Background

The Green Finance for Youth Employment (GFYE) is a project in Kenya, financed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and implemented by IFAD over four years (2024–2027), in partnership with the National Treasury of Kenya through the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the IFAD-financed Rural Kenya Financial Inclusion Facility (RK FINFA) Project. The GFYE project aims to create decent jobs for youth in green value chains operating in rural Kenya by improving the opportunities of rural youth and youth-employing local enterprises to access loan-based financing for their income generating green projects from Microfinance Banks and Deposit-Taking Savings and Credit Cooperatives (DT-SACCOs) operating in rural areas.

The GFYE objectives will be achieved through targeted capacity building of selected financial institutions, youth groups and rural enterprises, as well as through introduction of a dedicated Youth Green Financing product under RK-FINFA Green Financing Facility (GFF) to leverage private finance to green investments with youth employment impact. The project components include: (i) Scalable green business models and products for youth, (ii) Capacity building on green investment for youth employment, (iii) De-risking for increased green financing.

The GFYE operations are linked to the RK-FINFA project, through which the targeted youth have the opportunity to scale up their access to financial and technical services. This set of development instruments and partnerships offers an efficient and innovative model to achieve youth employment creation target while ensuring investments are environmentally sustainable.

The GFYE implementation framework comprises of IFAD, the RK-FINFA PMU and the implementing partners (AGRA, Cordaid and FSD Kenya). Within the RK-FINFA PMU, a Kenyan Young Professional Officer (YPO) will be recruited with the assignment to support various aspects of GFYE coordination, implementation and reporting.

The Young Professional Officer’s Role

The Young Professional Officer (Green Finance for Youth Employment) will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, and work as part of the RK-FINFA PMU at the National Treasury. S/He will serve as the primary focal point for GFYE and facilitate timely communication and coordination among key project stakeholders, including implementing partners and Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), to ensure effective project implementation.

Key responsibilities include:

• Coordinating identification and classification of existing scalable green business models and targeted financial products for young men and women, including vulnerable persons in this group, in collaboration with FSD Kenya.
• Coordinating implementation and reporting of the capacity building activities of the GFYE project and ensuring alignment and synergies with RK-FINFA, in conjunction with the implementing partners (AGRA and Cordaid) and PFIs.
• Supporting, in collaboration with the implementing partners (AGRA, Cordaid and FSD Kenya), the development and piloting of a Youth Green Financing Product to be delivered through the GFF.
• Identifying financial products offered by various stakeholders including PFIs and other GFYE stakeholders.
• Providing inputs in the development of ToRs for procuring service providers to conduct a comprehensive study on existing scalable green business models and targeted financial products
• for young men and women within the Kenyan food system, including models focusing on
• vulnerable youth within this demographic.
• Supporting PFIs in developing and providing effective green financing products for low-income young producers, young entrepreneurs, and high-potential youth-employing MSMEs.
• Supporting in the design and delivery of targeted training programs for PFI staff on green financing for youth investments.
• Collaborating with PFI-based agribusiness specialists for co-delivery of training programs and ensure capacity building programs address specific needs identified for the youth entrepreneurs.
• Liaising with AGRA, Cordaid, FSD Kenya and PFIs to ensure training programs are relevant to available green financing products and linked to existing or previous IFAD-supported projects in Kenya, where appropriate.
• Contributing in the development of eligibility system for youth and MSMEs to participate in project-supported lending, based on completion of the training program.
• In collaboration with RK-FINFA’s M&E officers, establish a robust GFYE M&E plan and system in line with RKFINFA’s M&E system.
• Coordinating collection and aggregation of data on the results framework on grant level and reporting.
• Coordinating and collecting quarterly progress reporting/reports from the implementing partners (AGRA, Cordaid and FSD Kenya) and consolidating for reporting to IFAD and the RK-FINFA’s project steering committee (PSC).
• Preparing bi-annual progress reports on the implementation of the GFYE Project, including outreach to youth, PFIs and progress with the Youth Green Financing Product.
• Coordinating various surveys to measure the GFYE’s outcome and impact on youth employment, green business development, portfolio performance of PFIs, and effectiveness of the Youth Green Financing product in de-risking green financing for youth.
• Responsible for development of knowledge management and communication materials promoting the GFYE lessons learnt and successes.
• Contribute to organizing and undertaking annual Supervision and Implementation Support
• Missions on the RK-FINFA and GFYE projects, focusing on project achievements, challenges and impact assessment.

Qualification Requirements
Education:

• An advanced university degree in a relevant field, such as economics, agriculture, rural development, business administration, agribusiness, environmental studies, natural resources management, or closely related field.

Expertise Required:

• Experience working with government agencies, financial institutions, or development partners.
• Experience in project/programme management of development projects (e.g. coordination, implemention or reporting).
• Expertise in monitoring and evaluating financial inclusion and youth development programs.
• Excellent analytical and report writing skills.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills to work effectively with a variety of stakeholders.

Work Experience:

• At least four(4) years of progressively responsible and relevant professional experience in rural development, agriculture, economics, private sector development, rural finance, development policy, or other job related fields.
• Professional experience in the fields of green/climate finance, monitoring and evaluation, private sector development, rural finance and agricultural finance, value chain development and/or youth employment.