You will work in collaboration with Restore Local’s Portfolio Specialist in Ghana to identify and screen potentially investable restoration enterprises and farmer cooperatives. You will recommend them for participation in capacity or investment programs, scope their investment needs, and enable partnerships with selected mission-aligned investors to unlock finance for SMEs that operate in restorative value chains.

You will focus on channelling investment to companies located in or sourcing from the Ghana Cocoa Belt, working in close coordination and collaboration with Restore Local’s Investor Coalition lead, as well as with Restore Local staff in Ghana and the wider WRI TerraFund and Restore Local teams.

You will collaborate with WRI’s experts in capacity building, finance, policy, project management, and monitoring to ensure successful project implementation and expansion. Additionally, you will support the reporting and monitoring of funded enterprises via WRI’s TerraMatch system. You will integrate equity into your work.

You will report to the Enterprise Manager and Investor Coalition Lead based in Kenya.

What will you do:

Finance and Program Management (80%):

Support the TerraFund team to identify and engage with companies operating in restorative value chains

Scope investment needs and identify investment readiness gaps of potentially investable restoration enterprises and farmer cooperatives. Regularly update and maintain a pipeline tracker to provide real-time visibility into potential capacity building and investment opportunities

Work with Restore Local capacity building partners to ensure that selected enterprises receive the necessary investment readiness support, positioning them to meet the requirements of impact investors and financial institutions, as well as enhancing their business models to maximize on restoration impact

In close coordination and collaboration with the Investor Coalition Lead and other team members, scope, structure and manage partnerships with mission aligned and complimentary blended finance investment funds, impact investors, and financial institutions to drive investment into restoration

Conduct outreach and communications in Ghana, including presenting at internal and external meetings, conferences, workshops, etc.

Support management of the implementation of TerraFund-finance enterprises across the Restore Local landscapes, where so requested, ensuring that they submit accurate and timely reports and geospatial polygons of their areas of influence

Contribute to and help achieve the targets of the Restore Local team in Ghana

Technical Assistance, Research & Communications (20%):

Support enterprises in creating cashflow statements, projections and other financial documentation of interest to current and prospective investors

Share updates on the financial state of the enterprise portfolio based on analysis of financial documents

Analyze the funding landscape for restoration enterprises in Restore Local landscapes and contribute to WRI research on private investment in African restoration enterprises.

What will you need:

Education: You have completed a bachelor’s in business administration, agriculture, forestry, or other related field. Relevant work experience in lieu of degree is accepted

Experience: You have a 5+ years of relevant, full-time work working in SME finance and enterprise development

Experience in agroforestry, sustainable agriculture or the land restoration sector, as well as with projects or investments with a social equity and or gender focus

Experience in financial management and analysis with demonstrated capacity to use financial analysis tools

Experience with investment project preparation, due diligence and appraisal for small and medium enterprises

Experience convening stakeholders from multiple backgrounds and with diverse interests around a shared vision and working in a multi-disciplinary and intercultural team

Strong written and oral communication skills, especially communicating technical concepts to non-technical audiences

Familiarity with project management tools such as Airtable and Asana

Willingness and ability to regular travel regionally and internationally.

Languages: You are proficient in written and spoken English. French is preferred, in addition

Requirements: Existing work authorization is required where this position is based. WRI is unable to authorize visa work authorization.