INVESTMENT LEAD, ENERGY ACCESS ENABLEMENT FOR A KEY FRANCOPHONE AFRICA MARKET

Application Deadline – October 16, 2023

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 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 provide renewable energy and other climate mitigation and adaptation solutions for 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.  Second, due to our close involvement and deep experience, we can provide risk-tolerant capital to our companies in the most flexible way.

We apply our model both in our own, direct investment business as well as in the role of advisors to funds active in the sectors we invest in. This currently includes bringing in our expertise into 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.

We will soon be launching a third mandate for which this role is intended for.

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.

Your role
We are looking for an exceptionally entrepreneurial person with significant investing (or related) experience (ideally 8+ years) in SSA, including a french speaking market,  to drive Persistent’s participation in our newest mandate to improve energy access in a key francophone Africa market (the project). The candidate should also be a fluent English and French speaker.

Your responsibilities
You will:

• Liaise with the project’s  partner, funders, government entities and other stakeholders in the fund’s target market.
• Drive investment-enabling market research to identify off-grid-market sector players and value chains in the energy access space to enable deep understanding of the target market’s off-grid-sector;  and, enable investments by the project.
• Define/shape/lead end-to-end investment processes and tools to enable investment into potential project targets.
• Define/shape/lead investment readiness processes and tools to enable investment into potential project targets and increase the impact of investment.
• Drive dissemination of key insights and updates  (e.g. briefs, reports etc.).
• Lead and conduct due diligence activities, prepare screening and investment papers and make presentations to the investment committee (ICs).
• Build financial models and advise on business models and strategies.
• Liaise with and negotiate with investees and our investment partners.
• Draft and develop thought leadership papers, reports, policy briefs, and articles.

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 own things you agree to do; you deliver; and, you’ve been in the trenches (e.g. startup, another investment fund, etc).
• You play well in team; and are able to convince people about your ideas and move them to action
• Fluent  English and French speaker
• Reasonably knowledgeable about the off-grid market ecosystem, including but not limited solar home systems, mini-grids, and clean cooking. Or a super fast learner!
• Significant (ideally, 8+ years) investment-relevant experiences in SSA, ideally end-to-end investing experience deploying patient capital in Sub-Saharan Africa including in French-speaking countries.
• Excellent/Strong analytical skills, including financial analyses
• Strong project management and stakeholder management skills
• Experience enabling investment readiness for companies
• Able to convince people about your ideas and move them to action
• The following a strong plusses
  – Strong  research experience (for investment purposes)
  – Good writer (reports, investment memo’s, tailored to the various audiences)
  – Strong knowledge of blended finance structures
  – Experience working within the framework UN SDGs 6-9.
• Location & Travel: Preferably, you can legally live and work in Kenya and are able to travel as needed to the key market and others as needed.

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

Join us at Persistent and benefit from:

Impact: An opportunity to work directly with start-ups 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 will frequently travel to our partner companies and be with your colleagues, 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 to be sent to join@persistent.energy