JOB DETAILS:

Role Purpose

The Associate, Investments is responsible for supporting and leading the investment-related workstreams of Kwanza — including financial close support, developer compensation structuring and recovery, development cost tracking, financial modelling and analysis, grant and concessional capital sourcing, and investment analysis across the platform's active project pipeline. The Associate works closely with the Investments Analyst and progressively assumes ownership of defined investment workstreams, analyses, and transaction processes, while contributing independent views and supporting the overall execution of financing activities across the Platform.

Core Responsibilities

1. Developer Compensation – Market Benchmarking, Cost Recovery and Premium Structuring

Objective: Establish a rigorous, evidence-based, and defensible framework for Kwanza's developer fee and cost recovery position — ensuring the platform recovers its full development investment and an appropriate risk premium on every project it brings to financial close, without leaving money on the table.

• Conduct a deep and systematic research exercise into developer compensation structures across comparable infrastructure and energy transactions in sub-Saharan African markets — including IPP and IPT projects financed by equity funds, DFIs, development banks, and impact-oriented investors — establishing a defensible market benchmark range for developer fees, cost reimbursement, and development premiums.
• Working closely with the Accountant, build and maintain a project-level development cost register for each active project — capturing all costs incurred by the platform from origination through to the current stage, including staff time (benchmarked rates considered), consultant fees, regulatory costs, travel, studies, and third-party expenses — organised in a format that is auditable, investor-ready, and structured to support cost recovery negotiations.
• Develop Kwanza's developer compensation policy — a clear, documented internal framework that states the platform's basis for cost recovery, the methodology for calculating the development premium, the negotiating range the platform will defend, and the market evidence and precedent that supports each element.
• Support leadership in applying the developer compensation framework in live financial close negotiations — preparing the analytical materials, comparables, and structured arguments required to defend the platform's position with evidence and composure.
• Continuously update the market benchmark research as new transactions close and new precedents emerge — ensuring the platform's compensation position remains current, credible, and competitive.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• Within 60 days, deliver a market benchmarking report covering developer compensation structures across a minimum of ten comparable sub-Saharan African infrastructure transactions — with a documented range for cost recovery and premium that is supported by transaction evidence.
• Within 90 days, deliver a complete development cost register for each active project — built in collaboration with the Accountant — covering all costs incurred from origination to current date, coded by project, category, and development stage.
• Within 90 days, deliver Kwanza's developer compensation policy — a documented internal framework covering cost recovery basis, premium methodology, negotiating range, and supporting market evidence.
• Developer compensation framework actively applied in all live financial close negotiations from the point of completion — with no negotiation proceeding without a documented platform position supported by the framework.

2. Financial Modelling, Analysis and Investment Support

Objective: Provide rigorous, timely, and decision-oriented financial analysis across Kwanza's active project pipeline — building, interpreting, and stress-testing financial models that support investor discussions, financial close negotiations, and internal development decisions.

• Build, maintain, and continuously refine financial models for the platform's active projects — using AI-assisted modelling tools to improve speed, flexibility, and analytical depth across different infrastructure typologies.
• Develop appropriate funding models for novel or first-of-kind project structures where established templates do not exist — researching comparable financing approaches, identifying applicable instruments, and building bespoke models that reflect the specific risk, revenue, and capital structure of each project.
• Interpret financial model outputs in the context of investor discussions and financial close negotiations — translating complex modelling results into clear, accessible, and decision-oriented analysis that leadership can use directly in counterparty conversations.
• Run scenario analyses, sensitivity tests, and stress tests on active project models — identifying the key value drivers, downside risks, and financing constraints that are most likely to be interrogated by investors, lenders, and DFIs during due diligence.
• Work collaboratively with the Investments Analyst — functioning as an intellectual sounding board, challenging assumptions, stress-testing conclusions, and ensuring that analytical work is completed, documented, and followed through to a usable output.
• Support the preparation of financial sections of investor materials, information memoranda, financing presentations, and due diligence responses — ensuring that the numbers are accurate, the assumptions are clearly stated, and the narrative built around the model is coherent and compelling.
• (Note: The library of comparable transactions, financing structures, developer monetisation approaches, climate finance structures, and project preparation mechanisms is as part of the institutional knowledge repository.)

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• Financial models current, accurate, and accessible for all active projects at all times — with no model more than 30 days out of date without a documented reason.
• Scenario analyses and sensitivity outputs prepared for each active financial close project within 14 days of investor or leadership request.
• AI-assisted modelling framework established and documented within 90 days — covering the platform's standard approach to model construction, assumption setting, and output presentation across its primary project typologies.
• Funding model developed for each novel or first-of-kind project within 60 days of assignment — with clear documentation of the financing approach, applicable instruments, and key assumptions.

3. Grant Sourcing, Concessional Capital and Community Impact Funding

Objective: Identify, pursue, and secure grant funding and concessional capital across three distinct mandates — project preparation and development support, institutional growth funding for the platform, and community impact grants for the social footprint of Kwanza's projects.

• Identify equity investors, lenders, DFIs, climate finance facilities, philanthropic capital providers, project preparation facilities, and blended finance platforms relevant to the Platform's active and future projects — adding each to the investor and capital provider map.
• Identify and assess grant and concessional capital opportunities — covering project preparation facilities, technical assistance grants, blended finance instruments, climate finance mechanisms, institutional capacity grants, and community impact funding programmes relevant to the platform's projects and operations — feeding the opportunity register.
• Drive the grant pipeline across all three mandates — managing eligibility assessments, submission preparation, funder engagement, and active applications — with the pipeline dashboard, application status tracking, submission calendar, and reporting workflows.
• Lead the preparation and submission of grant applications, project preparation facility requests, and concessional capital proposals — developing compelling, evidence-based narratives that align the platform's projects and institutional needs with the specific objectives, criteria, and language of each target funder.
• Build and maintain relationships with grant-making institutions, climate finance facilities, development finance institutions, and impact-oriented foundations — understanding their evolving priorities, application processes, and decision-making frameworks.
• Develop the community impact narrative for each project — articulating the social, economic, and environmental outcomes generated by the project for surrounding communities in language and structure that resonates with community-focused grant funders and impact investors simultaneously.
• Ensure reporting obligations to grant funders are met on time and that awarded funds are applied in accordance with grant conditions.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• Minimum of ten new relevant capital providers identified and added to the platform investor map per quarter.
• Within 60 days, assess a minimum of fifteen relevant funding programmes across project preparation, institutional growth, and community impact mandates — with eligibility assessment, application timelines, and recommended prioritisation for each.
• Minimum of three grant or concessional capital applications submitted within the first six months of commencement.
• Active grant pipeline reviewed with leadership monthly — covering all opportunities under assessment, all applications in preparation or submitted, and all awards under  management.
• Zero grant reporting obligations missed or submitted late from the point of any award.

4. Development Economics, Cost Tracking and Investment Reporting

Objective: Maintain real-time visibility of the Kwanza's development cost position across all active projects — providing leadership with the financial intelligence needed to make informed decisions about project prioritisation, resource allocation, and investor engagement.

• Working with the Accountant, maintain an up-to-date development cost register across all active projects — ensuring that every cost incurred is captured, coded, and reflected within a defined timeframe of being recorded.
• Produce monthly and quarterly development cost reports for leadership — summarising the cumulative development investment per project, the burn rate against projected development budgets, and the implications for developer compensation recovery at financial close.
• Track and analyse the relationship between development costs and project progress — identifying projects where costs are running ahead of development milestones and flagging these to leadership with recommended interventions.
• Provide leadership with consolidated investment visibility across all active projects — covering development cost position, investor engagement status, grant pipeline, financial close progress, and developer compensation negotiation status — through the investment dashboard.
• Capture institutional knowledge generated through financing processes, investor interactions, grant applications, developer compensation negotiations, and transaction outcomes — submitting it to the institutional knowledge repository (financing precedent database, negotiation outcome archive, investor interaction history, lessons learned).

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• Development cost data submitted within five business days of receiving coded cost data from the Accountant — with zero projects lacking a current cost position at any monthly reporting cycle.
• Monthly development cost report delivered to leadership by the 15th of each month without exception.
• All material financing precedents and negotiation outcomes captured and submitted to the institutional knowledge repository within 30 days of occurrence.

5. Financial Close and Capital Raising Support

Objective: Support the successful achievement of financial close across the platform's active transactions — coordinating the investment and financing workstreams, managing investor interactions, and ensuring the platform's financial positioning is credible, current, and compelling throughout the closing process.

• Support the management of investor and lender relationships during financial close — preparing briefing materials, responding to due diligence queries, coordinating information flows, and maintaining the momentum of financing discussions.
• Prepare the financial content of the data room — financial models, cost registers, projections, sensitivity analyses, and financial due diligence materials — ensuring it is current and responsive to investor and lender requirements. The Associate maintains the data room structure, access control, and version management.
• Drive resolution of financial conditions precedent for each active transaction — working alongside the Associate, Project Development & Delivery — using the conditions-precedent tracker.
• Support the preparation of investor presentations, term sheet analyses, financing comparisons, and capital structure assessments required during financial close negotiations — running the numbers that leadership needs to make and defend financing decisions.
• Attend investor and lender meetings alongside leadership and the Investments Analyst — contributing to the analytical substance of discussions, supporting the Analyst in high-stakes settings, and ensuring that no question goes unanswered for lack of preparation.
• Respond to investor and lender financial queries through the query register — the system tracks due dates, reminders, and escalations; the Associate provides the responses.Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):
  • All financial due diligence content current and complete in the data room at all times during active financial close periods — with zero gaps identified by investors or lenders that were not already flagged internally.
  • Financial conditions precedent progressed and reviewed with the Associate, PD&D weekly during active closing periods.
  • Zero investor or lender financial queries outstanding beyond agreed response timeframes without documented explanation and escalation.

  Person Specification

  Education & Qualifications

  • Open to applicants aged between 24 – 30 years of age.
  • A Bachelor's degree in  Finance, Economics, Engineering, Business Administration, or a related discipline. The specific field matters less than the analytical capability and structured thinking it demonstrates.
  • Professional progress toward CFA, ACCA, or an equivalent financial qualification is an advantage.
  • Demonstrated proficiency in financial modelling — including the use of AI-assisted tools for model construction and analysis — is required.

  Attributes

  We are not primarily screening for years of experience or a specific career path. We are looking for a particular type of professional — someone whose effectiveness is defined less by what they have done previously and more by how they approach problems, ownership, and execution.

  Finance

  The right candidate for this role:

  • Forms independent views before seeking consensus. You do not wait to see what the room thinks before you commit to a position. You do your analysis, you reach a conclusion, and you are prepared to defend it — while remaining genuinely open to evidence that changes your mind.
  • Goes deep without being asked. When you are assigned a problem, you do not stop at the surface. You find the comparable transactions, you read the DFI guidelines, you build the model, and you come back with an answer that is grounded in evidence — not an answer that is grounded in what you think leadership wants to hear.
  • Is comfortable in a negotiation room. You can sit across from an equity investor or a DFI investment officer or an impact fund manager, present an analytical position, and hold your ground when challenged — calmly, with evidence, without becoming defensive or deferential.
  • Brings energy and intellectual rigour to collaborative work. You understand that your relationship with the Investments Analyst is complementary, not competitive in a zero-sum sense. You chal