Digital Economy Specialist

  •  Palladium International
    •  
  •  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Job Description

Job Title: Digital Economy Specialist 

Company Overview:

Palladium is a global leader in the design, development and delivery of Positive Impact - the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value. We work with foundations, investors, governments, corporations, communities and civil society to formulate strategies and implement solutions that generate lasting social, environmental and financial benefits. 

For the past 50 years, we have been making Positive Impact possible. With a team of more than 2,500 employees operating in 90 plus countries and a global network of more than 35,000 technical experts, Palladium has improved - and is committed to continuing to improve - economies, societies and most importantly, people's lives. 

Palladium is a child-safe organisation, and screens applicants for suitability to work with children. We also provide equal employment to all participants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran or marital status. 

Project Overview and Role:

CATALYZE is a $250 million 5 to 8-year program, designed to catalyze $2 billion in private capital, especially to underfinanced social sectors (such as education) and higher risk countries (especially low-income and post-conflict countries) around the globe, complemented by a cross-cutting inclusion of gender-lens investing. CATALYZE will provide services to many missions and bureaus that “buy in” to tap the CATALYZE investment and pay-for-results project management expertise. Our aim is for investors to explore and find commercially viable opportunities and approaches to creating jobs, developing sustainable social services, tightening and rationalizing supply chains, and advancing inclusive growth. 

CATALYZE: Market Systems for Growth (MS4G) will drive private enterprise expansion to catalyze Ethiopia’s future economic growth and prosperity. MS4G intends to foster enterprise-driven growth, especially among private enterprises that have high growth potential and the capacity to catalyze job creation throughout market systems. MS4G will address systemic challenges, including building business development services capacity, creating a more conducive business environment, building the financial sector infrastructure and capability within private finance providers, and expanding the digital economy. MS4G will catalyze private sector growth by improving access to finance and facilitating transactions through targeted interventions across market systems (demand, supply, and enabling environment). Expanded access to finance will also drive change across the market system by increasing business revenue and necessitating job creation. The program has an estimated life of project funding of $55-$70 million and is expected to operate for five years. 

While focus sectors will be finalized in collaboration with USAID during the inception phase, it is anticipated that they could include agribusiness, light manufacturing, and telecommunications & ICT (including fintech). Across all initiatives, there will be a cross-cutting focus on women and youth, as well as a focus on ensuring that disparate ethnic groups and regions equitably benefit from the interventions.  

The Digital Economy Specialist will support the Investment and Trade Transaction Advisor by providing  technical input to MS4G. This individual must be based in Addis Ababa to contribute to building the investment and trade pipeline, and enhance the opportunities to link more closely with other USAID/Ethiopia Mission-sponsored projects, private sector players and Government of Ethiopia (GoE) agencies and ministries on the urgent actions and partnerships needed to achieve the expected results. 

The Digital Economy Specialist will assess Ethiopia’s evolving digital ecosystem; support applications to digitally related financing; collaborate with technical team to integrate digital technology into MS4G project in a manner consistent with digital best practices. Expected outcomes under this objective include: 

  • Advance the digital economy to support business expansion and job growth  
  • Explore sustainable platforms for strengthening a consultative ICT council  
  • Enhance policy and regulatory capacity for digital economy growth  

 Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

 This role reports to the Investment and Trade Transaction Advisor. The position requires broad general and technical knowledge, significant coordination skills, experience in Ethiopia, and the ability to ensure coherence and consistency while under urgent deadlines. 

  • Build, support and close deals that develop digital solutions within the Ethiopian economy 
  • Conduct outreach with incubators, accelerators, and angel investor networks to identify opportunities to serve small, growing businesses 
  • Launch a Digital Investment Opportunity Assessment to identify opportunities for growth and job creation in ICT, across infrastructure, digital payment systems, telemedicine, e-commerce, online learning, and other sectors to be catalyzed through the upcoming partial privatization of Ethio Telecom and liberalization of the telecom sector 
  • Lead efforts to strengthen a sustainable consultative ICT council, such as an existing ICT trade association  
  • Utilize the Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA) framework to identify the priority policy and regulatory issues constraining digital development 
  • Engage key stakeholders to identify potential areas of policy intervention in the digital space, including strategic regulations, governance models and specific services and applications that contribute to increase productivity of the economy 
  • Strengthen the digital ecosystem (businesses, infrastructure, access (particularly for women), training, etc.) to catalyze market engagement across the economy, particularly in finance 
  • Enhance rural access both to the digital economy, and through the digital economy to sectors including agriculture, services, and light manufacturing 
  • Strengthen women’s economic empowerment through enhanced digital access, and enhance digital access to strengthen women’s economic empowerment 
  • Catalyze innovative digital financial tools and digital solutions across the economy, such as accessing weather information for farmers, real-time pricing information for local and regional markets, etc. 
  • Enhance information flow across the market systems 

Required Qualifications:

  • Experience supporting similar digital economy innovation and expansion activities in Ethiopia. 
  • Demonstrated experiences in: (i) ICT sector trends; (ii) digital business models; (iii) strategic regulation and public policy; (iii) practical development of the digital economy; and (vi) understanding of the Digital Economy Strategy of the Ethiopian
  • Government. 
  • Evidence of strong communication skills, both interpersonal and written, to fulfill the diverse technical requirements of the contract. 
  • Proven knowledge of Ethiopian finance, private enterprise, investment, trade, and digital economy issues 
  • Strong ability to communicate effectively and professionally in English. 

Preferred Qualifications:

  • A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in developing and supporting digital innovation 
  • Bachelor’s degree in a related field of study, e.g. Economics, International Development, Finance and Investment, Business Management, Enterprise Development.