Terms of Reference

African Development Bank

01 B.P. 1387 Abidjan 01 – Côte d’Ivoire

HQ Building, office 10-S11

ECMR1

Brief Description : Research Consultant(s)

Department making the request : ECMR/ECMR.1

Place of assignment : Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Expected start date of the assignment : September 2020

Expected length of assignment : 6 months

Last date for expression of interest : 25 August 2020

Expression of interest to be submitted to : [email protected]; [email protected]

Any questions/clarifications should be addressed to : [email protected] ; [email protected]

Background :

Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries).

Within the Bank, the Macroeconomics Policy, Forecasting and Research Department (ECMR) is dedicated to the generation of high quality knowledge in the area of development in Africa. It provides technical support to operations and Regional Member Countries through rigorous analytical work; engages in impactful policy dialogue with decision-making bodies within and outside of the Bank; and most importantly enhances the operational effectiveness of the Bank in achieving the High 5s. The activities of the Department are structured around Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting on one side, and Microeconomics, Institutional and Development Impact on the other.

The Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting Division (ECMR.1) is responsible for the following, inter alia: (i) Conducting policy research and debt sustainability analysis in order to improve the Bank’s macroeconomic surveillance and understanding of sovereign debt risk profile and the policy tools that Regional Member Countries can deploy to contain debt distress; (ii) Conducting macroeconomic analysis, modelling and forecasting to inform decisions made by the Bank’s the Regional Member Countries; (iii) Providing cutting edge analytical support to Senior Management through timely and rigorous economic intelligence work; (iv) Leading the production and dissemination of all the Bank’s flagship publications and other knowledge products on Africa’s emerging macroeconomic and development issues, and on the Bank’s High 5s priority areas.

The Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting Division (ECMR.1) seeks to hire Consultant(s) to undertake a range of research and data analysis activities related to the Division’s work programme and flagship reports.

Duties :

Under the overall guidance of the Manager – ECMR.1 and the immediate supervision of the assigned Task Manager, the successful candidate will perform the following tasks :

  • Collect, clean, and verify the integrity of data used for analysis ;
  • Contribute to empirical and theoretical macroeconomic modelling and forecasting. Data mining to identify trends, patterns and dynamics ;
  • Production of infographics, figures and tables based datasets ;
  • Internet scrapping and programming using Python, R, VBA, Stata, GAMS and Matlab. Contribute to the preparation of knowledge products, especially the next AEO report. Conduct literature reviews ;
  • Draft policy briefs ;
  • Any other tasks as may be assigned by the Task Manager.

Qualifications : 

Candidates should have a minimum of a Master’s degree in Economics, Economic modelling, Macroeconomics; Econometrics, Development Economics; Applied Statistics, or relevant field. PhD students are also encouraged to apply.

 

Work Experience and Competencies : 

  • Minimum work experience of 5 years (or 3 years for Junior consultants) in a similar multilateral institution or any other institution engaged in economic research, with a focus on African countries or developing countries ;
  • Excellent organizational and communication skills ;
  • Strong research orientation and knowledge of economic theories. Strong quantitative skills and ability to manipulate large data sets ;
  • Mastery of Econometric and Statistical software programs (Stata, E-views, Python, R or Matlab, Latex) will be an added advantage ;
  • The working languages of the AfDB are French and English. For this task, fluency in one of the two languages is required; but fluency in both is highly desirable.

Duration and Location :

This is a short-term assignment for up to 6 months (full-time), starting in September 2020. There is a strong preference for the consultant to be based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Remuneration and leave :

The successful candidate will receive remuneration in line with the Bank’s guidelines depending on experience.