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REGIONAL CONTEXT
The Africa Region, which is comprised of approximately 900 staff members, mostly based in 38 field offices, is committed to helping Africa realize its considerable development potential, with a focus on employment generation. The core values guiding our work are passion for our mission of sustainable poverty reduction with keen attention to quality and transformative impact, putting the needs of the client at the center of all our activities, trust and respect as a common currency, intellectual rigor and curiosity, honesty and integrity, teamwork, openness to learning and the courage to admit we do not always have the answer.
Sub-Saharan Africa has a population of around 800 million people in 48 countries, and is a vibrant and changing environment for development work. The last two decades of democratic elections and, in some countries multiparty systems has created a greater openness to pro-poor reforms. A vibrant civil society has become increasingly vocal on policy issues, and African citizens are more and more holding politicians accountable for their actions (although there are variations across countries). Regional institutions, such as AU NEPAD are applying peer pressure on national leaders to improve their performance.
Until the onset of the global financial and economic crisis, Africa had been experiencing a period of sustained and widespread growth. In addition to the oil exporters, some 22 non-oil-exporting countries were experiencing better-than-four-percent growth for a decade and two third of the population lived in countries that had grown by between 5.9 and 8.1 percent per year. The sources of this growth were three-fold: (i) external resources aid, debt relief, private capital flows and remittances were all increasing; (ii) strong commodity prices and buoyant global economy; and (iii) improved macroeconomic policies, reflected for instance in the fact that the median inflation rate in the mind-2000s was about half that in the mid-1990s.
While the overall business climate in Africa is the weakest in the world, several countries including some fragile states have made great strides in improving g their environment for business. What is emerging as a result is a growing region, with setbacks from time to time, that is increasingly seen as a destination for investment as much as for aid; and one where leaders are increasingly willing to address problems of poor governance that harms development effectiveness.
The Africa Region seeks to seize this unprecedented opportunity to better support our clients in realizing the ambition of eradicating extreme poverty and boosting prosperity.
COUNTRY MANAGEMENT UNIT CONTEXT
AFCF1 Country Management Unit (CMU) covers Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Cape Verde.
Mauritania. Mauritania has emerged from the fall in commodity prices. Real GDP growth recovered to 3.5% percent in 2017 from 2% in 2016, pushed primarily by improved performances in the fisheries, livestock, manufacturing, and commerce sectors. With its population growing at about 3%, the pace of the economic recovery nevertheless remains slow, leading to only a small rise of 1.1% in real per capita income. This jeopardizes gains made in poverty reduction between 2008 and 2014. Budgetary tightening, coupled with a rebound in mining exports, has led to a drop in the current account deficit, which has reduced external financing pressures and kept a stable level of central bank reserves. Meanwhile, the size of the deficit remains a structural challenge for macro policies in Mauritania. Governance portfolio consists of an active project supporting public sector reforms in Mauritania.
Senegal. The Government of Senegal adopted the Plan Senegal Emergent (PSE) in 2014. The development plan is designed to get Senegal out of a cycle of low-growth and weak poverty reduction. Preliminary figures put Senegal’s economic growth at 6.8 percent by 2017-the third year in a row of a growth rate of over 6 percent. Implementation of the plan, which boosted public investment and promoted private sector activity, helps explain this, plus a growth-conducive macroeconomic framework and favorable exogenous conditions (good weather, relatively low oil prices). Despite high growth, inflation remains low and under control. Senegal’s macroeconomic framework remains solid, though, small cracks are emerging, underscored by rising debt levels and liquidity constraints. Although the fiscal deficit has fallen-from 4.2 percent of GDP in 2016 to 3.7 percent in 2017-a large investment program, rising energy prices, and Treasury operations that have financed deficits in other public entities are all placing pressure on the fiscal balance. The government therefore delayed some payments to suppliers in 2017. While remaining at low risk of distress, public debt has also continued to increase, though at a slower pace, to 60.8 percent of GDP in 2017, while debt servicing increased from 24 to 30 percent of government revenues between 2014 and 2017. Governance portfolio in Senegal includes an active project supporting Public Financial Management and an analytical work on La Poste. The Governance team is also co-leading with GSURR an active PforR operation on decentralization.
The Gambia. The Gambia is a fragile state with very weak institutions and important challenges of macro stability and economic governance, including important challenges in SOE reform. The Gambia has a small economy that relies primarily on tourism, rain-dependent agriculture, and remittances, and is vulnerable to external shocks. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to be above 3.5% in 2017. The fiscal situation, which deteriorated during the political crisis, has improved due to strengthen fiscal discipline and external support. Expenditure ceilings have helped control expenditures, and domestic revenues have recovered in 2017. Meanwhile, the macroeconomic framework continues to be characterized by high debt levels, creating significant risks of debt distress. The key long-term development challenges facing The Gambia are related to its undiversified economy, small internal market, limited access to resources, lack of skills necessary to build effective institutions, high population growth, lack of private sector job creation, and high rate of outmigration. Governance portfolio in The Gambia includes an active project supporting Public Financial Management, a pipeline project supporting SOE reforms; and a Security Sector Public Expenditure Review (ASA).
Guinea Bissau. Guinea Bissau is a fragile state with an eroded social contract and deep-seated issues of elite capture and weak governance. Guinea Bissau’s economy continues to expand despite political gridlock and the suspension of donor flows to the country. Following growth of 5.1% in 2015, real Gross Domestic Product growth was projected at above 5.1% for 2016. The fiscal situation is still strained by political instability and the suspension of budget support. Governance portfolio in Guinea Bissau consists of an active Public Financial Management project.
Cape Verde. The country’s small population spread across a large water area constitutes a major constraint to growth and development. It limits economies of scale, and creates significant connectivity issues, as well as challenges for service delivery (energy, water, education, etc.). Despite this challenge, Cape Verde witnessed spectacular social and economic progress between 1990 and 2008, driven mainly by the rapid development of inclusive tourist resorts, and it reached middle income status in a short time. Meanwhile, with its small open economy, the country is vulnerable to the vagaries of global economic developments. Given the fixed exchange rate with the Euro, it will be vital for the country to rebuild fiscal buffers to absorb future shocks. Diversification within and beyond the tourism sector, and more flexible labor markets can help to absorb shocks. Governance portfolio in Cape Verde consists of an active SOE reform project.
GOVERNANCE GLOBAL PRACTICE CONTEXT
An effective and accountable governance framework, in the form of functioning institutions, is a necessary precondition for sustainable poverty reduction. Fragile, ineffective or inexistent institutions have long been put forward as a factor contributing to the relative underperformance of economies. Governance challenges and structural limitations in public and private institutions are often prevalent in fragile and conflict affected states. On the other hand, cross-country empirics have confirmed that stronger institutions are correlated with higher levels of per capita income and greater economic growth. Governance mechanisms and institutions are therefore critical factors for sustained growth and poverty alleviation.
The Governance Global Practice (GOV) brings together professionals in procurement, financial management, taxation, public management, regulatory policy, transparency, digital governance, law and development, anticorruption, and social accountability to develop innovative, integrated solutions to pernicious institutional problems. The practice utilizes a problem-driven, diagnostic approach, combining global comparative knowledge of reform successes and failures with keen understanding of the institutional challenges and opportunities of developing countries. Specifically, the Governance Global Practice provides support in:
- Financial Accountability and Reporting with focus on transparency, financial accountability, and financial Reporting in the private and public sectors. This also includes accountability of institutions, oversight bodies and regulators, as well as financial management functions of Bank-funded operations.
- Public Sector and Institutions with focus on key areas that underpin public sector and institutional reform. This group also focuses on high priority cross-cutting issues such as revenue mobilization, global tax issues and fiscal decentralization, open government, and justice for the poor.
- Solutions and Innovations in Procurement with focus on advancing modern and open procurement systems, integrity in procurement and its fiduciary functions.
The selected candidate will be under the supervision of the GOV Practice Manager for the GGOAW Unit (Cabo Verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal, Chad, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and Togo) and will contribute to the implementation and development of the GGOAW Unit’s lending and analytical program in AFCF1 countries (Mauritania, Senegal, Cape Verde, The Gambia, and Guinea Bissau), with a primary focus on Mauritania.
Duties and Accountabilities
- Task manage Bank analytical, lending, and grant operations pertaining to public sector and governance reforms in Mauritania.
- Contribute to the implementation of tasks in other countries of GGOAW.
- Contribute to GGOAW engagement with counterparts from Mauritania Government and assist the Unit with advice on Mauritania contextual aspects.
- Provide advice and support to other World Bank sector operations and policy dialogue related to public sector reform, service delivery, economic governance, security sector reform, Public Financial Management, and institutional aspects.
- Manage the preparation and supervision of assigned tasks and deliverables and ensure effective delivery of programs requested by the Country Management Unit.
- Generate and exchange knowledge relating to governance issues.
- Support the Practice Manager in work program discussions, business development and supervising the quality and timeliness of work program deliverables.
- Contribute to the organization of seminars/workshops on public sector governance issues.
Selection Criteria
The successful candidate will be a professional with solid operational experience on public sector lending and non-lending instruments or the World Bank and/or other multilateral lending institutions, including trust-funded and result-based lending. Specifically, the successful candidate will be selected on the basis of the following competencies:
GENERAL COMPETENCIES
- Written and Verbal Communication – Delivers information effectively in support of team or workgroup
- Client Orientation – Takes personal responsibility and accountability for timely response to client queries, requests or needs, working to remove obstacles that may impede execution or overall success.
- Drive for Results – Takes personal ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results, and has the personal organization to do so.
- Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion – Collaborates with other team members and contributes productively to the team’s work and output, demonstrating respect for different points of view.
- Knowledge, Learning and Communication – Actively seeks knowledge needed to complete assignments and shares knowledge with others, communicating and presenting information in a clear and organized manner.
- Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making – Analyzes facts and data to support sound, logical decisions regarding own and others’ work.
- Public Administration – Understands the overall dimensions and structures of the mechanics of government and its public administration, including domestic resource mobilization (especially tax policy and administration); public financial management, and service delivery).
OTHER SELECTION CRITERIA
- Advanced degree in public policy/administration, economics, public financial management, political science, finance, or another related field.
- At least 8 years of relevant work experience.
- Strong skills in policy dialogue and client engagement.
- Strong experience/knowledge in governance and public sector issues.
- Strong experience in Bank operations including IPF and DPOs.
- Strong team player with the ability to work independently and effectively both remotely and face-to-face.
- Country experience in Mauritania.
- Fluency in French and English.
- Knowledge of Arabic is a plus.
- Work experience in IDA and/or fragile situations.
The World Bank Group values diversity and encourages all qualified candidates who are nationals of World Bank Group member countries to apply, regardless of gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability. Sub-Saharan African nationals, Caribbean nationals, and female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
