Back Enterprise Investment Manager, Restore Local

This is a hybrid position which requires 8 days per month in the office. You can be based in our office in Nairobi, Kigali, or Accra; WRI Africa Regional Office. Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission as WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position.

About the Program:

WRI Africa has supported local partners and African governments for over 30 years, focusing on forest protection, landscape restoration, water-resilient development, and sustainable cities. As a regional office formalized in 2019, WRI Africa’s vision is an inclusive transformation where Africa’s people and landscapes thrive. We operate across four strategic pillars: food, land and water, thriving and resilient cities, energy, and institutional and economic transformation, working closely with governments, civil society, indigenous communities, and the private sector to foster a people-centered, climate-responsive development pathway.

Aligned with this broader vision, the Restore Local initiative supports locally led restoration efforts – with the Greater Rift Valley of Kenya; the Lake Kivu and Rusizi River Basin of Rwanda, Burundi, and DRC; and the Ghana Cocoa Belt as its flagship landscapes. Through data-based approaches to planning implementation and monitoring progress, the program is enhancing livelihoods and climate change resilience, restoring ecosystem services, mitigating climate change and conserving nature.

WRI’s flagship investment program for Restore Local, TerraFund, currently finances, trains, and monitors nearly 200 locally led enterprises, community organizations and nonprofits that restore land across priority landscapes in Africa. While providing grants to nonprofits, TerraFund with its partner Realize Impact also invests debt and equity in small and medium-sized enterprises that support “restorative value chains”. These champions are supported through the TerraMatch platform, an end-to-end system that hosts open calls for proposals, connects champions with technical assistance, and tracks the progress of funded projects through a standard monitoring, reporting, and verification protocol.

Job Highlight:

You will work in collaboration with Restore Local’s Portfolio Specialist in Ghana to identify and screen potentially investable restoration enterprises and farmer cooperatives. You will recommend them for participation in capacity or investment programs, scope their investment needs, and enable partnerships with selected mission-aligned investors to unlock finance for SMEs that operate in restorative value chains.

You will focus on channelling investment to companies located in or sourcing from the Ghana Cocoa Belt, working in close coordination and collaboration with Restore Local’s Investor Coalition lead, as well as with Restore Local staff in Ghana and the wider WRI TerraFund and Restore Local teams.

You will collaborate with WRI’s experts in capacity building, finance, policy, project management, and monitoring to ensure successful project implementation and expansion. Additionally, you will support the reporting and monitoring of funded enterprises via WRI’s TerraMatch system. You will integrate equity into your work.

You will report to the Enterprise Manager and Investor Coalition Lead based in Kenya.

What will you do:

Finance and Program Management (80%):

• Support the TerraFund team to identify and engage with companies operating in restorative value chains
• Scope investment needs and identify investment readiness gaps of potentially investable restoration enterprises and farmer cooperatives. Regularly update and maintain a pipeline tracker to provide real-time visibility into potential capacity building and investment opportunities
• Work with Restore Local capacity building partners to ensure that selected enterprises receive the necessary investment readiness support, positioning them to meet the requirements of impact investors and financial institutions, as well as enhancing their business models to maximize on restoration impact
• In close coordination and collaboration with the Investor Coalition Lead and other team members, scope, structure and manage partnerships with mission aligned and complimentary blended finance investment funds, impact investors, and financial institutions to drive investment into restoration
• Conduct outreach and communications in Ghana, including presenting at internal and external meetings, conferences, workshops, etc.
• Support management of the implementation of TerraFund-finance enterprises across the Restore Local landscapes, where so requested, ensuring that they submit accurate and timely reports and geospatial polygons of their areas of influence
• Contribute to and help achieve the targets of the Restore Local team in Ghana

  Technical Assistance, Research & Communications (20%):

  • Support enterprises in creating cashflow statements, projections and other financial documentation of interest to current and prospective investors
  • Share updates on the financial state of the enterprise portfolio based on analysis of financial documents
  • Analyze the funding landscape for restoration enterprises in Restore Local landscapes and contribute to WRI research on private investment in African restoration enterprises.

    What will you need:

    • Education: You have completed a bachelor’s in business administration, agriculture, forestry, or other related field. Relevant work experience in lieu of degree is accepted
    • Experience: You have a 5+ years of relevant, full-time work working in SME finance and enterprise development
    • Experience in agroforestry, sustainable agriculture or the land restoration sector, as well as with projects or investments with a social equity and or gender focus
    • Experience in financial management and analysis with demonstrated capacity to use financial analysis tools
    • Experience with investment project preparation, due diligence and appraisal for small and medium enterprises
    • Experience convening stakeholders from multiple backgrounds and with diverse interests around a shared vision and working in a multi-disciplinary and intercultural team
    • Strong written and oral communication skills, especially communicating technical concepts to non-technical audiences
    • Familiarity with project management tools such as Airtable and Asana
    • Willingness and ability to regular travel regionally and internationally.
    • Languages: You are proficient in written and spoken English. French is preferred, in addition
    • Requirements: Existing work authorization is required where this position is based. WRI is unable to authorize visa work authorization.

      Potential Salary:

      Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

      How to Apply:

      Please submit a resume with a cover letter by 12 December 2024.

      You must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered.

      What we offer:

      • A competitive salary
      • Access to the WRI global network with the opportunity to exchange with and learn from passionate colleagues working at the cutting edge of their fields across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the US
      • The chance to have an impact and to develop your career within a mission driven organization with access to varied learning and training opportunities
      • A workplace that strives to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work
      • The opportunity to join and get involved in different working groups and affinity groups to shape the future of WRI
      • Commitment to hybrid working model with flexible working hours
      • Generous leave days that increase with tenure