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About Us
AECF (Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund) is a leading non-profit development organization supporting innovative agribusiness and renewable energy enterprises to reduce rural poverty, promote resilient communities, and create jobs.
We catalyze the private sector by surfacing and commercializing new ideas, business models, and technologies designed to increase agricultural productivity, improve farmer incomes, expand clean energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve resilience to the effects of climate change. We finance high-risk businesses that struggle to access commercial funding. We are committed to working in frontier markets, fragile contexts, and high-risk economies where few mainstream financing institutions dare to go.
Over 17 years, we have supported 536 businesses in 27 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, impacted more than 36 million lives, created over 35,000 direct jobs, and leveraged US$840 million in matching funds.
About the Program
The AECF anticipates launching REACT 2.0 Ethiopia program, subject to donor approval. The program builds on the achievements of REACT SSA Ethiopia to accelerate access to decentralized renewable energy in underserved rural areas. It will strengthen the solar home systems (SHS) market and catalyze the adoption of productive use of energy (PUE) solutions across agricultural value chains. By doing so, the programme aims to drive inclusive economic growth, enhance resilience, and promote long-term sustainability in Ethiopia’s rural economy.
The Role
The Senior Portfolio Officer will be responsible for the identification, appraisal, processing and supervision of the portfolio of companies in Ethiopia, focusing on accelerated adoption of PUE solutions in agriculture, expanding household energy access and strengthening investment readiness. The incumbent will execute the full investment cycle from origination to monitoring of investments. The role holder will work collaboratively in supporting the Associate Director and other internal stakeholders, as well as in processing grants and coordinating technical assistance for the portfolio of companies.
The role will report to the Associate Director Energy Portfolio.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead pipeline development and portfolio construction, including promoting competitions and sourcing high-potential enterprises.
- Analyze applications, conduct due diligence, develop financial models, and prepare investment memos for presentation to internal and external investment committees.
- Support investees throughout the implementation process to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and adherence to AECF’s grant implementation principles.
- Maintain strong professional relationships with investees (and service providers) to ensure value for money and mitigate risks.
- Conduct regular monitoring of grant implementation, including tracking milestones, compliance, timelines, and deliverables, through analysis of periodic reports and provision of feedback and site visits.
- Review and analyze fund disbursement requests in a timely manner and make informed recommendations.
- Prepare regular reports on investee performance, highlighting deviations or delays, and propose corrective action in consultation with colleagues and investees.
- Coordinate technical assistance support for investees in collaboration with internal teams and external service providers.
- Ensure appropriate legal review and opinion for all investments requiring the legal department’s advice.
- Contribute to the preparation of donor reports, management reports, and proposal development for new programme areas.
- Actively support the portfolio learning agenda in collaboration with the Impact, Knowledge, and Insights teams to capture lessons, enhance AECF’s reputation, and drive systemic change across market systems.
- Ensure compliance with internal controls and risk management of the portfolio in accordance with the wider AECF Management Framework.
- Implement the programme-level risk and mitigation framework, in line with the overall AECF Risk and Compliance Management Framework.
Suitable candidates should:
- Possess a bachelors degree in finance, business administration, accounting, economics, development finance, or a related field.
- Have a professional qualification such as CFA, ACCA, CPA, or an equivalent.
- Possess at least 7 years of experience in development finance, investment management, venture building, impact investing, or related experience.
- Have experience managing blended finance, results-based schemes, or challenge funds.
- Have proven track record in structuring and managing investments in SME’s, renewable energy, or climate-related sectors with strong financial analysis and modelling skills, experience in due diligence processes (financial and operational), and portfolio management (monitoring, reporting, and risk management).
- Have hands-on experience working with early-stage enterprises, an understanding of the work and challenges of renewable energy companies, and agricultural value chains in Ethiopia.
- Possess strong stakeholder engagement and negotiation skills working with investees, government stakeholders, and other stakeholders.
How to apply
The AECF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants will be considered based on merit without regard to race, sex, colour, national origin, religion, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
AECF does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, processing, training, or any other fees).
If you believe you can clearly demonstrate your abilities to meet the relevant criteria for the role, register and apply on: https://recruitment.aecfafrica.org . To be considered, your application must be received by: 08th October 2025.
For more information, please visit our careers page on www.aecfafrica.org
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.