Energy Advisor, Togo, Power Africa Senior Advisors Group (SAG) Program

Focus of the Role

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 Institute is planning to expand the Program into different countries, such as Togo, where a TBI partnership with the Government has been in place since 2017. The current work of TBI’s Togo project is focused on two key objectives, in line with the Presidential priorities articulated in Togo’s newly adopted National Roadmap 2025:

• Strengthening TBI’s support to the Centre of Government, including the Presidency Cabinet and its direct teams
• Reinforcing and extending delivery support to line ministries in key sectors, including agriculture, logistics and energy, to address critical capacity gaps and strengthen coordination among ministries

TBI is looking to recruit an Energy Advisor to be embedded within the Ministry of Energy in Togo to provide direct advisory support to the Minister and her team. The Energy Advisor, who will operate as part of TBI’s SAG Program and TBI’s country team,  will lead TBI’s provision of strategic and technical support to the Ministry on a number of priorities such as the operationalization of the “electricity for all” fund  and the review of the sector’s architecture.

Key Responsibilities

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­The Energy Advisor will:

• Advise counterparts at the Ministry to set out viable plans and deliver on its priorities. This will include: advising the Ministry on the design and operationalization of an “electricity for all” fund to accelerate both off-grid and on-grid connections, advising on key policy and regulatory reforms to improve the off-grid sector, reviewing the sector’s institutional architecture, engaging with public and private partners to ensure coordination and mobilisation of available resources, as well as overall project management and delivery support to the Ministry of Energy
• Provide analysis and recommendations to Power Africa regarding power sector issues in Togo, with an emphasis on access to energy policies
• 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 Togo, especially around the wider energy policy advisory work, and build 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 Togo

Person Specification

Applicants should have:

Specification and Know-How:

• At least 7 years of experience in the energy sector
• Robust knowledge of main regulatory issues of the power sector, such as end-user tariff methodologies, unbundling and third party access (TPA)
• Deep understanding of the financial and technical dynamics of the off-grid sector, such as mini-grids, solar home systems (SHS), customers’ access and productive uses of energy
• Ability to perform financial analysis and evaluation of business plans
• Proven ability to articulate technical expertise with analytical and communication skills to produce high quality advisory deliverables
• Experience working in developing economies, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, is desirable
• 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

Accountability:

• Accountability for identifying and providing advisory deliverables of the highest technical quality to the Government of Togo, as agreed in the Annual Work Plans for the SAG Program, under the overall management of the CoP
• Accountability for managing relationships with the Ministry of Energy and TBI’s wider set of energy stakeholders in the Togo, under the overall management by TBI’s Country Head in Togo
• 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 Togo
• Position the SAG Program’s workstreams in Togo for most relevance and effectiveness, with the support of TBI’s Country and Power Africa teams
• Set out deliverables and activities for Togo 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 SAG Program, Togo, and Energy and Climate Practice teams

Judgement:

• Identify risks for TBI and the donor community in relation to all aspects of program implementation in Togo, particularly technical advisory and partnership aspects
• Independently and proactively assess how to best engage government leaders and their teams to position the Program in Togo
• 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 Togo, the Progam’s CoP, Deputy CoP - Technical Lead and 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 Togo 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

About The Institute

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) is a mission-driven not for profit organisation. We exist to equip political leaders and governments to build open, inclusive and prosperous societies. We work hard, every day, to make a difference. When governments work well they are able to create economic and social change in a way that promotes fairness, social justice and opportunity. We work relentlessly to support leader and governments with the challenges they face. Giving them practical solutions and actionable insights, that once implemented, can be transformative for their people  

We do this within two connected divisions: 

 Government Advisory 

Our Government Advisory teams work directly with political leaders and governments around the world to implement reforms that improve the lives of their citizens. It works with a variety of partners and its outputs cover a range of disciplines and projects across countries in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South Asia.

 Policy Futures 

Our Policy Futures work encompasses three broad areas: 

• Renewing the Centre: developing a bold and innovative domestic policy programme to help renew the centre ground of British politics; 
• Tech and Public Policy: exploring the policy challenges and opportunities presented by the technological revolution; and 
• Extremism Policy Unit: creating solutions designed to tackle the threat of extremist ideologies in the UK and around the world. 

As an organisation, the core beliefs we all embrace are: 

• Open and Progressive: you’ll believe in the value of teamwork 
• Bold and Pragmatic: you’ll approach everything you do with integrity and authenticity 
• Optimistic Changemaker: you’ll be focused on results 

TBI believes embracing diversity and inclusion make us a better place to work.  It’s our goal to reflect everyone in society and we actively welcome applications from individuals and groups who are under-represented in the workplace. We celebrate difference be it ethnicity, religion, age, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation or disability. We will only ever assess you on your abilities and fit for a role. We’re happy to discuss any adjustments you need to ensure a level playing field during recruitment and, if you\'re successful, discuss any adjustments you might need to thrive in your role.