Background
UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
UNCDF is the only UN agency mandated to focus primarily on the least developed countries (LDCs), currently supporting 33 out of the 48 LDCs, with country level programmes, as well as regional and global programmes. UNCDF is also working in 6 Southern non- LDCs.
UNCDF provides investment capital and technical support to both the public and the private sector. It provides capital financing -- in the forms of grants, soft loans and credit enhancement – and the technical expertise in preparing portfolios of sustainable and resilient capacity building and infrastructure projects.
UNCDF has proven its ability to deliver true leverage on smaller and more risky investments and interventions within its core areas of expertise: Inclusive Finance and Local Development Finance. The concept- proven pilot projects and programmes are replicated and brought to scale with the help and the add-on financing of other development partners with different and complementary mandates.
UNCDF’s work on inclusive finance
UNCDF’s work on inclusive finance seeks to develop inclusive financial systems and ensure that a range of financial products is available to all segments of society, at a reasonable cost, and on a sustainable basis. UNCDF supports a wide range of providers (e.g. microfinance institutions, banks, cooperatives, money transfer companies) and a variety of financial products and services (e.g. savings, credit, insurance, payments, and remittances). UNCDF also supports newer delivery channels (e.g. mobile phone networks) that offer tremendous potential for scale.
CleanStart Programme
The CleanStart Programme’s vision is to dramatically expand consumer financing for low-income consumers who want to transition to cleaner and more efficient energy. To make this happen it partners with microfinance institutions and energy enterprises – offering seed capital and advice – to test scalable financing solutions in varying market conditions.
As a global programme, CleanStart aims to support low-income consumers in six countries to transition to cleaner and more efficient energy through microfinance by 2017. The programme is designed to provide risk capital and technical assistance to competitively selected financial service providers and energy enterprises to:
- Develop and refine scalable consumer financing models (Output 1: Finance for Clean Energy);
- Increase the ‘scale’ potential of these models by tackling critical bottlenecks in the value chain (e.g. distribution, consumer awareness) (Output 2: Technical Assistance for Clean Energy);
- Make research and tools generated in the process widely available to the industry (Output 3: Global Knowledge and Learning);
- Advocate for positive industry-wide changes and broker partnerships with upstream value chain actors (e.g. investors, policy makers) (Output 4: Advocacy and Partnerships)
CleanStart is supporting a range of enterprises beyond microfinance institutions, and promoting financing solutions that go beyond credit for energy. It also seeks to support energy enterprises to effectively link with financial service providers.
The Global Programme Implementation Unit is based in the UNCDF Asia-Pacific Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand.
CleanStart Programme in Nepal
Nepal is one of the first CleanStart countries in Asia. Since April 2014, the CleanStart Programme has been working closely with financial services providers in Nepal to expand micro-loans for cleaner and more efficient energy such as solar lighting and improved cooking solutions such as biogas digesters. The four partners are Ace Development Bank Ltd. (ACE); Jeevan Bikas Samaj (JBS); Sana Kisan Bikas Bank (SKBB); and Clean Energy Development Bank Ltd (CEDBL), and together they have set out to reach at least 102,000 households and micro-entrepreneurs throughout Nepal. By January 2015, these partners collectively provided energy loans to over 10,000 clients, with the bulk of loans financing solar home systems of 20 Watt peaks or higher.
ACE, CEDB and SKBB are providing wholesale financing to microfinance intermediaries of various scales from one of the largest regulated microfinance institutions to small farmers’ cooperatives. JBS is a retail microfinance institution focused on seven districts in Eastern Nepal.
CleanStart has also formalized a partnership with the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC). Areas of collaboration include brokering partnerships between financial institutions and energy solutions providers, quality assurance, advocacy and monitoring and evaluation. Partnership with AEPC is integral to the day to day implementation and monitoring of the programme.
AEPC implements the National Rural and Renewable Energy Programme (NRREP). NRREP is the single national programme for small-scale decentralized energy in Nepal. CleanStart contributes to the goals and targets of NRREP, especially in the operationalization of the Central Renewable Energy Fund (CREF).
The CleanStart Business Plan for Nepal (endorsed by the Government of Nepal in September, 2012) guides the implementation of CleanStart in the country.
Duties and Responsibilities
Under the direct supervision of the Financial Inclusion Practice Area National Programme Coordinator (FIPA NPC) in UNCDF Nepal, and in close guidance from the CleanStart Programme Implementation Unit housed in the UNCDF Asia-Pacific Regional Office in Bangkok and in coordination with the CleanStart’s local implementation partner Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), he/ she will be responsible for the following functions:
Provides timely support to partner Financial Service Providers (FSPs) to achieve targets set out for clean energy lending
- Has day-to-day interactions with FSPs at various implementation levels to understand context-specific issues and ways to better support their objectives;
- Operationally plans out how the CleanStart project can provide timely support to FSPs priority activities and overcome programme challenges;
- Regularly visits Partner Financial Institutions/branches of the FSPs in the field to monitor progress and identify challenges and solutions (monthly basis) and provide necessary capacity building and advisory support;
- Serves as UNCDF’s first point of contact to partners for any queries or information requests;
- Directly provides support to the FSPs or hire external experts where necessary;
- Oversees procurement of external experts, organize assignments and provide quality control to maximize assignment outcomes;
- Monitor grant disbursement schedule and milestones, and provide recommendations on how to proceed with next disbursement of grants.
Monitors and reports on programme performance and impact
UN reporting
- Provides aggregated reports on overall CleanStart project progress with inputs from various partners to provide management with timely, accurate information for strategic decision making;
- Assists and coordinates various CleanStart missions and follows up on the mission recommendations.
Field monitoring
- Regularly visits FSPs branches and Local Financial Institutions to monitor progress and audit the progress reported in the reports;
- Liaises with AEPC CleanStart focal person on AEPC figures provided on RET technologies financed by CleanStart FSPs and compare these with figures provided directly by FSPs to CleanStart;
- Participates in/organises regular review meetings with all FSPs in order for them to report on progress, identify challenges and share solutions.
FSPs reporting
- Works closely with the UNCDF M&E team and AEPC to collect quarterly and annual reports from FSPs on schedule;
- Analyses FSPs reports and clarifies data gaps/anomalies with partners to ensure high level of quality and integrity of data being reported by FSPs.
NRREP reporting
- Provide inputs to AEPC’s NRREP progress reports and review these where appropriate;
- Assists the FIPA NPC by preparing regular updates on CleanStart progress to be presented at NRREP Steering Committee Coordinate with CREF secretariat in order to seek synergies and partnerships.
Impact measurement, research and evaluation
- Coordinates closely with the local company contracted for the digital impact measurement survey to monitor deliverables and help operationalize the survey given partner profiles;
- Supports the CleanStart team in operationalizing research projects such as financial diaries and case studies with partners;
- Manages deliverables with local contractors;
- Provides substantive and operational support when UNCDF conducts various types of evaluations.
Provides timely operational and financial management support in close collaboration with relevant departments in UNDP and UNCDF
- Develops annual work plan for Nepal under the lead of the FIPA NPC;
- Identifies capable local experts and procures services when contracting is directly with UNCDF;
- Prepares logistics details for various country visits, trainings, and events related to CleanStart;
- Oversees consultant assignments and provide substantive guidance to the assigned consultants;
- Provides timely inputs to operational and financial management processes managed by the UNCDF Project Associates in Nepal and Bangkok
Promotes knowledge sharing and partnerships
- Organizes and/or participates in “information exchange events” to publicize UNCDF CleanStart and other programme activities, results and impact;
- Identify common areas of work and collaboration between CleanStart and other UNCDF programmes, potentially including A2F- UNNATI, MM4P and LoCAL;
- Contributes to papers/publications where CleanStart can provide substantive inputs to relevant topics related to energy financing for low-income people;
- Identifies stakeholders to participate in knowledge sharing opportunities related to the CleanStart programme;
- Provides high quality country intelligence to UNCDF especially in areas of renewable energy and microfinance—including government policy and initiatives;
- Identifies and establishes strategic partnerships that is beneficial to achieving programme outputs, including strategic collaboration with UNDP’s RERL programme.
In collaboration with FIPA NPC, works with the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) to provide timely support to FSPs, create effective linkages between FSPs and the energy sector, and to align with the national programme such as CREF.
- Establishes close working relationship with AEPC CleanStart focal persons and regularly discusses AEPC’s priority activities and keep track of progress;
- In collaboration with AEPC, provides timely support to FSPs, creates effective linkages between FSPs and the energy sector, and aligns with national priorities;
- Provides strategic inputs to annual work plans and reports to UNCDF;
- Provides strategic inputs (e.g. to terms of reference, external experts recruitment, training methodologies) throughout the course of AEPC’s activity implementation;
- Assists FIPA NPC in monitoring progress against work plan and performance-based agreement signed with UNCDF;
- Assists FIPA NPC in developing and executing CleanStart support to NRREP and CREF.
Competencies
Functional competencies:
- Has hands-on work-experience with the and financial sector and especially in energy financing sectors in Nepal
- Understands the financial needs for clean energy application and its access for low-income households in Nepal through extensive field experience;
- Understands how financial service providers and energy companies targeting low-income populations operate through extensive field experience;
- Understands macro-environments and implications for programmes like CleanStart, such as market situation (demand and supply), initiatives to promote urban and rural energy access and need for financial access for low-income households and relevant policies;
- Contributes to positive outcomes for the client (internal and external)
- Strives for high quality client-oriented services; Identifies needs and interventions for capacity building of counterparts, clients and potential partners;
- Works towards creating an enabling environment for a smooth relationship between the clients and service provider;
- Solicits feedback on service provision and quality;
- Demonstrates strong numerical and analytical skills;
- Experience in developing business plans for financial institutions including energy enterprises;
- Experienced in delivering training and capacity building to a wide range of stakeholders including financial institutions;
- Demonstrates excellent organizational and administrative skills;
- Comprehensive understanding and knowledge of project management cycles and tools, and utilizes these regularly in work assignments;
- Familiarity with UNCDF/UNDP rules and procedures will be seen as advantage, but not required.
- High proficiency in all Microsoft Office Applications, and ability to use them independently without support;
- Contributes to results through provision of information (internal & external)
- Provides information for linkages across programme activities to help identify critical points of integration;
- Proactive in identifying and building partnerships that create synergies with the CleanStart Programme;
- Has experience working with Monitoring and Evaluation tools;
- Effectively writes for a wide range of audiences, donors, government and UNCDF;
Core Competencies:
- Serves and promotes the vision, values and strategic goals of UNCDF and the CleanStart programme;
- Focused on delivering results by taking calculated-risks and problem solving approach;
- Collaborates effectively in a team environment;
- Fair and transparent decision making; regularly shares information with team members;
- Organized and good with following-up on pending issues; meets deadlines
- Clear and upfront communication skills;
- Good inter-personal skills;
- Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability;
- Promotes learning and knowledge management/sharing;
- Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modelling UN values and ethical standards;
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Master’s degree or higher in Finance, Engineering, Economics, business administration, or related fields;
Experience:
- A minimum of 5 years of relevant experience providing technical assistance to financial institutions in energy financing;
- Demonstrated track record in collaborating with private sector financial institutions and the government bodies in sectors relevant to the project;
- Demonstrated progression in work responsibilities.
Language Requirements:
- Demonstrated ability to speak and write well in English and Nepali;