Energy Advisor, DRC

Power Africa is an initiative that brings together 12 United States Government agencies to leverage large-scale resources and expertise of the private and public sector, to expand access to power across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The initiative aims to increase installed power capacity by 30,000 MW, to create 60 million new electricity connections to households and businesses, and to support the development of a strong enabling environment for the power sector.

TBI, in coordination with United States Agency for International Development (USAID), implements the Power Africa Senior Advisors Group (SAG) Program to support effective government leadership in Power Africa partner countries to increase the availability of, and access to, power.

The Program deploys Energy Advisors embedded in local institutions (e.g. ministries of energy, utilities, rural electrification agencies, and regulatory authorities) for assignments of 2-4 years typically.

The Energy Advisors assist sector leaders to make improvements on strategy, planning and  policy implementation. At the moment, advisory work is being undertaken in Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nigeria and Senegal, as well at with regional intergovernmental organizations. 

The Insitute is planning to expand the Program into the DRC, where a TBI partnership with the Government of the DRC was launched at the end of 2020. At present, the partnership covers his advisory work to improve the country’s business climate, investment promotion, digital transformation and energy sector development.

TBI is looking to recruit an Energy Advisor to be embedded within the recently established Rural Electrification Agency (ANSER) to provide direct advisory support as the agency implements an ambitious rural and peri-urban electrification program to electrify 15 million people by 2024 through decentralised energy solutions, including solar home systems and mini grids.

The Energy Advisor, operating under TBI’s SAG Program and as part of TBI’s country team,  will  lead TBI’s provision of strategic and technical support to ANSER in all areas related to off-grid energy access.   

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­The Energy Advisor will:

• Advise counterparts at ANSER to set out viable plans and deliver on energy access priorities. This will include , advising ANSER on rural electrification planning approaches and assisting on its roll-out, supporting the operationalization of a rural electrification fund , reviewing off-grid project documents to assess their technical and economical viability, advising on key policy and regulatory reforms to improve the off-grid environment, engaging with partners to ensure coordination and mobilisation of available resources, as well as overall project management and delivery support to ANSER
• Provide analysis and recommendations to Power Africa regarding power sector issues in the DRC, with an emphasis on access to energy services, particularly off-grid technologies
• Identify areas where direct engagement at political level is required and coordinate these engagements in collaboration with the Chief of Party (CoP), Deputy CoP – Technical Lead and Access Lead
• Coordinate closely with the wider TBI country team in the DRC, especially around the wider energy policy advisory work and building relationships with donors, stakeholders and government counterparts
• Proactively identify risks and issues affecting workstream delivery and promptly communicate upwards with options for solutions
• Support scoping for new programing and business development, as needed
• Represent the SAG Program vis-à-vis USAID and Power Africa focal points, other Power Africa implementing partners, and with wider government and development partners as agreed with the CoP and TBI’s Country Head in the DRC

Accountability:

• Accountability for identifying and providing advisory deliverables of the highest technical quality to the Government of the DRC, as agreed in the Annual Work Plans for the SAG Program, under the overall management of the CoP
• Accountability for managing relationships with ANSER and TBI’s wider set of stakeholders in the DRC, under the overall management by TBI’s Country Head in the DRC
• Accountability for supporting TBI in identifying and advancing programmatic opportunities in the area of access to energy services and related areas

Responsibility:

• Obtain and ensure access and trust with key counterparts in the DRC
• Position the SAG Program’s workstreams in the DRC for most relevance and effectiveness, with the support of TBI’s Country and Power Africa teams
• Set out deliverables and activities for the DRC in the Annual Work Plans of the SAG Program
• Deliver on deliverables and activities defined in the Annual Work Plans of the SAG Program
• Report on the delivery of results and on activities
• Proactively identify and advance opportunities for new programming, including deepening or widening the advisory activities under the SAG Program in the area of access to energy
• Communicate and coordinate closely with TBI’s Power Africa, DRC and Energy Practice teams

Judgement:

• Identify risks for TBI and the donor community in relation to all aspects of program implementation in the DRC, particularly technical advisory and partnership aspects
• Independently and proactively assess how to best engage government leaders and their teams to position the Program in the DRC
• Independently and proactively assess when and how to engage across TBI (country and regional teams, as well as teams based in TBI’s London headquarters) as well as with donors and other external stakeholders to best position and deliver on technical advisory activities. Close coordination with TBI’s Country Head in the DRC, the Progam’s CoP, Deputy CoP - Technical Lead and Energy Access Lead will be required
• Identify best entry points and strategies for supporting Power Africa’s partner governments on policy, planning and delivery of access to energy services

Ambition:

• Technical advisory activities undertaken in the DRC under the SAG Program are of the highest technical quality and are responsive to political, institutional, technical and economic realities
• Knowledge and experience around access to energy services are systematically developed and applied, and learning is facilitiated in the SAG Program team around relevant technical areas, including power sector development and governance
• Opportunities for relevant advisory activities are identified and pursued
• Considerations and activities of the Energy Practice and the SAG Program are coordinated and aligned from the perspective of technical advisory content

Applicants should have:

• At least 5 years’ of power sector experience
• Proven expertise in the off-grid sector (both the solar home system (SHS) and mini-grid markets), ideally including knowledge of least-cost integrated planning approaches, specific enabling policies and regulations for SHS and mini-grids, financial modelling and feasibility assessments of off-grid projects
• Experience working in developing economies, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, is desirable
• Proven ability to articulate technical expertise with analytical and communication skills to produce high quality advisory deliverables
• Strong political acumen to navigate in complex environments and best position the Program.
• Ability to proactivally identify engagement opportunities in the energy field, define program strategies and drive their implementation
• Work collaboratively with colleagues and perform other duties as reasonably required to achieve the goals of the country and program teams
• Fluency in French and English is required