Senior Investment Professional (Debt/Equity), Co-investments With Crowdlenders Mandate

Organization
Persistent
Location
Nigeria or Kenya
Job Type
Full-time
Deadline for Applications
02/12/2025
How to Apply
Applications (CV + half-page cover letter) to be sent to join@persistent.energy
Where to Apply
https://persistent.energy/opening/senior-investment-professional-debt-equity-co-investments-with-crowdlenders-mandate/
Tags
Full-time

Applications to be considered on a rolling basis.

We are Persistent in our quest to build climate ventures in Africa.

Persistent is the leading Climate Venture Builder in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We are pioneer investors, thought leaders and Venture Builders driving climate friendly investments in, amongst others, the distributed renewable energy (DRE), e-mobility, energy efficiency, eco-system enablers and other climate technologies.

We believe that building commercially successful climate impact ventures in emerging markets can both make the world a better place and provide attractive financial returns.

We believe that climate change is the biggest challenge of our time and therefore focus on companies that proliferate renewable energy and other climate-mitigating solutions to customers in emerging markets.

Our model is simple. We bring expertise and experience, as well as the right financial capital to start-up companies. The Persistent team can provide business and financial modeling, fundraising, legal and tax structuring, technology architecture, digital strategy, and HR management expertise.

Our model is unique for two reasons. First, we go beyond boardroom advice, roll up our sleeves and fill operational roles. Our sector experience helps companies avoid making mistakes we have already seen in the sector.  Second, due to our close involvement and deep experience, we can provide risk-tolerant capital to our companies in the most flexible way.

In addition to its core investing and Venture Building business, Persistent also brings its expertise to two investment advisory mandates: the 49M EUR Clean Energy and Energy Inclusion for Africa Foundation (“CEI Africa”) and the 120M USD Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund (“EEGF”) – being active part of the investment teams as well as providing hands-on support to the respective investees.

Our model provides positive impact and financial returns because we only work with exceptional entrepreneurs, are backed by the most visionary investors, institutions, and foundations, and because we are Persistent.

About CEI Africa 

CEI Africa was set up by KfW on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).  The purpose of the Foundation is to promote the development of clean energy sources for people in sparsely populated areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. Persistent is responsible for defining and running the part of CEI Africa dedicated to co-investing with Crowdlenders in mini-grid and off-grid solar companies in Africa. Persistent’s partners in running CEI Africa are Triple Jump and GreenMax Capital.

Your role
We are looking for an exceptional investment professional with a pronounced entrepreneurial mindset and extensive (7+ years) experience to join our work on CEI Africa.

Your Responsibilities:

  • Actively lead due diligence activities including:
    • Analyze business models to identify and communicate key business and market attractiveness.
    • Build/analyze (project finance) financial models to identify and communicate key business drivers, funding requirements, and financial risks.
    • Lead investment memo preparation and associated presentations to secure approvals from CEI’s investment committee.
    • Oversee / manage different due-diligence workstreams of colleagues / consultants: e.g. KYC, Legal, Technical, E&S.
  • Liaise with and negotiate with investees and our Crowdlender investment partners.
  • Portfolio management activities, including reporting, monitoring, and possibly board representation post-investment.
  • Support Persistent’s mandate including coordinating operational administration, liaison with the consortium and Supervisory Council, stakeholder engagement with Crowdlenders and other industry players.
  • Support Technical Assistance activities of the Foundation through identifying value-add initiatives for Crowdlenders and investees.
  • Identify and evaluate new investment opportunities following the Foundation’s investment policy and strategy.
    Your impact will be evaluated by the following KPIs: Value, impact and revenue generated through efficient and effective management of the CEI Africa mandate.

Your Profile

  • Entrepreneurial mindset/experience: you learn quickly and get your hands dirty; you can operate in a fast-paced environment; you’re a self-starter; you take full ownership of assigned tasks/ projects and deliver on time and of quality.
  • 7+ years’ experience in institutional lending to/investing in energy companies Sub-Saharan Africa; working on deal origination, due diligence, deal negotiation, and deal structuring. Preference for strong experience in debt / project finance, equity investing experience a plus.
  • You have strong project and stakeholder management skills, including experience in successful negotiation.
  • You have advanced excel (project finance) modeling skills and can conduct detailed financial analysis generating actionable insights.
  • Team player with strong project management and investment skills: You can take ownership of key workstreams / lead investment processes while empowering and coaching other team members.
  • Location & Travel: You are based in Africa (preferably can legally live and work in Kenya or Nigeria) and are able to travel as needed.

Ideally, you will also have the following:

  • ACCA, CFA
  • BSc. Eng.

Build with us
Our culture at Persistent is entrepreneurial, collaborative, and flexible. We seek talented people who are passionate about impact and have a drive for excellence. We offer a dynamic work environment where we work closely with our fast-moving partner companies located in more than a dozen countries in Africa.

Join us at Persistent and benefit from:

Impact: An opportunity to work directly with energy companies in underserved markets and create lasting social and environmental impact.

Steep learning curve: You will join a small, but experienced team that will enable you to become a multi-skilled professional in a short period of time and build the confidence to embrace and tackle most business challenges.

Opportunity to take initiative: Leverage your expertise to create practical and relevant solutions for companies on the frontline and see concrete outcomes of your work.

Flexibility: Exercise a significant amount of discretion in determining what you do and how you do it.

Persistent is a workplace that gives you the flexibility to balance the requirements of work and private life. While you may frequently travel, you will also be able to work from home when necessary and make use of flexible hours and family focused leave policies. We also offer attractive compensation that is designed to reward your performance and impact over the long term.

Applications (CV + half-page cover letter) to be sent to join@persistent.energy