JOB DESCRIPTION

SME FINANCE AND INVESTMENT EXPERT

Consultancy contract for 4 months.

Position based in Ghana (West Africa) for 4 months

Program and organization descriptions

Ethical Apparel Africa Association (EAAA) is working with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) to catalyse growth of the industrial textile & garment manufacturing sector in Ghana. All of the building blocks are in place for Ghana to develop a highly competitive, world class apparel manufacturing sector. It offers the UK and EU shipping times of 15-20 days, and potential for similar lead times to the US through direct routing. Ghana also has strong cost competitiveness fundamentals, with a low cost of living and duty-free advantages delivering 12% saving in the EU/UK and up to 32% saving in the USA. Finally, Ghana’s access to West Africa’s abundant cotton production creates strong potential to provide a vertically integrated offering to brands, including significant organic and better varieties.

This initiative to catalyze the sector’s growth in Ghana is divided into two primary workstreams:

Skills development and technical upgrading of domestic garment manufacturers
Attracting Foreign Direct Investment to develop garment and textiles factories in Ghana.

The intervention is running for 12 months from June 2019 through June 2020. The project will strengthen operations and investment prospects of domestic garment manufacturing firms, facilitate increased export orders, and attract large-scale foreign investment into the sector -- holistically accelerating the growth of Ghana’s high potential apparel sector.

We are recruiting for an Expert Consultant to play a key leadership role in attracting investment. This role will entail:

Attracting equity investment for domestic garment manufacturers: Working alongside domestic factories to prepare them for investment and facilitate introductions / negotiations with prospective investors.
Support EAAA’s efforts to attract foreign direct investment in textile processing: EAAA’s objective is to establish an MOU between government and first-mover textile firms to establish vertically integrated operations in Ghana. EAAA is establishing interest from textile firms that may want to partner with DFIs (Development Finance Institutions) or other investors as equity partners to move forward on this type of investment (level £20M+). This person will play a leading role in facilitating and structuring these conversations.

Position overview

As outlined the SME Finance & Investment Expert will play an essential role in driving forward this effort to develop what could become the world’s next major apparel manufacturing hub. This role will be a 4-month Consultancy engagement and should be based mainly in Ghana. We are open to 4 months full time or a part time role over a longer period.

Primary responsibilities for the role are as follows.

Focus: attracting investment for domestic firms

Build the capacity of Domestic SMEs: Provide hands-on assistance to domestic garment manufacturers to improve their investment readiness -- including a review of financial systems / accounting, support to deliver financial projections, and coaching on development of a strong investment deck articulating their vision for growth.
Facilitate investment connections for Domestic SMEs: Establish connections to prospective investors for growth capital injection into these SMEs. Assist the supported firms to present a compelling vision to attract growth investment. Coach supported firms on ensuing discussions and negotiations, particularly on understanding and responding to investment term sheets.
Develop a prospective investor pipeline: As a deliverable of the project, share a pipeline of prospective investors that could be a fit for investment into this sector / into SMEs.

Focus: foreign investment in textile processing

Financially model government incentives for textile processing: EAAA is working with the Ministry of Trade & Industry to establish a set of incentives that could be offered to first mover textile processing investments. You will lead the financial modeling of these potential incentives to assess return on investment (in terms of growth, jobs, tax income) for the Ghana government.
Engage potential investors: Work with EAAA and MOTI to follow up on outreach to foreign textile mills interested in investing in Ghana. Present and develop traction with Development Finance Institutions around the opportunity to support such an investment through equity / debt. Lead work to support these firms to understand opportunities for co-investment (equity and debt) by DFIs or other prospective third party investors.
Conduct diligence: Diligence prospective textile firms and investors looking to benefit from Ghana Government incentives to understand their track record and financial health / identify potential risks.
Build MOTI capabilities: Work with MOTI on modeling incentives and build their capacity to refine this framework based on investor input.

Qualifications & Attributes

Proven experience and knowledge of SME finance operations and preparing for investment
Strong personal network or conduit through which to engage global investors
Skills and experience developing high-level financial and operational blueprint of new garment and textile manufacturing operations
Experience of working in Africa would be an advantage
Strong communication skills and versatility in collaborating with investors, government representatives and other project team members
Project management and training skills and experience
Knowledge of the textiles and garment sector and factory operations would be a benefit

Benefits

Consultancy compensation relative to candidate profile and degree of time investment agreed
Business Expenses covered
Opportunity to play a critical role in the development of the industry in the next frontier of apparel manufacturing
Opportunity to work for an award-winning, dynamic, and mission driven company

How to apply

Kindly send a resume and a separate and specific cover letter for this position to talent@ethicalapparelafrica.com, using the reference “Finance & Investment Expert” as the subject of your email
Only complete applications with accurate references will be considered and only the most qualified consultants will be shortlisted for interview
Role starts as soon as possible.