LOCATION: Bujumbura, Burundi or Nairobi, Kenya

ABOUT ANZANA:

Anzana Electric Group (formerly Virunga Power) is a private utility company developing, investing in, and operating a portfolio of sustainable power generation and distribution projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Our projects integrate with and complement existing national utilities, and serve private industry, businesses, and local residential and social institutional consumers. We aim to deliver high-quality, low-cost power to customers to support local and national development and economic growth.

Anzana recently created Weza Power, which is a new private utility focused on accelerating electrification across Burundi through the rapid expansion of the electricity distribution network and targets new electricity access to more than 70% of the population by 2030. Weza Power is supported by an innovative Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with the national government and is being financed by a blend of private and public funding, including commercial equity and debt, climate-based and other concessional funding, multilateral donor support, and private grants.

Anzana has recently attracted a landmark investment from Gridworks Development Partners, part of the UK Government’s British International Investment, which is a dedicated platform for investing in the future of Africa’s grid networks. This exciting partnership will allow Anzana to accelerate its pipeline of utility projects across the region.

Company website: http://anzana.com/

ABOUT THE ROLE:

The Investment Associate will be primarily responsible for supporting the capital raising, financial analysis, project financing, investor reporting, and investment strategy activities of Anzana’s public-private partnership for distribution in Burundi. This role will involve close collaboration with cross-functional teams, including project development & management, finance & accounting, and engineering to drive successful project delivery. He or she will work directly with the Weza Power management team in Burundi, the Anzana CEO, COO and senior members of Anzana’s team, as well as other members of the management and development teams as needed. The role will have wide-ranging responsibilities, including creating, reviewing, and managing investment materials, reviewing and negotiating key project finance documents and project agreements, leading due diligence processes, managing financier meetings, and other key financing-related workstream. Together with the senior management team, the Investment Associate will also develop strategy and evaluate greenfield and brownfield projects for investment. The Investment Associate will be expected to lead multiple projects at one time and manage key stakeholders, including but not limited to local communities in and around project areas, project partners, government stakeholders, investors and financiers, advisors, and service providers.

Key focus areas would include:

• Leading project financing processes, including project lender engagement, negotiations, and due diligence, and participate in developing financing strategies
• Creating investment-related materials, managing investor, donor, and development partner engagements and processes, and providing regular updates to key stakeholders
• Supporting and/or leading financial model, regulatory tariff model, and other financial and project benchmarking processes related to regulatory approvals
• Regular engagement with lenders, equity providers, development capital providers, multilateral banks and other donors, carbon and climate financiers, and other project partners on investment and financing related matters
• Managing internal and external team members and consultants on all project development engagements
• Leadership on select special projects, potentially including rural industrial demand studies, electric cooking pilots, carbon finance, embedded renewable energy development, integration with mini-grids, among other possible projects
• Coordination and engagement with government stakeholders and preparation of presentations, convening meetings, collecting data, and sharing other informational updates
• Working with the finance, development, and operations teams on budgeting, financial planning, projections, and reporting
• Assisting on other tasks in support of investment preparation and readiness, including data room and internal file management and similar.

ABOUT THE APPLICANT:

• 3-5+ years of energy-related experience at a top-tier investment bank, project finance bank, private equity firm, consulting / advisory firm, development finance institution or other similar investment role (more experienced hires also welcome to apply)
• Familiarity with power and energy financing in emerging markets, including in sub-Saharan Africa
• Bachelor’s degree with an outstanding academic record
• Full fluency in French and English language required, Kiswahili or Kirundi are a plus
• Ability to self-start / self-direct projects, including working fully independently at times, and excel in collaborative, cross-functional, and geographically diverse organization
• Excellent problem-solving skills including data analytics, qualitative synthesizing, and clear verbal/written communication of problems and solutions
• Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to work effectively with business and industry leaders
• Detail oriented and able to manage processes across internal and external stakeholders
• Interest in renewable energy sector, climate solutions, energy access, and/or social impact in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa

HOW TO APPLY:

If interested, please send a short letter of intent and your CV/resume to

bu-investment-associate@virunga-power.odoo.com. If your qualifications meet our needs, we will conduct initial interviews remotely.

Please note: only short-listed applicants will be contacted.