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January 2010. The Lead Economist will provide strategic advice to the country director and lead the economic dialogue with the Nigerian authorities and development partners. S/he would would also lead high-profile lending operations and Analytic and Advisory Activities (AAA) and provide intellectual leadership and quality assurance for the PREM team covering Nigeria, which currently consists of 4 additional economists, all located in Abuja.
The Africa Region of the World Bank covers 47 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. As reflected in the Africa Action Plan, Bank support aims at: strengthening the results framework for achieving impact at the country level; building capable states and improving governance; supporting the drivers of growth; ensuring that the benefits from growth are shared broadly; and leveraging IDA assistance by strengthening partnerships. To this end, the Region has an active and diverse work program encompassing significant IDA operations, HIPC debt relief, a diverse program of analytical work, and a large portfolio of almost 400 projects under supervision. The Region has been at the forefront of work on PRSPs and accompanying PRSCs; and post-conflict countries. Over 1,400 staff work in the Region; and more than 50 percent are based in the 37 country offices. The core values guiding our work are passion for our mission of sustainable poverty reduction, putting the needs of the client at the center of all our activities, trust and respect as a common currency, intellectual rigor and curiosity, honesty and integrity, teamwork, and openness to learning and the courage to admit we do not always have the answer.
The Africa Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Group (AFR PREM) plays a key role in implementing the Africa Action Plan. It has particularly significant responsibilities in strengthening efforts to: support shared growth; build sustainable and effective institutions; and deepen results orientation.
The AFTP3 unit comprises about 30 staff working on Nigeria and 10 Central African countries (Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe). The countries in the unit are Anglophone, Francophone or Lusophone and include countries with widely varying performance levels and capacities (including one IBRD country). The country economists’ work programs are tailored to the specifics of each country but involve in virtually all cases a high level of responsibility and visibility as country economists are expected to carry forward the macroeconomic dialogue in each country, interacting with both senior government officials (up to and including Ministers) as well as other development partners and the IMF.
The Bank's actvities in Nigeria comprise a large and very active program of lending and analytic work. The Bank is engaged in twenty-five active projects with undisbursed commitments of about $3 billion, and a IDA lending pipeline exceeding $1 billion per year. Partnership with government is strong and growing, and the PREM team plays a critical role through its advisory services as well as supervision of a large technical assistance project. In June 2009, a federal level DPO for $500 million was negotiated to help the government with the mitgation of the financial crisis. The Bank is also increasingly active on the state level, where governors seek to avail themselves of policy advice and technical assistance, particularly on public financial management. The new CPS under preparation envisages state-level Development Policy Operations, starting with Lagos in 2010. The Nigeria PREM team has recently produced a series of ESW on growth, fiscal federalism, and state-level public expenditure that have made the Bank a close partner of the federal government and state governments in identifying options to accelerate growth and enhancing the effectiveness of spending.
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Job # 100564
Job Title Lead Economist
Job Family Economic Policy
Location Abuja, Nigeria
Appointment International Hire
Closing Date 15-Apr-2010
Language Requirements English [Essential]
Appointment Type
Background / General description
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