Trade Facilitation Consultant

Job Title: Trade Facilitation Consultant

Client: Oakwood Green Africa

Industry: Financial Services

Location: Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Gambia

Job Purpose/Summary

The Trade Facilitation Consultant will be responsible for seeking and connecting all trade and trade-enabling stakeholders and infrastructure to promote intra-Africa trade.

The role holder will be responsible for identifying and linking African producers or suppliers with potential importers within the continent. The individual’s primary focus will be on fostering partnerships, organizing trade events, and facilitating business matching activities to enhance intra-African trade. You will also facilitate intra-Africa payment and settlements

Key Functions/Responsibilities

• Assist in the preparation of annual Intra-African Trade Facilitation Plans, deriving from the Group’s business objectives focused on facilitating trades and investment flows into and across Africa thereby helping African governments and businesses to secure needed capital for development.
• Build and maintain productive relationships with clients and customers, working closely with senior management to develop strategies that will help the businesses gain competitive advantage, bespoke tailored advice, strengthen rapport, and enable quick responses to their inquiries.
• Review, engage, and work with existing and potential clients to determine their needs and offer required advice on how to achieve set business goals and targets. Such advice includes providing clients with information about various fundraising/trade structuring options, including helping the clients to choose appropriate products that fit their business needs.
• Work with the banks to select from their customer base, clients who are driving or have the potential to drive trade and payment activities, and transact, especially on the ATEX and PAPSS platforms and can also take advantage of Supply Chain offerings.
• Facilitate the onboarding of key customers of the banks onto ATG and ensure they make payments using PAPSS.
• Facilitate awareness campaigns to key stakeholders on the ATG and the PAPSS Currency Marketplace and their benefits there from, through Roadshows or direct presentations to trade associations where necessary.
• Activate the relationship with onboarded clients in a bid to ensure that trades and payments are closed.
• Assist the onboarded banks or corporates to gain access to Trade products through AFTRAF, AfPAY or other Trade Finance products to ensure their requirements are adequately catered for.
• Assist clients or the value chain of the corporates to collate documentation required for onboarding as well as Supply Chain
• Identify and match buyers and sellers within the bank’s clientele across the respective jurisdictions.
• Facilitate the closure of actual trade transactions on ATEX, and payments using PAPSS.
• Assist the clients access financing, either by referring them to commercial banks where the request falls within their single obligor limit or through Afreximbank.
• Hand-hold clients and facilitate the closure of transactions for them.
• Engage financial institutions to be propagators of the utilization of PAPSS by their customers.
• Attract clients onto the PAPSS platform. Specifically, identify the right clientele for the PAPSS African Currency Marketplace and collect relevant information including and not limited to needs, expected frequency of currency exchanges, currencies, amounts and destination of funds.
• Engage existing traders – including those utilizing ATEX – on payment of their trade transactions in local and foreign currency utilizing the PAPSS instant payment platform.
• Expose businesses with the potential to expand their intra-African trade to the benefits of PAPSS.
• Facilitate the entry of traders into new markets in Africa and making settlements through the PAPSS platform.
• Conduct comprehensive market analysis to identify commodities that are predominantly imported into Africa.
• Research potential African producers or suppliers for identified commodities and assess their capacity and capability to meet market demand.
• Facilitate the conduct of business and industry research for both deal origination and transaction analysis, including the preparation of detailed industry and sector analysis for project opportunity assessment and prospecting. Foreign trade and global economy research also use insights to advise and guide trade facilitation decision for clients.
• Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders including producers, suppliers, importers, government agencies, trade associations, and other relevant organizations across Africa.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to identify trade opportunities, address challenges, and develop strategies to promote intra-African trade.
• Facilitate intra-African exports and imports among African Countries
• Organize trade events, business forums, and networking sessions to facilitate business matching between African producers and importers.
• Facilitate negotiations and partnerships between parties involved in trade transactions, ensuring mutually beneficial agreements are reached.
• Coordinate and execute partnership mandates with Afreximbank’s Mansa, PAPSS and IATF initiatives in countries where we have a presence.
• Provide training and capacity-building support to African producers and suppliers to enhance their competitiveness in the market.
• Offer guidance on trade regulations, market trends, and best practices to facilitate smooth trade transactions.

Qualifications & Experience

Required:

• Bachelor’s Degree.
• Minimum of 8+ years relevant experience in Trade facilitation, Relationship Management, Corporate Finance, and Sales in a financial institution, business advisory firm, or a multilateral Trade organization
• Proven experience in trade facilitation, market analysis, and business development, preferably within the African context
• Hands-on knowledge of trade finance-related products and instruments that can be deployed to enhance trade and facilitate trade-related loans i.e., structured trade finance, syndication, co-financing, club deals, correspondent banking products, factoring, forfeiting, risk bearing, etc.
• Strong understanding of global trade dynamics, supply chain management, and trade regulations.

Desired

• Possession of An MBA (or master’s degree) is an added advantage.
• Deep understanding of investor and financing institutions
• Demonstrated track record of successful deals closed, transaction structure/funded