, procedures, practices and underwriting standards if any.
- Review previous volunteer reports for the agency .
- Work remotely with government agency management team to understand how the agency operates its lending business to understand/clarify knowledge gaps
Remotely
ON ASSIGNMENT
Day 1
Arrive in Zanzibar
Unguja
1
Day 2
- Attend in-country orientation hosted by the Feed the Future Tanzania Agri Finance Project staff .
- Hold kickoff meeting with the government agency to review and finalize assignment objectives and plan .
Unguja
1
Day 3- 4
- Meet with representatives from government agency , including heads of departments, managing director and loan officers to understand the current situation in terms of available tools, procedures, underwriting standards and existing lending products.
Unguja
2
Day 5 – 11
- In collaboration with the agency team, design, redesign and develop appropriate lending procedures, tools, and underwriting standards for the government agency
- Weekend day
Unguja
7
Day 12-14
- Provide class room and on-the-job training to the government agency staff and management on the new/improved/redesigned tools, procedures and underwriting standards Travel to Pemba
- Hold debriefing with the government agency to share recommendations
Unguja
3
Day 15
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- Draft final report for assignment and submit to Project Chief of Party
- Departure
Unguja
1
Total
1 5
POST ASSIGNMENT
- Develop P ower Point presentation describing the assignment, findings, recommendations and expected impacts
- Hold debriefing with FtF Tanzania Agri -F inance Project team
- Attend briefing with USAID Tanzania mission
Remotely
Expertise of Volunteer Expert Requested:
- An experienced banker with at least 10 years of professional experience in lending and particularly in agricultural financing.
- University degree or higher in financial management , credit management, agriculture finance and risk control and mitigation, business, economics or other relevant field; advanced degree preferred.
- Highly developed financial operations skills with ability to comprehensively understand business models as they relate to operations ( mainly credit ), risk mitigation, loan recovery and financial reporting.
- Strong leadership and communication skills and capacity to plan strategically and flexibly .
- Sufficiently physically fit, with appropriate medical clearance .
- Experience working in Tanzania and/or the region will be an added advantage
- Writing Skills: reporting requires good computer skills including, but not limited to, working and generating reports with MS Word. Experience with PowerPoint presentations is desirable .
- This is a United States government funded program. Therefore, for the purpose of achieving desired results in accordance with the work plan and submitting requisite reports, written and spoken fluency in English is required .
- Good writing and analytical skills, interpersonal communication and presentation skills (adult education skills), ability and desire to teach in both classroom and field settings.
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