View Vacancy - Global Trade Programme Manager, Prosperity Fund, Nigeria (based in Lagos) 22/18 LOS

Main purpose of job:

We are seeking a motivated and high performing trade and investment analyst to carry out research for a feasibility study which will inform the development of business cases for the Global Trade Programme (GTP) in Nigeria. The post holder will also be the programme manager of the GTP in Nigeria and will be responsible for the successful delivery of the programme.

This new role will bring together a high level of responsibility in a high-performing, high profile and dynamic  environment, working closely with policy and economic leads in the FCO, DIT and DFID in country and in the UK, various government ministries, department and agencies and businesses in Nigeria (or interested in doing business with the country). It is an ideal role for a highly motivated analyst and manager who wants to be at the heart of trade policy development and programme activity, and build their leadership and communication skills.

The focus of the Global Trade Programme in Nigeria  will be to:

•  Reduce poverty and stimulate inclusive, sustainable economic growth;
• Open new markets for international businesses, including UK companies;
• Supplement wider Embassy/HMG efforts to reduce barriers to trade; 
• Strengthen the UK/Nigeria trading relationship in the lead up to the UK leaving the EU in March 2019
• Align itself with equivalent UK programmes in other middle-income ODA-eligible countries
• Have impact in Nigeria and demonstrate an exemplary, creative new approach to ODA spending

Roles and responsibilities

Prosperity is one of the UK’s three Foreign Policy Priorities.  We seek to ‘build the UK’s prosperity by increasing exports and investment, opening markets, ensuring access to resources, and promoting sustainable global growth’.

One tool for achieving this objective is a £1.2bn five-year Cross-Government Prosperity Fund, which was launched in April 2016 to help promote economic growth in developing countries.  The purpose of the Prosperity Fund is to reduce poverty, by:

•  Promoting economic reforms and removing barriers to trade
• Strengthening policy capacity and building strong institutions
• Developing sectors which support growth

In Nigeria, HMG’s objective is to support sustainable economic growth and mutual prosperity. The £150m Global Trade Programme will provide technical assistance to support key target ODA-eligible Middle Income countries, including, but not limited to India, China, Turkey, Nigeria, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Our objectives are to boost economic growth and combat poverty, and support these countries to trade more effectively and efficiently with the rest of the world, including the UK. We will do this by focusing on tackling non-tariff barriers to trade, including regulatory reforms, intellectual property rights, standards, and streamlining customs procedures. These non-tariff barriers will form the core of programme activity. It is vital our analysis and research clarifies what the main NTBs are, the main issues in addressing these barriers, and how the UK can best support the government over the coming years to alieviate them.

Your role will be to initially support this process by carrying out feasibility study, and then subsequently manage the programme from Post. The role will feed into the ‘service manager’ based in London; the core programme research and analysis function likely to be composed of trade experts, lawyers, and analysts. Trade is currently the priority sector for Ministers. You will support broader HMG trade objectives and act as our key contact point in Nigeria as we build what will be a first of its kind programme for the Foreign Office.

Nigeria is the largest African economy and one of the UK’s top trading partners on the continent. Nigeria aspires to be an industrial partner for the UK and the economic hub for the UK in Africa. Nigeria’s trade policy has been historically protectionist. However, the Government is committed to the diversification and growth of the economy and has appointed  a team working on trade and investment. This includes Federal Ministry for Industry Trade and Investment (FMITI), the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC). These MDAs are led by highly driven, reform-minded professionals with relevant expertise.

 A number of trade-related engagement platforms hold promise for Nigeria to work towards a more rational, open and friendly trading environment:

• Nigeria-UK Economic Development Forum - During the Prime Minister’s visit to Africa in August 2018, Nigeria signed a MoU with the UK to boost economic cooperation through regular bilateral ministerial dialogue around the Economic Development Forum (EDF). This entail identifying and progressively removing mutual market barriers to bilateral trade and investment – both short term and longer term regulatory issues. Barriers removal might benefit from strategic technical assistance as well as selected technical infrastructural investment.
• Africa Continental Free Trade Area - Although not having officially signed up to the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, Nigeria has led the continental process from the start and has already prepared technical schedules for goods and services due in Phase 1 of AfCFTA (unlike many signatory countries). It has also launched a country-wide stakeholder consultation process around the CFTA that has been highlighted as a good practice across the continent and which has informed the definition of the technical schedules. Phase 2 will require agreeing rules for investment, competition, intellectual property and – possibly – e-commerce. This phase as well as the subsequent implementation may call for technical assistance to participating Nigerian stakeholders, primarily but not only in the area of trade facilitation.
• WTO Trade Faciliation Agreement (TFA) - Nigeria already submitted its cat. A, B and C commitments after ratifying the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). Moving from commitment to implementation will require resources and technical assistance.

The role of the job holder will be broken down into three stages: analysis, inception, and implementation. Core responsibilities will include:

• Conducting detailed research and analysis on four key Non Tariff Barriers to trade in Nigeria; in order of priority, trade facilitation, standards, regulation, and intellectual property.
• Carrying out an in-depth stakeholder mapping exercise to understand the activities that other donors, such as World Bank, US aid, OECD or European Union etc or the countries themselves are undertaking in removing non-tariff barriers.
• Assess likely impacts of addressing each barrier in Nigeria.
• Identify windows of opportunity for reform of the trading environment, including around the multilateral (WTO), continental (AfCFTA), international (UK-Nigeria EDF) regional (ECOWAS CET) and domestic trade agenda. This includes political economy analysis with identification of opportunities and key reform change agents GTP can constructively engage with.
• Collating trade research such as trade audits, market access studies, and bilateral reports to support the service manager with accurate, exploratory in country analysis.
• Contributing to a London-led procurement exercise to contract a service manager, highlighting and presenting opportunities and any local risks or issues.
• Building a strong network for the High Commission and Deputy High Commission amongst trade stakeholders in the Federal Government of Nigeria, state governments, civil society and business.
• Developing strong relations with trade leads in London including Department for International Trade, Department for Exiting the EU, and Foreign and Commonwealth Office, DIT and DFID colleagues to ensure you become a key reference advisor on our trading relationship with Nigeria.
• Developing strong relations with other Global Trade Programme priority country leads such as South Africa and Brazil, sharing lessons learnt as and when appropriate.
• Using this network and knowledge to refine a cross-cutting Embassy Trade Strategy, which the Global Trade programme will form an integral part.
• Communicating the key outcomes of the feasibility study to the service provider, making connections with appropriate stakeholders when required.
• Acting as the conduit between a future  service provider/delivery partner and all key stakeholders in Nigeria, and support the defining of the Global Trade Programme strategy throughout the inception period.
• Ensuring that the programme complements and does not overlap  with other Prosperity Fund and DFID Economic Development programme work on  business environment, investment promotion, future cities, skills and anti-corruption
• Securing UK credit in working up the programme details with beneficiaries.
• Ensuring the programme is run effectively and activity is aligned with the two core Prosperity fund objectives, and that risks are mitigated appropriately.
• Reporting to the service manager and the Global Trade Programme operational board in London.
• De-conflicting the programme with other UK-funded work in Nigeria, namely funded by the Department for International Development, either through centrally managed programmes or country-office managed. The programme should also factor in and synergize with other eventual programmes by development partners other than the UK.
• Ensure that the UK gets due credit for successes, and that Nigeria’s contribution to the overall programme’s annual reviews has impact.
• Deploying diplomatic levers to support the programme’s primary aim of reducing poverty
• Deploying commercial levers to support the programme’s secondary aim of opening new markets

Throughout this period you will also need to

• Ensure the Nigeria programme complies with the International Development Act, including the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014, including ambitions on women’s economic opportunities; meets the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC)’s criteria; is untied; meets UK government transparency commitments on ODA spend; and complies with HMG audit requirements.
• Identify and manage risks to successful programme implementation.
• Keep abreast of trade policy developments in Nigeria and the UK, using this knowledge to spot opportunities for programme interventions which support better and effective non oil trade activity in Nigeria.
• Along with the Senior Regional Trade Policy Adviser in Lagos, to whom the post holder will report, champion trade policy and market access issues and work closely with other Prosperity team colleagues from the Department for International Development (DFID), Department for International Trade (DIT) and FCO.
• Maintain a strong network with your colleagues in the UK, and counterparts in other priority Global Trade Programme countries, adapting the programme on the basis of lessons learnt (this will involve international travel to, for example, work alongside the service manager and programme team in London).

We are looking for a proactive, creative self-starter who can prioritise to operate in a fast-paced environment, largely unsupervised, delivering to deadlines.  S/he will need excellent interpersonal and communications skills to build strong relations with key contacts in the Federal Government of Nigeria, other Nigerian stakeholders, including in the business community, as well as contributing the joint DFID/DIT/FCO prosperity team in Nigeria and with stakeholders in the UK. 

• Graduate with a relevant university degree and at least five years of experience in a relevant field
• Experience of trade policy reform, ideally in the Non-Tariff Barrier and trade facilitation field.
• Broad understanding of the Nigerian business environment, ideally having worked both in the public/private sectors. Thorough understanding of poverty reduction and gender equality issues and how trade could have an impact on them.
• Experience in developing policy advice/analysis and delivering successful programmes.
• Minimum five years’ experience in programme management, ideally in a development context.
• Experience of delivering high quality reports.
• Experience of delivering value for money projects / programmes. Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Analytical skills / attention to detail.
• Computer literate, working with Microsoft Windows and able to manage information effectively with available computer systems.
• Excellent stakeholder mapping skills and experience of engaging, influencing and building credibility with a range of different stakeholders.