SNV Netherlands Development is a not-for-profit international development organization that has built a long-term local presence in 38 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin-America. SNV Ghana implements projects to improve individual lives and contributes to solving global challenges in the areas of Agriculture, Energy, and Water, Sanitation & Hygiene. SNV’s implementation approach focuses on developing innovative solutions to alleviate poverty through sustainable and locally-led development.

SNV has been in Ghana since 1992 and currently implements projects in all ten (10) Regions, providing capacity strengthening support to individuals, communities and businesses. In Ghana, we focus on poverty reduction as articulated in the Ghana Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy as well as in the sustainable development goals. In all sectors of work, SNV incorporates gender & youth, governance for empowerment and other cross-cutting themes to achieve impact, scale, inclusiveness and sustainability.

Among SNV’s Agriculture Projects is the Horti-Fresh Programme. The aim of the programme is “A sustainable and internationally competitive vegetable and fruit sector that contributes to inclusive economic growth, food
and nutrition security”. The Programme will contribute to three major areas that have been identified and that are in line with Ghana’s development policy: a competitive and innovative high-value fruit and vegetable sector; an inclusive and sustainable fruit and vegetable sector and a conducive business climate that facilitates the development of the fruit and vegetable sector.

Job Description
The Financial Specialist is a development finance advisor with a good understanding of agricultural/horticultural value chains. He/she must be able to facilitate production-push and market-pull dynamics of agribusinesses. He/she is a team player with strong networking, communication and analytical skills, who is able to broker sustainable relationships between financial institutions and agri-businesses.

Under the supervision of the HortiFresh Program Manager, the key responsibilities of the Financial Specialist include:

• Development of new financial loan products specifically focused at Ghana’s horticulture sector, targeting both smallholder farmers and small- and medium enterprises.
• Development of business plans for agribusiness companies.
• Development of financial models for agribusiness companies.
• Contribute towards drafting of sector reports.
• Brokering deals between banks and agribusiness companies.
• Support companies in complying with loan conditions, e.g. in terms of project implementation and reporting.
• Develop a strong network with financial institutions in Ghana and abroad (both commercial and development finance).

Qualifications

• Applicant must have relevant knowledge in Finance and Business Management, and understand the dynamics of agribusiness operations. He/she must have strong communication and networking skills.
• Minimum six years’ experience working in the financial sector or consultancy;
• Minimum of five years’ experience in business operations;
• Master’s degree in one of the following: Finance, Development Finance, Economics, Business Administration, Agricultural Economics, and/or related field;
• Excellent analytical and writing skills for developing business plans, financial models and contributing to sector reports (using computer applications such as MS Word and MS Excel).
• Proven track record in developing business plans and financial models.