SCSA Credit & Grant Analyst

About SME Client Support Afghanistan LLC

SME Client Support Afghanistan LLC (“SCSA”) is a consulting and service company registered with the Ministry of Commerce and Industries with its headquarter in Kabul. SCSA is fully owned by ACGF - Afghan Credit Guarantee Foundation (“ACGF”), a foundation with legal incorporation in Germany. ACGF is a credit guarantee fund with the mission to improve access to finance for Afghanistan’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (“MSMEs”) by sharing the credit risk of the Afghan partner financial institutions (“PIs”) and by improving their MSME lending capacity with technical assistance (“TA”). Governed by a service contract concluded between ACGF and SCSA, SCSA provides a broad range of ancillary services in the context of ACGF’s credit guarantee technical assistance operations, and program execution.

SCSA is a consulting company, not a financial institution, and it does not provide any financial services. SCSA does not have contractual relationships with the Afghan PIs; it acts as service provider to ACGF carrying out a range of various services, e.g. conducting market research on MSME finance, conducting training needs assessment, providing ongoing technical assistance to PIs (e.g. training-on-the-job and coaching of MSME credit staff), providing support services for the credit guarantee appraisal and guarantee claim appraisal, carrying out monitoring support for the guarantee portfolio and the compliance of PIs as well as collecting various types of information for ACGF (market-, portfolio-, risk-relevant information).

In addition to the guarantee and TA operations, SCSA supports ACGF with the implementation of a nationwide grant program for MSMEs in Afghanistan. The program foresees disbursements of non-repayable Matching Grants (“MGs”) to MSMEs, thereby enhancing their access to finance and enabling businesses to overcome the current economic crisis. MGs are available for a period of almost three years and will be matched with new guaranteed loans provided by PIs to minimize market distortion and ensure an own contribution by the supported MSMEs. Grants, therefore, create additionality as they substitute borrower equity, enhance repayment capacity, and enable PIs to resume lending with conducive lending conditions, e.g. longer maturities.

Job Summary

The Credit and Grant Analyst supports SCSA and ACGF in achieving the business volume and implementing grant and guarantee operations. The Credit and Grant Analyst assesses the eligibility for Credit Guarantees and Matching Grants, appraises beneficiaries, monitors the corresponding portfolios and is responsible for the proper implementation of the grants process. The Analyst will specifically serve as a contact point for PIs and ACGF with regards to the processing of Matching Grants and shall ensure a professional and cooperative relationship with the staff of PIs.

Duties & Responsibilities

The scope of work of the Credit and Grant Analyst covers the following specific areas:

• Undertake appraisals of guarantee and grant applications of MSMEs by verifying compliance with Grant and Guarantee eligibility and selection criteria, by appraising the financial capacity of the business and reviewing feasibility of investment projects,
• Ensures the implementation of financing policies, procedures and process by PIs.
• Coordinate the development of Grant Applications in close cooperation with PIs and allowing for an adjustment of the applications in case of inconsistencies. Supports the PI’s financing officers to develop together with the applicants consistent and complete grant applications.
• Recommend compliant Grant Applications for approval and incompliant cases for rejection to ACGF
• Collect and maintain grant-related processing data for documentation and reporting purposes
• Provide ad-hoc support to ACGF’s Operations unit with a particular focus on Guarantee and grant-related tasks. Verifies the completeness of the Grant Applications Forms prior to the committee.
• Conduct MSME field visits and verifications and reports findings to SCSA Management and ACGF Operations Unit
• Conduct file verifications at PI premises and reports findings to SCSA Management and ACGF Operations Unit
• Acts as liaison between ACGF Operational team in Germany and PIs on all operational activities
• Monitor the integrity and compliance of the credit and grant operations of the respective PIs and contribute to initiatives of ACGF to improve compliance and performance of PI staff
• Support and train new SCSA Analysts and contribute to their professional development, particularly with regards the Matching Grants program
• Other ad-hoc tasks as per instructions of SCSA Management

Job Requirements

• Academic background in banking, finance, business management, accounting, economics or a related field
• Credit experience of at least 3 years
• Previous experience with grant programs is a plus
• Good knowledge of the Afghan financial sector
• Business mindset and good insight into issues of SME finance
• Excellent command of English and local languages
• Excellent communication skills
• Excellent analytical skills and good reporting skills
• Good computer skills, especially Word, Excel and PPT
• Flexibility and mobility
• Ability to act on own initiative and to work confidentially
• Ability and willingness to do field work outside of the office and to travel throughout Afghanistan, if needed

Submission Guideline

Please send your application including a 1-page cover letter, CV and three references to https://acgf.bamboohr.com/careers/171 until December 20, 2023.

Please mention “Application for the position of “Credit and Grant Analyst” in the subject line of your e-mail.

Female candidates are explicitly encouraged to apply. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Functional Area

Banking

Finance

Countries

Afghanistan

Provinces

Kabul

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