Scope of Work
The consultant will report through the PSDI team leader and work closely with the Regional Head of PSD and the Pacific Department (PARD) PSD unit to support development of country sector strategies, work with sovereign projects to align with PSD outcomes, and build and execute on non-sovereign transaction pipeline, with focus on the agribusiness, food security, and natural resources sectors. Priorities will be given to opportunities that arise from the PARD PSD unit’s upstream and midstream activities, as well as other projects which have relevance to PARD’s PSD activities.
The consultant will liaise with PSDI enabling environment experts to discuss regulatory and institutional constraints to agribusiness development in the Pacific and areas where upstream reforms would support agribusiness growth.
The consultant should have at least seven years of work experience ideally from a top-tier management consulting firm or investment bank, strong corporate finance and financial modelling skills in the sector context and a strong understanding of the Pacific, where the size of investment opportunities is limited and considerable preparatory work may be needed. The private sector in the Pacific is heavily focused around micro, small and medium enterprises. The consultant’s work will include considering opportunities for the SME sector and opportunities that will facilitate finance to agribusiness SMEs, create supply chain linkages for small and medium enterprises and smallholder growers, and build export opportunities. Opportunities for women in agribusiness should be an important aspect of the consultant’s work, noting that women are prominent in smallholder agriculture across the region. The consultant should also consider climate change and climate change adaptation challenges in seeking investment opportunities.
The consultant will support PSOD-AIT in identification and processing of direct agribusiness downstream investments, which could involve relatively large local Pacific companies or MNC active in Pacific. Target sectors may include fisheries, forestry, coffee, cocoa, palm oil, rice, taro, food processing, and food retail. The consultant will help ensure that PSOD-AIT closes at least 1 Pacific investment every year.
Detailed Tasks and/or Expected Output
Key tasks include, but are not limited to:
i. Work closely with resident missions, Sectors Group, PSOD, and OMDP on the agribusiness aspects of private sector assessments / diagnostics, and lead the development and implementation of clear and actionable PSD strategies in agribusiness aligned with the country partnership strategy.
ii. Act as PARD PSD sector focal for the agriculture, food security, and natural resources sector and other sectors as needed.
iii. In collaboration with sector and climate groups, oversee Pacific PSD activities in agribusiness that achieve program outcomes and create pipeline for ADB’s midstream (advisory) and downstream (private sector financing) businesses;
iv. Assist with applications to third party funds for blended finance, grants, technical assistance as may be needed for projects and strategies;
v. Assist in developing a pipeline for ADB PSOD in agribusiness and natural resources in the Pacific by identifying potential debt or equity transactions with robust developmental impact and strong financial profile
vi. Support the identification, design, processing, implementation and evaluation of agribusiness projects, and other interventions to promote innovative financing solutions in ADB’s developing member countries in the Pacific region. Help ensure that PSOD-AIT closes at least 1 Pacific investment every year.
vii. Liaise and coordinate with relevant sectoral, advisory, non-sovereign, and cross-cutting departments/offices to foster the One-ADB approach. Beyond ADB, build relationships with Pacific developing member country governments, development partners and development partner supported programs (such as the Market Development Facility) to understand sector development strategies and identify investment opportunities and areas for collaboration.
viii. Assist in knowledge dissemination activities (workshops, seminars, conferences, social media, etc.) and in the preparation of knowledge products in collaboration with relevant ADB departments, supported by the PSDI communications team.
ix. Provide financial analysis, including building of financial models, market / industry analysis and other required support (possibly equity valuation) to evaluate PSOD agribusiness investment opportunities in the region;
x. Produce and prepare reports and documentation, including sector, financial and credit information, to support processing of PSOD Pacific agribusiness and other related investment opportunities;
xi. Support structuring, negotiations, and legal documentation of the proposed financial assistance, ensuring proper risk management;
xii. Support due diligence processes and coordinate with external advisors in various workstreams, including but not limited to commercial, technical, legal, and insurance aspects;
xiii. Identify upstream and mid-stream regulatory and institutional constraints to the development of agribusiness in the Pacific and work with PSDI thematic experts, ADB sector group experts and others to develop solutions. Identify infrastructure, transport and energy sector barriers to agribusiness development and work with ADB sector groups to identify project opportunities.
The contract will be extend or renew up on the project officer’s decision based on assessment outcome of the work progress.
Minimum Qualification Requirements
- Graduate degree in business administration, economics, international public policy, engineering, or finance or other related fields;
- At least 8 years work experience in consulting, advisory, research, or development finance operations; including at least 5 years relevant work experience and at least 3 years at a top-tier management consulting firm or investment bank
- Proven experience in project management, strategy development, and stakeholder engagement;
- Experience with client facing advisory work;
- Experience in working across developing and developed sectors/countries preferred, with specific experience in Pacific countries and the agribusiness sector a strong advantage; and
- Excellent analytical, research, and communication skills.
Applications MUST be received through ADB’s Consultant Management System at the link.
Objective and Purpose of the Assignment
The Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative (PSDI) is a regional technical assistance facility co-financed by the Government of Australia, the Government of New Zealand and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Since 2006, PSDI has been working with ADB’s Pacific Developing Member Countries to improve the enabling environment for business and support inclusive, private sector-led economic growth.
Further project details, including project documents, can be found here: https://www.adb.org/projects/53072-001/main
PSDI supports upstream and midstream enabling environment reforms in Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Current PSDI thematic work areas are business law reform, competition policy, financing growth, State owned enterprise reform and public private partnerships, economic empowerment of women and tourism.
Agriculture (including fisheries) and agricultural processing and relating industries is a major industry sector across the Pacific and encouraging the development of the agribusiness sector is an important aspect of ADB’s private sector development work in the Pacific. ADB therefore seeks an agribusiness expert to develop and build on ADB’s business enabling work in the Pacific and identify opportunities for downstream investment in agribusiness in the Pacific.
